A picture is worth 1,000 words, but according to Dr. James McQuivey, a video is worth 1.8 million words . It’s no wonder video posts have been exploding across social media over the past few years! And there’s no sign of videos slowing down (pun intended).

However, not all video is created equally. A good marketer knows they can’t just post the same video content across various digital channels and expect it to be effective. To see the most success possible, the video must be optimized for its specific channel. When Facebook (whether organic or paid) is part of your marketing strategy, here are 3 tips to ensure your videos are the most successful they can be.

1. Forget the Intro

   Typically, video editing 101 tells you to add an intro or title slide to properly introduce the content. But on social, every second matters . In fact, it’s best practice to do everything you can to capture attention in the first three seconds. This doesn’t mean a title and logo sitting on a stagnant screen. This means cutting straight to the meat of the video. And no fading up from black! Make those first few seconds bright, fast-paced, and interesting. Your goal is to make those ever-scrolling thumbs stop when they see your content in the newsfeed.

   You may wonder, “How do I brand the video then?”. Well, branding can be done in other creative ways. You could keep your logo in the corner of the video or even have your speaker drinking from a branded coffee mug. And of course, your brand and logo will be within the social post itself

2. Add Captions

   Think about it. How often do you scroll through Facebook with the sound on full blast? If you’re anything like these 85% of people who watch videos on Facebook , then your answer is probably “never!”

   Optimizing for sound-off is the new norm—it’s now being referred to as ”silent marketing.” This means having text and visuals strategically-placed throughout the video that helps viewers understand all aspects of the soundtrack, not just spoken words.

   With this shift in video best practice, comes new research. The good news is that studies have shown that video optimized for sound-off can be just as engaging and deliver similar brand recall and quality perceptions as those with sound.

3. Choose Your Thumbnail Strategically

   Have you ever stumbled across a video that seems to have frozen on the worst possible frame of someone talking? Eyes closed, mouth open, hands waving? It has happened to most of us, but Facebook makes it easy to edit.

   Yes, videos default to auto-play in the Facebook feed so many people will never see your video thumbnail. However, savvy consumers often turn this feature off. And when there isn’t a strong Wi-Fi or data connection, this auto-play feature is not enabled either.

   But there’s another reason you should be wary of your thumbnails. Optimizing your video for sound-off means you’ll have text on the screen. If your video thumbnail contains what Facebook considers “excessive” text, then your reach will inherently be lower. This goes for ads or boosted posts as well. Be sure to get the most bang for your buck by choosing the right thumbnail, or uploading a custom thumbnail.

While of course there are other things to keep in mind when creating content (like aspect ratio) , these are just a few simple tips to consider the next time you’re planning a video marketing campaign. We hope you’ll see a positive trend in results after optimizing your video specifically for Facebook!