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Build Better Facebook Videos by UsingInsights DataBy Kevin Shively March 4, 2015

Videos seem to be all we hear about lately. New native videos on Twitter, enhanced video serviceon Snapchat, and in their Q4 2014 Earnings Call, Mark Zuckerberg announced that there are over 3billion video views on Facebook each day.

This number is no fluke. Facebook is putting serious weight behind native videos, which nowautoplay in users feeds. Many marketers on Facebook have started to see more reach from videosthan other media types, including photos.

While videos may be seeing more organic reach than photos, producing high-quality and relevantvideos can be a much bigger task than producing photos, so many marketers are tentative tofocus too much effort on this content type.

How do you ensure that your time is well spent on a Facebook video? Simple: You use your data.Facebook provides some crucial metrics that you may be overlooking when planning your videos.

Optimal Video Length

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6/5/2015 Build Better Facebook Videos by Using Insights Data | Simply Measured

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Optimal Video LengthOne key aspect that differentiates videos from other content types is duration. How long areusers viewing your content?

Facebook allows users to break down video views by how long users stuck around. This info, inaggregate, allows you to identify the optimal length before users tune out.

Pro Tip: When producing marketing videos, be sure to have your message towards the beginningof your clip. You may be inclined to develop a slow build throughout the footage and worktowards a climax, but we have short attention spans on social, so you want to ensure that I getyour point, regardless of how long I watch for.

Activity From Paid and OrganicFacebook gives advertisers and marketers an impressive level of data, allowing you to identify andcompare views on both social and paid.

6/5/2015 Build Better Facebook Videos by Using Insights Data | Simply Measured

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By comparing paid and organic views, users are able to gain insight in a couple of ways:

1. If the videos being posted by your paid advertising team are different than those you’re postingorganically, you can glean insight into which content is more effective by comparing the totalviews against views that lasted 95% of the video’s length.

2. If you’re responsible for ads on Facebook as well as organic content, you can learn aboutaudience types and how they respond to your content, as well as which content to put somemoney behind.

Pro Tip:  Facebook videos autoplay in user feeds. Be sure that your content is clear andunderstandable with or without sound to encourage users to continue watching, turn up thevolume, or click through to engage further with your brand.

Content-Specific InsightWhen looking at a specific video, you’re able to identify retention dips, so you can discover whichareas of your content need attention.

6/5/2015 Build Better Facebook Videos by Using Insights Data | Simply Measured

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If you identify that 50% of viewers drop off after 14 seconds, you can focus on that part of yourvideo to discover what might have lost people. This can help shape your brand’s messaging if theanalysis and testing are done thoroughly.

Pro Tip: Be sure to make your first few frames visually attractive, and the copy of your post tightand interesting. Users on mobile scroll through their feeds at a rapid pace, and you need to catchtheir eye before you can keep it.

How Are Videos Performing?In our Q3 2014 Facebook benchmark report, we found that for the top brands in the world, videosstill accounted for less than 10% of brand posts, and under-index on engagement.

6/5/2015 Build Better Facebook Videos by Using Insights Data | Simply Measured

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Kevin ShivelyAs Sr. Content Marketing Manager, editor of the Simply Measured blog, cohost of the #SimplyMeasuredpodcast, and generally delightful person, my job is to tell stories to the internet...You're welcome internet.

Have you been posting more videos in 2015? How are they performing? Are you seeingengagement grow? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll keep you posted when we look at howthese same brands performed in Q1 2015.

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6/5/2015 Build Better Facebook Videos by Using Insights Data | Simply Measured

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