It’s quite astonishing how the use of video has escalated so dramatically over the past year or so. Primarily online, but also in the real world within shops and public places.
Social media is clearly one of the most common platforms to find video content, with Facebook at the forefront having developed so many additional features… Some you may have not noticed yet! Let’s explore some of the places you can utilise your video content on Facebook.
All the places you can use video content on Facebook:
Of course the Facebook news feed has been displaying videos for many years, although Facebook did dramatically increase their video quality more recently (although it still has room for improvement), as well as changing their algorithms to increase the ‘reach’ videos uploads achieve for its users.
NEW Video pop up window:
A new addition to the desktop & mobile browser allows you to play a video whilst continuing to scroll down the Facebook news feed – the video continues to play in a pop up window at the top right of your screen. At first this can be a little annoying if you were not expecting it, but actually it’s a useful addition for those who like to multitask online. It could lead to longer watch times on videos too.
Video Cover Photos:
Facebook has offered photo ‘cover photos’ for a long time – but a more recent update now allows pages and personal accounts to change both their profile picture and their cover photo to a short video clip. This works really well on Facebook business pages especially, which otherwise are rather hard to customise and give that wow factor. A video header really helps you give a great first impression. If you’ve already taken the step to create a video background (hero video) for your website, then make sure you place the same video onto your Facebook page too!
Facebook Carousels:
Facebook’s carousel feature was originally created to display multiple photos. Most carousels are used as part of the Facebook advertising platform, but they can also be posted non-sponsored too! Facebooks update to carousels allows you to add videos and photos together to create a broader campaign message – so far the ability to include video appears to be restricted to paid ads only! (why????)
Facebook Canvas:
This new feature allows you to use text and images around your video content to tell a full story! It’s a bit like a HTML email template in format, but it can be posted to Facebook in the usual way. This added story telling really helps when it comes to marketing. It can be sponsored to reach wider audiences too. It’s both mobile and desktop friendly.
Live Photos / Videos
Facebook has very recently added the ability to upload Live Photos via Facebook mobile. In the same manner that the iPhone offers live photo viewing, when these are uploaded to Facebook as a picture, viewers can ‘click & hold’ to make the photo animate, or play up to 30 seconds of video. As well as capturing Live Photos with your iPhone, you can also create ‘Live Photos‘ using professional video footage via an app called IntoLive. At the moment LIVE photo posts will only work properly on mobile devices, so it’s only got limited potential. However, the main benefit is increased reach, as the images force viewers to interact with the post. Also, as this is such a new feature the first people/businesses to use it will get the most interaction over all.
If you’re using a mobile device you can check out a humerous example by McDonalds here
No doubt there’s even more features due for released, so keep your eyes peeled next time you’re trying to get creative with your Facebook posts! If you need any advice or wish for a little more hands-on help please get in touch with us at Eldraw.