Facebook continues to update their post algorithm and for a long time photo posts performed the best of all post types. Marketers quickly identified this trend and started moving many of their post types to photo posts. This has resulted in a glut of photo posts and Facebook has altered the algorithm once again and photo posts are no longer King. They’re not even Prince.
The new King of Facebook: Video.
SocialBakers found in a study that video posts had 8.7% organic reach while photo posts performed the poorest with 3.7% organic reach. Here’s the complete list:
- Video 8.7% organic reach
- Status 5.8% organic reach
- Link 5.3% organic reach
- Photo 3.7% organic reach
That’s significant – 135% increase in reach when you use a video post compared to a photo post.
The quality of the post is still important: posting a bad video won’t beat a great photo, it really depends on the audience and what they like. If your posts are getting engagement and shares, you’re going to win with organic reach.
Ideas for Improving Organic Reach for Videos
1. Use Native Video
The best way to improve reach for video on Facebook is to post it natively. This means that you upload the video directly to Facebook versus uploading it to YouTube or Vimeo and then posting it. If you post it to a different platform, Facebook treats it as a link versus a video post.
2. Describe Your Video in a Compelling Way
When you upload the video, you have an opportunity to describe your video. Sell the video to the viewer so he is intrigued and wants to click. Then, have a good call to action at the end of the video and include a link at the end to your site.
3. Think Short Storytelling
Tell your story in short video clips spread out over time. This style of serial storytelling will provide a reason for people to engage with your page over time. Driving on-going interest in your social content will help your engagement which will help your organic reach.
4. Tell Your Story in Pictures
Facebook videos autoplay but they do not turn sound on by default. Many social media users scroll through their feed and see the video autoplay but do not click play at the time. They need to be drawn in and want to view your video just by the imagery and not the audio. Is your video compelling with the sound off? Create videos that people will want to watch with and without sound.
Facebook wants to be a powerful content platform and a video powerhouse. Creating excellent video posts and providing a mix of social posts will help as you go through Facebook algorithm changes.
