Have you visited Facebook recently? Are you reading this blog because of a link you found on Facebook? You can answer honestly, this is a safe place. Chances are you’ve visited facebook pretty recently and you are probably aware of the trend that's becoming so popular on Facebook, and this is videos! And if you weren’t aware of all the videos on Facebook then… yeah… you really haven’t been on Facebook recently.

With videos currently exploding on the social media platform, Facebook users are ready now more than ever to share videos and be savvy about it. That tends to lead to some common questions along the lines of “How do I get more views!” Well strap in, listen up, and get ready. We are going to try and tackle some of those common Facebook video questions that you might have.

How do I get more views on Facebook?

You can acquire more views on your Facebook videos by optimizing your video for silent playback, being aware of your video size, and capturing your audience’s attention quickly.

First and most importantly, make your impact on your viewer quick! The average attention span of social media users have dropped in the recent years and the trend seems to show user disengaging after 8 seconds if they aren’t already hooked. Be sure to capture the viewer's attention with important information or present them a cliffhanger they won't skip out on.

The next tip would be to cater your content to the user. Make the content digestible and don’t be worried about packing in all the information you can. Too much information may confuse your viewer and lead them to disengage quicker.

Analyzing video statistics recently have shown that a greater percentage of users are watching videos without sound. This leads us to the next tip, which is to make sure your videos are optimized for silent playback. With audio playing such an important role in videos, how is one supposed to optimize a video to be watched silently? Now entering: subtitles! These can either be added in post-production when editing the video or you can allow the publisher on Facebook to provide subtitles in your video.

The last tip for getting views for your Facebook video is to be aware of the sizing of your video. Videos have mostly been created with an aspect ratio of 16:9 in mind. However, mobile is king at the moment, and our videos need to be catering to those mobile users! Most mobile users view videos with their device in a portrait style instead of rotating the device to view it full screen. With this knowledge, we need to try and cater to that and adjust the ratios of the videos being posted. A good aspect ratio to use would be flip 16:9 to 9:16. This allows the video to utilize the user's full screen and take away any dead space. An even better option would be an aspect ratio of 1:1, a square video. This way the video looks the same whether the user's device is sitting up or rotated. An added bonus would be to use titles and captions in the black space above and below the video. This help to overcome the silent playback dilemma talked about before

So to wrap this portion up just remember to engage the viewer quick, make sure they can watch and understand your video with a possibility of it being silent, and lastly keep it simple and user-friendly!

What Counts as a View on Facebook?

Facebook counts a view after a user has watched your video for 3 seconds.

This is an important question to consider because when we begin to look at different video sharing platforms we can see that the standard for a view changes across each platform. Facebook tends to automatically play within a viewers timeline. Once this video has gone on for a duration of 3 seconds, Facebook counts that interaction as a view. This is pretty interesting when comparing it to the standards of Youtube, who requires viewers to view a video for 30 seconds to register as a view. It’s also to be noted that the length of a video is not taken into effect when counting views. So it doesn’t matter if you upload a 10 second or 30-minute video Facebook is still counting a view at the three-second mark. Facebook is on par with the 3-second standard, seeing how Instagram and Twitter both use the 3-second rule for recording views.

Can you see who viewed your video on Facebook?

Facebook does not allow you to see individual names of users who have viewed your video but do provide other analytics based on viewer data.

Facebook will allow you to access the analytics for your video showing you metrics like video retention, engagement, and clicks. This will allow you to paint a decent picture of the nature of viewers viewing your videos. If you notice that viewers are disengaging the video shortly after it starts,  you should adjust your strategy and really aim to figure out what will capture and hold their attention. Maybe your video needs captioning or maybe you need to crunch down your video into chewable pieces for the audience.

One thing users may be interested in knowing is knowing who exactly is viewing their videos. Unfortunately, at the moment, Facebook won’t allow you to see who has viewed your video. Only the number of viewers and the viewer retention will be displayed for you to use. But don’t let that discourage you, be focused on the numbers that Facebook analytics provides. That can prove to be very useful for your future video success.

Conclusion

When it comes to Facebook videos, views and user interaction is important. It’s important to know viewer preferences and how to capitalize on that. Here at Red Shark Digital we are versed in social media marketing and understand how to optimize your videos for the best performance possible. Contact us today or visit Red Shark Digital today to see how we gain get you more views on your Facebook videos!