Are extended Facebook videos no longer effective?
Facebook videos should already be a central aspect of your online strategy. With the ability to draw focus and increase engagement, videos have always been one of the most valuable pieces of content you can deliver. In the past, YouTube was the only place fans visited to watch video content, but now all social media platforms feature video in some shape or form. There have been many studies on the benefits of using video in comparison to photo, and it is always clear that video encourages much more engagement. However, due to a recent admission by Facebook, it is now in doubt whether longer video content is effective at all.
Recently, Facebook admitted to inflating their extended video metrics, giving brands incorrect information about the amount of time people spent watching videos. In short, the statistics given to brands suggested that users were sitting and watching their videos for a much longer duration than they really were. This means that longer videos on Facebook may not have proved as effective as was previously thought. This lead brands to adapt their content, a move that may have, in fact, been in vain. A lot of resources were poured into creating longer videos for Facebook, which now seems to have been a waste.
This admission by Facebook means that shorter video content on Facebook may actually be the way to go. Longer videos work much better through platforms like YouTube, as people visit the platform expecting to dedicate an extended period of time to watching a video. On Facebook, users simply want to be entertained briefly and then continue to scroll on down their timeline. As an artist, your focus should be entertaining your audience with brief clips. This could include a preview of your latest track or a short clip from a YouTube vlog. This is yet another illustration that you should not be using the same strategies on Facebook and Twitter as you do on video-centric platforms like YouTube.
The fact that shorter videos work better on Facebook makes it a great introductory platform. This means that Facebook is the place where you hook in your audience and include a link to send them to the full video. Entice your audience with a short preview and include the link to drive them to your main extended YouTube video. This way, you don’t bore your Facebook audience, but you make a connection with the right people who are interested in the full video. If people enjoy the short preview, they will undoubtedly watch the full video on your YouTube channel and be more invested to watch it in its entirety.
Another point to remember is that if you’re paying for Facebook advertising, you don’t want to be paying for people to watch 5 seconds of a 10-minute video. This could lead to you wasting a great deal of money, especially if the main message in your video isn’t at the very start. By running a paid advert with a link to your YouTube video, you benefit your brand much more. You increase the potential for more Facebook fans to become YouTube subscribers and you increase views on your YouTube videos. If your video is monetized, you will even be increasing your YouTube income through advertising placements.
On platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, getting your message across early in the video is key. This is due to people’s attention spans being incredibly short when using social media. The fact is, fans don’t log onto Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to watch a 30-minute video. They log on to watch short clips that briefly entertain them before moving on with their day. Many artists don’t realise this, but a user’s mindset is completely different when using different social media platforms. Many feel that it is acceptable to simply post the same content on all platforms without rewording or adapting anything. This may work for one platform if the content works well there, but it is unlikely to be as effective on the rest. For example, Instagram is about the image, Twitter is about the written word, Facebook is a mixture of both. While video content is effective on all three platforms, all of them work much better with shorter clips. On the other hand, YouTube is the perfect platform for those full-length videos that will keep users engaged for a much longer period of time.
One of the most important aspects of planning your content calendar is understanding that the way you deliver messages shouldn’t be the same across social media platforms. Not to mention, if your fans follow you on every social media, they will soon be bored of reading the exact same caption on each platform. Differ your content to make sure that it has an impact on users across the social channels. To put this into context, you wouldn’t give everyone you know the same Christmas present, you would make different choices depending on the individual. With social media, it is all about understanding the wants and needs of consumers using that particular platform and catering to their wishes.
Always ensure to vary your content as much as possible and focus on short previews for Facebook. Don’t be mislead into believing that extended Facebook videos are working effectively in building your following, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While it is disconcerting to know that Facebook mislead advertisers, use this fresh information to help you develop more effective video content in the future.
View this post on Instagram
“Badam” just turned 1 today 🎉 Do you remember where you heard it for the first time? @djhenryfong