Facebook Video Views: How To Get More Views in 12 Steps

Want To Boost Your Facebook Video Views?

We’ve used video content in so many of our clients’ Facebook campaigns. 

This video is what helped us drive over $10K in revenue for this eCommerce client.

This video is what helped us increase this Hilton location’s followers by over 30,000% and engagement by over 10,000%.

And we got over 24,000 video views for this pedal tour sightseeing service which led to 92 actual purchases.

Videos are the leading media type on social media right now.

And in our experience as a digital marketing agency, it has made all the difference in our clients’ Facebook campaigns. 

And there are a lot of statistics out there that explain why video works so well in marketing campaigns. 

64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos.

68% of consumers prefer watching videos to learn about new products or services, as compared to articles, infographics, eBooks, and presentations.

Consumers who end up on an eCommerce site through a user-generated video are 184% more likely to purchase, spend 45% more, and the list goes on 

Your video marketing strategy plays a huge role in your target audience’s purchasing process.

So in today’s post, we’re going to show you how to get more Facebook video views in 12 steps. 

The 12 steps that we’re sharing today are practices we really use every day to help our clients, and ourselves, get more Facebook video views and results. 

12 Steps To Get More Facebook Video Views

Step 1: Create longer videos
Step 2: Choose topics your audience cares about
Step 3: Use real people
Step 4: Upload your video natively to Facebook
Step 5: Go live on Facebook
Step 6: Be specific with your title
Step 7: Add subtitles to your videos
Step 8: Add tags
Step 9: Enable in-stream ads on your video
Step 10: Add your videos to playlists and series
Step 11: Collab
Step 12: Promote your video using Facebook ads

Step 1: Create longer videos

Before we start getting into the post-production and promotion side of things…

…we need to first look at the video itself and make any necessary changes in the creation process. 

For the longest time now, we’ve seen the push for shorter and shorter videos. 

You hear all the time about how people’s attention spans are shrinking, not growing.

And we’ve seen short-form TikToks and Instagram Reels take off as a result of that.

However, when it comes to getting more Facebook video views, you have to keep in mind that Facebook’s algorithm is partial to what’s good for Facebook. 

And Facebook wants people to stay on its platform longer.

So if your video is longer, Facebook has more incentive to promote your video organically…

…and have more people watch it because it keeps people on their platform longer. 

So don’t shy away from lengthening your videos.

Step 2: Choose topics your audience cares about

You’re making Facebook happy with longer videos.

Now you need to make your audience happy by making videos about things they actually care to stop and watch. 

You can do this by making a list of pain points your audiences have, or goals they want to achieve as it relates to your product or service. 

Let’s look at LYFE Marketing for example.

We are a digital marketing agency and our clients consist of small business owners whose goal is to grow their company and revenue via online marketing.

Thus, our entire YouTube channel is dedicated to putting out tutorials and informative videos that help you guys achieve that goal.

And the same concept applies to Facebook videos.

You want to make videos about something of value to your audience as it relates to your business.

And if you’re doing it right, they won’t even care that the videos are longer.

Even if you follow every other step on this list, it won’t matter if your video content at its core is not something people want to watch.

Step 3: Use real people

In most cases, sharing what’s called a “talking head” video where you can see the person’s face talking…

…those videos tend to outperform videos that are solely animated. 

Now we say “most cases” because there are some circumstances where animation or explainer videos perform really well.

And there isn’t as much of a need for showing your face on camera. 

So we would advise you to test this out for yourself.

But in our experience, when you’re trying to build trust in your brand (by providing free value to your audience in a long-form video)…

…it’s better to show a real person from your company on camera.

So once you’ve created the video, it’s time to start getting into post-production steps you can take to maximize your Facebook video views. 

By the way, you also might want to check out our new social media ads webinar, wherein you will find more tips on maximizing your social media presence.

Step 4: Upload your video natively to Facebook

This step is quick and easy and may already be obvious to some of you, but make sure you upload your video directly to Facebook. 

Don’t just link to your YouTube video or any other platform because again, Facebook wants to keep users on its platform for longer.

And if your native video helps them achieve that goal, they’ll promote it organically…

…more than they would if it was a link to watch the video somewhere else.

Step 5: Go live on Facebook

To go live means to film a real-time video on Facebook. 

Facebook says:

“Go live on Facebook to broadcast a conversation, performance, Q&A, or virtual event.

When broadcasting live, your community has the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions, comment, react, or just follow along in real-time.”

So in creating lives, you’re automatically showing your face and uploading videos natively to Facebook.

You can choose to talk about things your audience cares about by answering their questions in real-time.

Additionally, the length of Facebook lives can be up to 8 hours.

Now we know going live can seem really daunting and nerve-wracking, but it’s a good way to get more Facebook video views.

If you want to learn more tips on live streaming, then be sure to read this post next.

Step 6: Be specific with your title

You want your title to make your video very obvious as to what it’s about. 

Sure you can include a teaser or somewhat clickbait-y language to draw people in…

…but if you just totally mislead people with the title, you’re going to see higher bounce rates from your video and less Facebook video views as a result.

It also helps to include lists in the title if possible because people love lists.

