7 Tips to Get More Social Media Video Views in 2019
It’s no surprise that the moving image is the most popular form of content on social media. In fact, some studies show that Facebook users spend 5x the time watching videos as compared to looking at photos.
Still, this doesn’t mean that you can shoot any video and expect to get a million views. With 2.5 quintillion bytes of data being uploaded to the internet daily, you need to make sure that your content stands out. But thanks to modern analytics tools and strategies to match, having great success is possible. Here are seven tips to get more views in 2019:
1. Story is King
You’ve heard this a million times before, but the most important component in getting people to watch and continue watching your video is to have a great story. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Structuring your story into sections can often help. This doesn’t mean you have to follow a 15-step beat sheet, but it does mean you need a beginning that leads to a middle that leads to an end. For example, you could pose an interesting question at the beginning, e.g. “What is the best way to bake a loaf of bread?”, convey the details in the middle, and reveal your answers in the end. This sort of momentum is important.
2. Aspect Ratios Matter
How your video appears in a social media feed has a big impact on whether it is going to catch your audience’s attention. As such, you may need to alter your video to fit the specifics of every platform.
In 2019, web videos are typically presented in either 16:9 or 1:1. 16:9 is today’s primary video format. Videos on YouTube and longer-form media on Facebook (>2 minutes) are typically presented this way.
Here’s where it gets interesting: while 1:1 is technically smaller than 16:9, it will show up almost twice as large on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn feeds. With this sort of social media real estate, people are more likely to pause and watch your video.
3. Three Seconds Count
Facebook and Instagram don’t count a view until a person watches the first three seconds. Thus, the first three seconds of your video are crucially important. A common trend among movie trailers posted online is to put a 3-5 second teaser before the 2-3 minute trailer, complete with the title card of the movie and the most exciting shots.
But if someone is quickly scrolling through their feed, they might not even make it to 1 second. You need to ensure that your video loads quickly and that the very first frame is compelling. When exporting, make sure you are using a web-friendly codec (h.264 or h.265) and a low bitrate. Those milliseconds of load time could determine whether you get a view.
4. People Read Text
You’ve probably heard by now that 85% of videos viewed on Facebook are played without sound, and subtitles are crucial in ensuring that people notice your video. However, what you may not know is that subtitle design is a whole world of its own. Font, text size, color, and placement are all important factors on whether your audience is going to read your words.
In general, big blocks of color and bold text attract the most attention. Look at the latest videos from Vice or NowThis. Their titles cover up to 50% of the frame and appear in blocks so that your eyes are forced to follow them. The smallest bit of movement to an otherwise static shot can go a long way in keeping an audience’s attention. And speaking of movement—
5. Transitions, Movement, Color
A few years ago, a study claimed that the average person’s attention span is 8 seconds long. In our experience, people’s tolerance for watching a video can be half of that. While other studies have later debunked this 8-second rule, the general concept rings true: people today don’t have the patience to watch long, slow videos on social media.
If the content isn’t exciting as you want, give the audience something to follow with their eyes. This can be as simple as a zoom, a pan, a highlight of bright color—just do something every 4 seconds (at least) so that your video doesn’t get stale. These sorts of movements or accentuations will greatly increase your average watch times.
6. Keep it Short
People have a lot of things to do these days. If you can tell your story in entirety—that is, convey the beginning, middle, and end—you should cut out anything extra.
Faulkner and Hemingway didn’t agree about writing styles, but they both said to kill your darlings. The same goes with video. No matter how long it took to get a shot, or animate an infographic, or source a photo, if it isn’t essential to the story, cut it out.
7. Test & Measure your results
Maybe the most important tip on this list is that nothing is absolute in the world of social media video. You can read all the tips and tricks you want, but you won’t know how to evaluate your results until you do just that.
Most of these tips we’ve listed here are very technical in nature. They will help to polish your video and make it look professional, but they can’t be substituted for having great, compelling, engaging content.
Post a video using our advice and measure how well it is received. If you aren’t getting the views and retention you desire, try something else. Strategy and success must be earned, and it can take a lot of work. Then again, you could always consult someone with expertise to help you get there.
You can contact us at hi@Rung-UP.com
Yuki Soga is a Creative Partner at Rung-UP, where he has produced countless videos that have been viewed millions of times.