With over 8 billion views every day, Facebook Video shows no signs of slowing down. So how can you capture some of that attention for your organization? Chances are you may be able to get more if you’re making one of these 3 most common Facebook Video mistakes. Read on to find out what they are, along with easy tips on how to fix those mistakes so that your nonprofit video marketing is ready for its close-up.
Mistake #1: Not uploading directly to Facebook
Are you sharing links to YouTube or your blog instead of posting video directly on Facebook? If you want to maximize the number of people viewing your content, remember that — in this case at least — what happens on Facebook stays on Facebook (we’ve totally made this mistake as well). One reason that Facebook Video has earned 100 million hours of video watched every day is because it’s prioritized video content that is natively uploaded, versus linked out to an external source like Vimeo or YouTube.
Solution#1: Upload original video content natively on Facebook
Videos that are uploaded directly to Facebook have one critical advantage: They automatically play in a user’s feed. People are much less likely to click off of Facebook to visit yours or another external website, so make sure your video is playable right in the app to maximize its impact. Some have seen as much as 86% greater reach with native Facebook video over YouTube links.
Mistake #2: Captioning your content
On Facebook, no one can hear you scream. That’s because 85% of Facebook users are viewing your content with the sound turned off. Maybe they’re scrolling through their phone while waiting for the train (they’re 5 times more likely to watch on their phone than on desktop) or sneaking a peek at their feed while in a class or a meeting. Either way, you want to make sure your video’s message is still heard — even in silence. Don’t rely on sound to get your message across.
Solution #2: Always caption your content
The equation is simple: Your content will do better (and be prioritized higher) with subtitles! Facebook is optimized for video that includes closed captioning since their videos autoplay in the News Feed without sound. It’s also the responsible thing to do for accessibility. If you have a YouTube account, you can upload your videos onto YouTube and use their caption tool to create and download subtitles. Scroll to the bottom of this article for a guide on creating subtitles for your Facebook Video using YouTube.
Mistake #3: Too Long; Didn’t Watch
Do your videos start with a bang? On average, you have around 16 seconds to grab and hold your viewer’s attention on Facebook (and likely, much less time). You absolutely must wow them, and fast. Shorter videos also tend to outperform longer ones.
Solution #3: Keep it short, simple, and fabulous
Jump right into the video content to grab your audience’s attention. Lead with faces and engaging imagery. If you need to incorporate branding or graphics, use them later on in the video to maximize the attention spans of your audience in those precious first few seconds. Try to convey as much as you can in the shortest amount of time possible. Remember to be succinct, and speak like a real human being.
Want to go one step further with your social strategy? Check out our ultimate guide to Facebook fundraising do’s and don’ts. Also, for a quick way to create video assets check out Renderforest.com.
Guide
Tips for Facebook Video
With more than 8 billion views every day on Facebook Video, capture some of that attention for your org.
How to create .en_US.srt subtitles for your Facebook Video:
- Upload your video onto YouTube
- Find it in Video Manager and click to edit the video
- In the top menu (currently on Info & Settings), find Subtitles/CC. Click to add new subtitles or closed captioning.
- If you have have the transcript handy, select the option to Transcribe and auto-sync. Upload the transcript.
- If you do not have a transcript, select Create new subtitles or CC and create the transcript manually.
- If YouTube has auto-generated subtitles, you may also click on these to edit them under published subtitles
- Review, add, and/or edit subtitles
- Play the video and add or edit the corresponding text in the left-hand column
- Adjust the length and start/stop of each subtitle as needed by pulling the sections shorter or longer along the timing bar
- Add new subtitles or break up existing ones by selecting it and hitting the + button to add a new subtitle or delete it
- Be sure to correct wording, spelling, and timing errors as well as run-on sentences, punctuation, and proper nouns
- Try to limit text to 1 or 2 lines
- Save the subtitles and hit Publish
- Once the subtitles are published, select it under Published on the Subtitles/CC menu page
- Confirm the subtitles you selected are correct, and select the Actions button. Click to download the .srt file to your computer.
- Once it has downloaded, rename the file to filename.en_US.srt (e.g. adwordsCC.en_US.srt). This is super important, as Facebook will only recognize CC files in this specific format.
- Upload the video onto Facebook. Once uploaded, click to edit video and select Subtitles and Captions (CC). Select your language as English, and then upload to add the caption file.
- Hit Save, and your video should now have captions!
If you want to take it one step further, overlay text throughout your video to emphasize important points. Think of these as bold headlines for your video.
Need some inspiration? Check out attn’s Facebook page for some text-y videos. To capture their mobile viewers’ attention, they also make their videos square and use more music than narration.