We mean look at Buzzfeed as an example. Verbiage like Top 5 this, 11 best that, 6 steps to this, and etc. usually draw more attention.

And specifically, Facebook videos with numbers in their titles get higher views on average.

So be strategic with your title to get maximum attention.

Step 7: Add subtitles to your videos

Subtitles or “captions” are the same thing.

One study of U.S. consumers found that “92% view videos with the sound off on mobile.”

And that “80% of consumers are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available.”

We’re sure a lot of you have done this in your personal scrolling where you watch the video with the sound off. 

And it’s often just so much more convenient when the captions are there to help you understand and watch the video without having to turn the volume on.

So there’s a couple of ways you can add captioning. 

Facebook has a feature that can auto-generate captions for you when you’re uploading a video.

In fact, recently they’ve started automatically selecting that option for you. 

The only thing is, it’s not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. 

So if you click Video Options, and scroll down to the add captions dropdown, you can either:

• Choose to “Add Auto-generated Captions”
• Select the option “Don’t add captions until I review” where you’ll have to review all auto-generated captions.

That is before they are added to your video, including high-accuracy ones.

• Or, you can upload the subtitles manually in a (.srt) file. 

If you want to turn off auto-generated captions altogether, you’ll have to do so in your Facebook page settings. 

If you do that, you can also outsource this task to companies like Fiverr.

However, we don’t really see the need for that expense when you can just review Facebook’s free captioning to get it accurate.

Step 8: Add tags

Facebook video tags are similar to hashtags in that they help extend your video’s organic reach, thus helping you boost your Facebook video views too.

When you’re uploading your video, just click into the “Add tags” textbox…

…and start adding relevant keywords that you think people are typing into the Facebook search bar. 

You can see some of the recent tags we’ve used here.

Once you’re done typing the keyword, add a comma at the end of the word or phrase, and Facebook will enter it in as a tag for your video. 

This is just a quick, free tool to help you get a few extra organic Facebook video views!

Step 9: Enable in-stream ads on your video

You’ll need to upload your video from Creator Studio to do this, instead of directly from your Facebook business page.

And you’ll also need to click on the Monetization dropdown within Creator Studio…

…to first follow the prompts for making your page eligible for monetization. 

But once you’ve got all that squared away, you can actually start making money from your videos. 

Essentially, you’re allowing other people’s ads to appear within your video, and you get compensated for that.

And this is a win-win for both you and Facebook.

Because if you’re making money from your Facebook videos, Facebook is making money from your Facebook videos. 

And again this gives Facebook further incentive to put your video in front of more eyeballs. 

So you’ve probably noticed a pattern by now that if it helps Facebook, it helps you.

Step 10: Add your videos to playlists and series

Facebook says if you add your video to a playlist or series, it optimizes how your related videos get recommended to viewers.

And Facebook even includes it in the sidebar checklist when you’re uploading a video to encourage you to do it.

So essentially, you want to create binge-able content, and it’s easier to do that when you organize your videos by playlists or series.

It makes it easier for Facebook to suggest more of your videos to viewers…

…because it knows which videos are related to the one they’re watching if they’re from the same playlist.

And, it also makes it easier for your audience to just sit and watch a whole playlist’s worth of your content.

This is another quick and easy thing you can do when uploading your videos to get more Facebook video views.

Step 11: Collab

If you can find other pages in your niche that share a similar demographic of followers…

…you can reach out to them to see if they’d be willing to collaborate with you.

In this case with the goal being to get more Facebook video views…

…you could ask them to share your video on their page while you share a video of theirs on your page.

If you’ve heard the phrase “shoutout for shoutout” it’s kind of like that. 

But for this, you wouldn’t necessarily want to collaborate with a direct competitor. You’d want to find an interesting account and the likes. 

Let’s say, for example, your business is a car detailing service specifically for older classic cars.

You could partner with a Facebook page called “Classic Car Lovers” where it’s not necessarily a competing business…

…but instead just a related account with people who would likely be interested in what you sell. 

You get the benefit of more Facebook video views from people that could turn into customers.

And the page admin you’re partnering with gets the benefit of more video views that could turn into more page likes for them.

You can also take a similar approach with Facebook Groups, although many have strict rules and you have to request to enter. 

So sometimes, it can be easier to collaborate with a page.

But if you can get in contact with a relevant Facebook Group willing to collaborate with you, then by all means go for it!

This method just helps you get extra organic views from a qualified audience who may not have been exposed to your brand otherwise.

Speaking of FB Groups, if you want to learn more about using Facebook Groups for small business, then here’s the perfect post for you.

Step 12: Promote your video using Facebook ads

In Facebook Ads Manager, there’s specifically a campaign objective for video views.

This means that the campaign on the backend is designed to show your ad to people within the target audience you select.

These are the folks who are most likely to watch your video fully.

In other words, it optimizes for video views.

So this is a very direct way to get more Facebook video views because you’re just paying Facebook directly to place your video in front of more targeted eyeballs. 

So those were our 12 steps to get more Facebook video views!

If you’re interested in working with a reputable Facebook marketing company, get in touch with us today!

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