5 Reasons to Make Videos Your New Facebook Norm

Sarah Lichterman

If you manage Facebook for a business, I suggest you jump on the video bandwagon and add “lights, camera, ACTION!” to your vocabulary. The latest news in the highly competitive world of social media platform popularity is that Facebook recently changed their algorithms (shocking news, right?) to make video marketing a priority.

Currently, I manage seven different business pages for clients and monitor several more. That being said, I am on social media a lot. In the past few months, I have noticed – and enjoyed – the increase in native Facebook videos on my newsfeed. A “native” Facebook video is one that is uploaded directly from a camera to a Facebook post instead of shared on Facebook through another source such as YouTube or Instagram. Curious about this phenomenon, I did some research. Below are the top five reasons - in order of importance from my personal preference - on why companies should incorporate native Facebook videos into their social media strategy.

1. Proven results. Socialbakers, one of the world’s largest social media management and analytics companies, determined that video posts have a larger organic reach than any other type of posts. They found that out of 670,000 posts by 4,445 brand pages, video posts had an organic reach of 8.71 percent, while text-only posts had 5.77 percent, followed by link posts with 5.29 percent and photo posts with 3.73 percent. With Facebook algorithms changing often, it’s vital to diversify your business’ page with posts that offer high organic reach to ensure online visibility.
2. Auto-play is hard to avoid. When you post a video directly through the Facebook video tool, it will automatically play (sans sound) when viewed in a newsfeed. Not only are more people likely to pause and watch the video, but it also increases post engagement. In the first quarter of the auto-play feature being enabled, native video plays on Facebook increased by 134 percent with a 58 percent increase in engagement (while YouTube and others saw no change), according to Contently.
3. Tell the story of your message easier. Which are you more likely to remember – a 250-word Facebook post or a 20-second video? You can only say so much in the text of a Facebook post, making it hard to tie your brand story to a specific message. However with video, you have the ability to tie your brand messaging (logo, colors, etc.) into the specific idea you want to promote through the use of sound and images.
4. Build your brand personality. Highlighting various aspects of your company through video is an excellent way to show off the personality of your brand. If you are proud of your company’s culture, showcase it by featuring employees at work, going behind the scenes of your facilities or showcasing customer testimonials.
5. Boosted video posts = name-your-own-price for an online commercial. Through the Facebook Ad feature, you can boost native Facebook videos to specific target audiences. This is helpful for small businesses that don’t have the budget for traditional TV advertising or don’t want to commit to a digital advertising plan. In addition, you can start and stop a Facebook Ad and check its progress using the analytics tool as often as you’d like. 

Now that you have been convinced to incorporate videos into your social media plan, the next step is to decide what type of videos to create. Take advantage of the increased organic reach and engagement by making your videos entertaining and informative. For ideas on video content, check out this article from Social Media Examiner on ways to best utilize native Facebook videos.

Are you easy? (To do business with, that is.)

Courtney Ellett

I often have chats with my parents about my line of business, among other things. And it never fails that my father, a retired executive with a Fortune 100 company, wraps up the easy-going conversation with a golden nugget of wisdom to signal that the conversation is coming to a close and I need to pay close attention.

He’ll say something like “Courtney, I know you know this, but I’m going to say it anyway…” The look on his face turns from a father to a serious business man. The hallmark of his advice is that it’s simple and fundamental. And I believe that nothing is better than simple.

Most recently, we were discussing client satisfaction in general and he said, “Sometimes the only question is, ‘Are you easy to do business with?’” And he repeated it: “Are you easy to do business with?” He maintained that a company gets in its own way if it’s not easy for the customer to be a customer. If you make it difficult, they’ll go elsewhere.

Wow, I just loved what he said. Honestly, I couldn’t help but ask myself that question about our firm. I want to MAKE SURE we’re always easy to do business with.

That very day, with Dad’s counsel echoing in my ears, I experienced a company – or at least an employee – who got it and one who just didn’t. 

The first experience happened when I called Barnes & Noble in Collierville on a recent Saturday morning searching for a book my son needed desperately for school. This was after I had furiously called local libraries with no success. I called at 9 a.m., and no answer. No answering machine to tell me anything either. I thought they just might be too busy to catch my call. Not easy.

Thirty minutes later, I called back. After maybe the 12th ring (again not easy), a colleague answers. I tell him what I need, and he said “We don’t open until 10. Please call back.” Not easy – with an exclamation point! Obviously, this guy was already at work and “on the floor” and on the clock – not answering the phone from bed in his PJs – and yet he couldn’t tap on his computer and check on the book’s availability.

On the flip side and on the same day, my husband and I made a grocery run to a Kroger near our neighborhood. We were looking for ground pepper. We easily found the spices aisle, but could not for the life of us put our eyes on the ground pepper. One of the colleagues – I wish I had caught her name – saw our glazed “can’t find the pepper” look and approached us. Not only did she help us – and lightning fast – she was HAPPY to help us. In fact, she was jolly. How refreshing indeed. She made it super easy, with a smile on top.

Sometimes, the life of a company gets so complicated with crunching numbers, evaluating this and evaluating that. It can be dizzying, and with no tangible results. Sometimes, we just need to ask ourselves the most simple of questions to reach the most profound of solutions.    
Are you easy to do business with?