introduction - pure michigan · wrangle as you put together your facebook video strategy. test #3:...

10 Tests For Video Content on Facebook

10 Tests for Video Content on Facebook 2

Facebook video offers a plethora of opportunities for brands seeking to entrance new eyes (sharing, well-targeted ads) and engage existing audiences, too (drive conversions, foster increased engagement with content).

Both “regular” Facebook video and Facebook Live are transforming the way brands

share videos and cultivating a much more intimate, immediate relationship between

brands and audience members.

The best way to take advantage of this powerful marketing tool is to create content

you think will resonate with your audience, test to see if you’re right, and optimize

from there. But how do you know which tests to run on your video content? Never

fear, Simply Measured is here.

Read on for ten tests which will help you understand what you’re doing right and what

you could be doing better.

Introduction


Do you know which length of videos resonate best with your audience -- or if length is

a factor at all when it comes to number of viewers and viewer retention?

We recommend conducting The 30 x 60 x 90 Test to find the answers to these

burning questions.

Step 1: Create a 90-second video.

Step 2: Post the 90-second video.

Step 3: Exactly one week later, post an edited-down version of the 90-second video

that is 60 seconds long (the reason for the one-week wait time is to avoid the viewer

fatigue that might occur if you posted the 60-second video a day or an hour later).

Step 4: Exactly one week later, post a 30-second version of the video.

Step 5: After a week, examine your metrics for each of these videos and determine

which was most successful.

You can also conduct this test in reverse order, starting with a 30-second teaser and

then working up to the 90-second video. Reversing the order is, in fact, a test within

itself, and you may find that releasing content bit by bit works better for your brand’s

Facebook video content.

Test #1: The 30 x 60 x 90 Test


Most successful videos tell a story, and savvy brands have found a way to hook viewers who have the sound off at first: by overlaying text onto their video content as the story begins, or even throughout the video.

Test #2: The Text Overlay Test

Try this: Publish your video one day with no text overlay, and the next day at the same time WITH text overlay. Review the metrics that matter to you, and see which video performed best for your brand.


Influencers are giving brands a ton of additional eyes on their Facebook content, and video is no exception.

If you have a stable of influencers you’re working with, but are unsure which influencers

are helping you hit your goals, video is a great place to test influencer strength.

When you look at the results, make sure you’re paying attention not just to the number

of views each influencer receives, but also to the percentage of your followers and/

or the influencer’s followers that tuned in. For instance, you might have one influencer

who has many fewer followers than another influencer -- but the followers she DOES

have are incredibly engaged. It’s this kind of active, aware audience you’re looking to

wrangle as you put together your Facebook video strategy.

Test #3: The Influencer vs. Influencer Test

Try this: Either ask both your influencers to host individual Facebook Live chats on your page at the same time and day of the week on different weeks, or ask them to each host a Facebook Live chat on their own Facebook pages at the same time, and promote both. This should give you a fair sample set with which to examine your influencers’ video success or room for improvement.


Do you know when you should begin releasing videos to build buzz for your event? If you have a big event coming up, use a smaller event to test when your lead-up video content hits most effectively, time-wise.

Step 1: Post a video one month before your event.

Step 2: Post a video two weeks before your event.

Step 3: Post a video one week before your event.

Step 4: In the three days leading up to the event, post a video once in the AM and once

in the PM -- even if they’re just edited versions of previously released videos.

Step 5: On the day of the event, post one final video.

Once your test event is over, examine when you received the most positive boost in

views, comments, shares, and Likes during the pre-event time period. When it’s time

for your “big event,” you can use what you’ve learned to release videos when they’ll

make the biggest difference, and post accordingly. You’ll have a ready-made pre-

event video strategy for your big event!

Test #4: The Pre-Event Test


Be sure to take a deep dive into your comments, as well: these comments can give

you the meat of how people are reacting to your video content.

For instance, if a viewer comments, “Ugh, one more video about Big Festival 2016,”

you’ll know it’s time to pump the brakes on video content around an event -- but

you won’t know that you’re receiving this kind of feedback until you evaluate your

comments.

