If you’ve been paying attention to the digital marketing scene, you know just how important video marketing has become.
But just in case you didn’t know, here are some facts you should be aware of:
- Adding a video to a social post increases views by 48%
- As of 2019, 87% of businesses use video as a marketing tool – that’s up from 63% in 2017
- 83% of businesses reported a good ROI from video marketing in 2017
- According to Nielsen, 74% of a video marketing campaign’s impact (including ad recall, brand awareness, and purchase intent) can be achieved within the first 10 seconds
These statistics tell us two things:
- Most people would rather watch something than read something.
- If video isn’t part of your marketing strategy, it should be.
But last year, Facebook announced some major changes to its algorithm that have made it more difficult for video content from businesses to stand out.
That’s where SEO video marketing comes in.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is all about making sure your content gets seen by your target audience. Facebook’s News Feed may not be a search engine, but just like how understanding Google’s algorithm can help you rank higher in the SERPs, understanding how to optimize your video content for Facebook’s algorithm can help you improve your brand’s visibility.
How the Facebook Video Algorithm Works (And How It’s Changed)
Facebook has come a long way from the early days of 500-character limits and playing Farmville from friends. And the social media platform hasn’t just changed for users – it’s changed for marketers, too.
Like Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram, Facebook uses an algorithm to show users content that is the most relevant to them closer to the top of the News Feed.
In 2018, Facebook announced a major algorithm update that would change the way businesses think about content. In an effort to reduce spam, the new algorithm boosts posts from friends and family and shows fewer posts from businesses. The goal, according to Facebook, is to foster more meaningful conversations.
For marketers and small businesses, these changes mean that text and static images alone aren’t going to cut it any more. To get the reach that they need to grow, more and more businesses are adding SEO video marketing to their strategy.
4 SEO Video Marketing Strategies for Better Facebook Engagement
Yes, getting your videos seen on Facebook is going to be harder than it was before the algorithm update. But the value of video hasn’t diminished – in fact, it’s more valuable than ever before.
So instead of throwing in the towel, check out these SEO video marketing strategies to help you stand out and get ahead.
1. Supplement Your Organic Content with Paid Content
Here’s the sad truth for businesses on Facebook – organic reach is on the decline. As Facebook continues to prioritize content from people over content from Pages, your business is going to struggle to reach your audience with organic efforts alone.
That’s why it’s a good idea to supplement your organic video content with paid video ads. That’s because even if your Page has a ton of followers, Facebook’s new algorithm is not always going to put your content on their News Feeds.
If you have room in your marketing budget, it’s well worth it to put some money behind your Facebook videos, especially since organic reach on brand Pages is expected to plummet even further in the coming years.
2. Encourage Active Engagement
Since last year’s algorithm update, Facebook has repeatedly stressed that its goal is to prioritize “meaningful interactions” between its users.
But what counts as a “meaningful interaction”?
For the Facebook algorithm, that means prioritizing active engagement (sharing and commenting) over passive engagement (likes and clicks).
So how can you get people talking about your videos? Here are a few ideas you can use to get the ball rolling:
Ask questions. It’s human nature to like talking about ourselves, so pass the mic to your audience by asking them a question in your copy. You could ask them to share a story, tag a friend, or ask a “would you rather” question to start a conversation.
Go live. Live videos receive 10x more comments than pre-recorded videos, so it would be crazy not to make them part of your audience engagement strategy. Plus, if you don’t have the budget or the time to create and edit consistent video content for your Page, going Live is an easy solution. You could do a Q&A session, give a tour of your company, or livestream an event.
Get personal. People like ads that don’t look like ads. Instead of promoting your brand 24/7, try to incorporate personal stories into your video marketing strategy. People are more likely to engage with content that they can relate to or feel inspired by.
3. Focus on Mobile
If you remember anything from this list, it should be this.
You need to optimize your videos for mobile.
96% of Facebook users access the site on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet). So how do you make your videos phone-friendly?
First things first, make sure you’re adding captions to your videos. Facebook videos don’t play audio automatically, and most mobile users (who are often using their phones in a public place) aren’t going to unmute your ad.
For that reason, it’s important to make sure your video gets the same message across with or without sound. You’ll also be making your videos accessible to deaf and hard of hearing viewers in the process, so there’s really no good reason not to caption your video content.
Another way to make your SEO video marketing strategy more effective on mobile is to use square or vertical videos when you’re posting on social. On Facebook, vertical videos consistently outperform horizontal videos. A horizontal video may provide higher visual quality, but most mobile users aren’t going to flip their phones sideways to watch it.
4. Keep it Short and Sweet
The average human attention span is down to just eight seconds, so it’s not surprising that shorter videos tend to perform better on social media.
However, Facebook users are willing to stick around and watch longer videos than Instagram or Twitter users. According to HubSpot, the ideal video length for engagement on Facebook is somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes.
No matter how long your video is, remember that you only have a few seconds to catch someone’s attention before they decide to keep scrolling. Make sure your message is clear from the start, and supplement it with copy that previews your video.
Partner with a Tampa Video Production Company That Understands Social
Want to take your social video content to the next level?
Slice Creates in Tampa, Florida, is a production and post-production that work with businesses to create polished, professional, and highly engaging content for the web. We understand that the social media landscape is constantly changing and help our partners stay ahead of the curve.
Contact us today to get started on your video marketing campaign!
