According to Facebook, average users are now consuming around 300 feet of social media content a day whilst scrolling through their feeds. To put that into perspective, that is almost the size of The Statue of Liberty!
Why use video for social media?
Not only is the amount of content being consumed increasing, but the speed in which users are able to process content is also on the rise. 70% of the time users are after ‘quick snackable content’ according to the Head of Creative Shop at Facebook.
As advertisers in the information overload era, how do we get users to stop scrolling through their feed and actually catch the eyes of our target audiences?
45% of people are watching more than an hour of Facebook videos a week, and video on social media generates 12 times more shares than image and text posts combined.
Throughout the day, what a user wants from their video experience changes. The beginning and middle parts of the day are seen as the ‘discovery mode’ – for viewers seeking bite-sized content. Whereas later in the day, users have more time for longer consumption of content and use video more for entertainment and relaxation.
Facebook and Instagram offer a variety of ways to deliver videos to your audience, as well as the ability to control when and where they are received. But how you present your message is key.
One quick win is to understand that one size does not fit all. Tailor your messaging to not only the audience you’re reaching out to, but to the time of day, and what a user might expect from their video experience at that time. User’s intentions and behaviours are different during certain times of the day so be mindful of the message, the length, and the time your videos are being served.
Secondly, today’s short attention spans (especially with millennials) means that shorter ads work more effectively. This is especially true for placements such as In-Stream ads, where ads appear during a video.
How to utilise video on a budget
Facebook has released a really useful feature called the Video Creation Kit. This great tool enables you to use your current image assets and turn them into a mobile-optimised video, as well as looking like authentic native content within user’s feeds.
Were you thinking about spending budget on a pricey videographer and editor? Or even using your own valuable time creating purpose-built videos for social? Then why not try out the Facebook Video Creation Kit first?
The video editor uses a number of off-the-shelf templates in which you can drop in your messaging and imagery for ads that drive great results.
The more confident Facebook marketers amongst us may appreciate Facebooks Custom Creation Kit. You can choose the image duration, overall slideshow length, transitions, and aspect ratio, as well as have the ability to add music – which is provided for free by Facebook! You can also add up to 60 characters of text as overlay on any of your images, and you’ll also have the option to make vertical videos primarily for Stories.
Hopefully the Video Creation Kit will spell the end of the text-heavy Stories ads, such as below.
Side note – all Stories ads should be using vertical images/videos, and text on Stories ads should be built into the image/video (this can all be done using the Video Creation Kit!). The actual primary text boxes should be left empty, then your ad will look seamless like the examples below:
So there you have it, the Video Creation Kit in a nutshell! Try Facebook’s video creation tools today, experience an effective way to connect with users on mobile and stand out in a competitive content-consumption era.
If you would like social media experts like my colleagues and I to look at your social video strategy and video creation process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.