Admit it… you’ve been lured into watching more than one video at a time on Facebook or Instagram right? You end up in the reels tab or the videos tab, and before you know it, 5, 10, 15 minutes, even an hour (or 2!!!) have passed… Video is so much more compelling to watch than reading status updates!
So now we accept (no confessions needed) that video lures us in, we also need to consider that video is one of the best ways to engage with our target audience, whether you’re paying for adverts or posting organically.
So, here’s 5 tips to consider for creating better videos for Facebook and Instagram! (Meta themselves recently published some of these tips!)
Keep your videos to 15 seconds or less!
People have short attention spans and a whole heap of content served to them in their newsfeeds, so think about how you can get your message across in the shortest time possible to create impact. Facebook give you video the widest possible reach if it’s less than 15 seconds, as your video can then be placed in the newsfeed, videos feed and reels feed, meaning your video is more likely to get seen.
Create vertical videos
Vertical formats like 4:5 and 9:16 take up more screen space as your audience scrolls through their feeds, so it’s easier to capture their attention. Consider framing of your video, as you’ll want to make sure that there’s plenty of space to put your text overlay, and any subtitles that Facebook/Insta may generate, along with remembering placement of the page/profile name that will display once the video is playing.
Get their attention within the first 3 seconds
Remember I mentioned that people have short attention spans earlier? Well, if you don’t grab their attention in the first 3 seconds, they are going to keep on scrolling past your video and none of us want that – Remember, the more people that engage with your video, the more often it will be shown and the wider your reach! Communicate your main ‘thing’ within that 3 seconds, whether that be a message, a service or a brand, and make it compelling so that your ideal viewer (target audience) want to keep watching. Make sure it resonates with your ideal audience.
Design your video for sound off viewing
Be sure to include captions for those who may not be able to watch videos with sound (yep, including those who are watching videos at work on the sly ha!) and go research enough videos in your niche or with similar messaging to see where Facebook/Instagram place the subtitles. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve not been able to see subtitles/captions as text overlay has been placed where the subtitles will go!
Don’t get paralysed by creating perfection!
You don’t need to use corporate level videos anymore, people are so used to watching content creators create on the fly or to watching live content that they don’t care so much about the quality! What’s important is to review your video to ensure that you’re getting the message across that you want to in a clear and easy way… it’s more important to post/to start to post videos than it is that they are absolutely perfect!
What’s the next video that you’re going to post?
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The Social Accelerators, founded by Caroline Thomas in 2010 advises clients around the UK on strategic marketing of your public sector funded programme, service, project or portal.
Her firm designs and runs digital marketing campaigns, conducts online research and designs online client journeys that get the results you need across social media, websites and email campaigns.
