Facebook Provides Effective Video Content Strategy Tips

For years now, video has been the best performing content type on Facebook, generating better results in terms of engagement, interaction and overall response.

With technological advances facilitating more ways for consumers to watch video, it’s become the preferred option, enabling faster message delivery, with increased entertainment value – and for those creators can do it well, a whole range of new monetization options.

But doing Facebook video well isn’t as simple as shooting a simple iPhone clip and uploading. Sure, that might work in some cases, but the best way to approach Facebook video, or really, content on any platform, is with a defined strategy. And this week, Facebook has provided some tips on just that, looking at the success of Art All the Way, a DIY arts and crafts Page based in India.

Over on the Facebook Creator blog, Facebook has provided a simple overview of how Art All the Way has evolved its process in line with its video performance – and the notes include some great tips to keep in mind in your own Facebook video approach.

As explained by Facebook:

“The Art All the Way team decided to focus on video content early on. With consistent daily uploads, they hope to keep fans engaged and entertained with high-quality videos that show fun, do-it-yourself arts and crafts projects.”

The key elements here being ‘quality’ and ‘consistency’. The videos that Art All the Way creates are fairly basic, but they maintain a consistent color palette and presentation style, while they also stick to a set schedule for their uploads, ensuring Page followers know that there’ll be new content coming through regularly.

Both of these elements are often overlooked – if you’re going to use video as a key part of your Facebook marketing approach, it’s worth taking a moment to consider how you want your videos to look, and sticking with a consistent color theme and/or presentation style. Maybe invest in a simple background card that you can use for your presentations, or build a mini-studio, with your camera set-up on a tripod to maintain the same aesthetic.

Consistency, in this respect, is a branding element, and it’s definitely worth taking the time to plan out your approach ahead of time to align with such.

Eventually, after creating videos for some time, Art All the Way looked to monetize their video content with in-stream ads. This meant that they needed to create longer videos – in order to be able to use in-stream ads on Facebook, Pages need to have at least 10k followers and be creating 3-minute videos “that have generated more than 30,000 1-minute views in total over the past two months”.

That consideration again changed Art All the Way’s approach – now, all of their videos needed to meet a certain time threshold, another planning element. For marketers, this likely won’t be as significant a consideration – but the additional benefits that this longer run-time facilitated could be worth the extra thought, even if you’re not necessarily seeking to run in-stream ads.

As explained by Facebook:

“Once they started using in-stream ads, Art All the Way gave more thought to their content strategy and devised a framework for their videos.”

Facebook says that each of Art All the Way’s videos now feature a sequence of predefined segments, generally in this format:

• The Art All the Way logo
• A shot of the finished craft with the title of the craft
• A list of the materials used
• The step-by-step method to make the craft
• A final shot of the finished craft

That, again, adds to the consistency – which is also important, not just from an audience perspective, but in terms of repeatable practice. If you have your one social video person who creates your content, and he or she so without a documented strategy, if that person was to one day leave your company, or go on extended leave, would you be able to re-create the same, and maintain content consistency?

By having a documented, detailed content creation approach like this, Art All the Way can ensure ongoing transition and adaptability. They now have a set of defined steps to follow, every time, which will ensure their presentation remains consistent, and that the process can be taught to others.