Test #4: The Pre-Event Test


Let’s not forget about post-event video content. When do you start to see diminishing returns on event-based video posting after an event? If you don’t know, it’s time to run a test so that you don’t waste your time and resources in the future.

Step 1: Post a video every day in the week following your event.

Step 2: Post a video one week after your event.

Step 3: Post a video two weeks after your event.

Step 4: One month after the event, post one final video.

Once your test is over, examine when you received the most positive boost in views,

comments, shares, and Likes during the post-event time period. Identify when “the big

dwindle effect” began to occur, and avoid this effect for as long as possible by tying

your videos into contests and discounts on event-related products and services.

Test #5: The Post-Event Test


Have you considered experimenting with Facebook Live, but are afraid about the unpredictable nature of this amazing marketing tool?

We understand this fear, but definitely recommend you at least try the technique, and

measure it against your current Facebook video performance to determine if a long-

term Facebook Live agenda is worth it for your brand.

Test #6: The Facebook Live vs. Traditional Video Test

Try this: Be crystal clear about which metrics matter to you: Click-throughs? Retention rate? Views? Positive comments? Which three metrics are your top priorities? Once you’ve figured this out, this test is fairly simple: publish one traditional video per week and run one Facebook Live per week for a month. Then see how your prioritized metrics measure against one another.


Test #7: The Context Test

How much context does your Facebook audience need to watch your whole video, or click through on your link? For instance, in this Cooking Light video, the only

caption is: “Boozy slushies”:

But would this video have met Cooking Light’s goals better if the ingredient list and

directions were part of the caption? There is no way to know without testing.

Post the video giving all the information you provide in the video in the caption. Post

it again a week later with a very short caption. Then see how your prioritized metrics

measure against one another.

Try this: Once again, it all comes back to your goals as a marketer. Be clear about which metrics matter to you: if it’s click-throughs, a shorter caption might be better, since it will push your audience towards clicking through for more information. Once you know what your top priorities are, run a test on one of your videos.


Test #8: The Featured Video Test

Are you choosing the right “Featured Video” for your brand? This is the video that shows up at the top of your brand’s Videos page, so it has prime real estate and can do a lot for your brand if you’ve picked the appropriate one.

Try this: The only way to know whether or not you’re maximizing the Featured Videos opportunity -- especially important because it tends to reach audience members in a more serious buying decision phase like Consideration -- is to test out a few. Cycle through one different Featured Video a week for a month and find out which is the most successful.


Test #9: The Product vs. No-Product Test

Do your videos do better when they are product-centric or when they veer away from your product/sales pitch?

Try this: Alternate weeks between a “product-focused” video and one which you believe that your audience members would be interested in aside from your brand. Do this for a month and find out which category of video pushes the needle best for you.


Test #10: The Co-Marketing Test

Can you improve traffic to your site from social and even sales by partnering with another brand in your video content?

Try this: Ask your five biggest co-marketing partners to be part of a video series throughout one month. Compare your views and conversions for this month with your views and conversions on videos in the previous month. If there’s an improvement, you know what to do next. And if there’s not, you can say you tried it and move on!


The bottom line for any Facebook video strategy, Live or otherwise, is this: give your audience an experience they can’t get anywhere else — so that they’ll come back for more, and even seek your brand out for specific topics and themes. Then test your topics, themes, timings, and partnerships to fine-tune your video prowess.

We’ve given you some great places to start, so get to testing! Who knows what you’ll discover about your brand perception, opportunities, and audience members?

Conclusion

ABOUT SIMPLY MEASURED

Simply Measured is the most complete social analytics solution, empowering

marketers with unmatched access to their social data to more clearly define their

social strategy and to optimize their tactics for maximum impact.

Our goal is to put the tools to understand business data in the hands of

business users. We think reporting should be simple, attractive, and accessible

for everyone – not just data scientists. Our software streamlines the process

from data to deliverables and eliminates the countless hours spent on everyday

reporting tasks. We do this by putting cloud data sources at your fingertips,

providing a marketplace of best practice reports, and allowing you to generate

beautiful solutions on the web, in Excel, and in PowerPoint with a couple of clicks.

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