Having a strong brand presence on social media in 2021 is a must.

But, simply being present and posting brand announcements isn’t enough. You need to keep posting valuable content that attracts the right audience, gets more engagement, and ultimately results in better commercial performance for your brand.

This isn’t an easy job and it requires a lot of research and smart content creation.

Videos are the very pinnacle of content creation on Facebook. They might be harder to create than your infographics and lifestyle image posts but their return can be amazing. A well-thought-out video on Facebook can captivate your audience and provide you a steady stream of leads.

So, how do you post a video on Facebook and how can you make sure it gets the best results possible?

Read on to find out!

The popularity of video content on Facebook

Video has been pretty big on Facebook for quite some time – both for brands and their customers.

Wherever you look, it seems that people prefer video content over other formats and brands that use this format seem to get better results.

For example, one study found that people are 10 times more likely to share a Facebook native video than a video from YouTube. Not only that, but people comment and like these videos more as well.

When you think about it, this makes a lot of sense: Facebook will certainly prefer content that is native to the platform over something that requires you to go to another website. Furthermore, Facebook native videos are easier to watch and engage with – they play automatically so you don’t need to click on them. While this may not be a problem for desktop users, when mobile users click on a YouTube video shared on Facebook, the playing process is clunky.

Marketers have quickly picked up on this: 67% of marketers promote videos on Facebook while just over 50% do so on YouTube.

So, how can you join this and start posting videos on Facebook with success?

Facebook video formats

First, let’s go over all the video formats that Facebook allows. The format will dictate the general flow of the video, as well as the results you can expect.

Here are the types of videos you can post on Facebook.

Standard videos

Most videos you’ll see on Facebook are standard, Facebook native videos. They’re posted directly on the platform, either through the page or through Facebook’s Creator Studio (more on this later).

These videos can be up to 240 minutes long although it’s not recommended to go anywhere near this length. People have short attention spans and, unless you’re planning to upload the season finale of a popular TV show, going longer than an hour will hardly do you any good.

You’ll notice that Facebook newsfeed videos often have captions or similar graphics because they always start with the sound muted. This example from Viral Thread is a typical Facebook native video:

Clicking on this video will open the Facebook Watch platform which is a feed of video content based on your interests, watch history, and the topic of the video you’re currently watching.

Live videos

Live streams are a popular format to share current events, provide a peek behind the scenes, or engage with your fans in a direct way.

They’re often used for Q&A videos or simple interactions with the fans, where they can ask questions or send their suggestions to which your brand can react in real-time.

Gamers often use this format for live streams, as you can see here:

When live streaming a Facebook video, you need to have two important things in mind.

First, your internet connection needs to be perfect. You need to have a fast and, more importantly, stable connection so that your video doesn’t lag or significantly drop in quality. Also, keep in mind that your upload speed is more important than download when it comes to streaming.

Second, don’t forget that streaming drains the battery. If you’re streaming from your smartphone, make sure it’s on the charger!

360 videos

This type of video on Facebook is among the most interesting, visually striking formats you can post.

It allows the viewers to play around with the video by clicking (or tapping) and rotating the perspective to see 3600 around the camera. It’s often used for videos that feature breath-taking surroundings like outer space, stunning nature, amazing interiors, etc.

For example, this video uses the 360 format to demonstrate how it feels to fly an airplane from the cockpit:

YouTube video share

Finally, you can skip the process of posting a video on Facebook and share a video from YouTube. This can be convenient because you might want to post a video on YouTube first, to see if everything works the way it’s supposed to, and then simply embed the video in a Facebook post.

However, as we mentioned, videos posted directly on Facebook tend to get better results in terms of reactions, comments, and shares. So, it might be better to take the risk and post a Facebook native video.

How to post a video on Facebook?

So, how do you go about posting a video on Facebook? There are various ways to do this, depending on the format of your video and your preferences.

Directly from your page

The easiest way to post a video is from your business’s Facebook page. Underneath the large “Create post” button, you’ll see a “Photo/Video” button with a small icon. Clicking on that button will open the File Explorer on your PC, allowing you to select and upload the video you want.

When you select the video and click “Open”, you’ll see this box:

Here, you can add all the details you want about your video – your title and description are the most important. As you can see, you can add auto-captions for your video and Facebook will generate captions. Note that this doesn’t work that great for most languages and you’re much better off creating your own SRT file.

When you’re done with editing these details, click “Next”. You’ll enter the next screen, where you can decide who can see your video and other options when it comes to publishing. You’ll see a blue progress bar signifying that your video is being uploaded. Depending on the size of the video, this might take a while. You can keep editing the video details or browse through Facebook, you’ll be notified when the video is ready to publish.

From the Creator Studio

The process for posting videos from the Creator Studio is similar but it gives you slightly more options.

First, visit the Creator Studio. Click on the green “Create post” button on the left and select “Upload video” from the dropdown menu. Select the video you want to upload from your PC and click “Open”.

You’ll see a screen that looks like this:

Just like when posting from your page, you have several fields you need to fill in but they’re organized a little differently.

However, the key difference when posting from the Creator Studio is the fact that you can schedule your videos to be posted at some time in the future. This is a great option that you can’t get when posting from your page.

Alternatively, you can find a social media management tool to schedule videos if you don’t want to use the Creator Studio.

Starting a live stream

Posting a live stream is different from posting a regular video and requires a lot more work.

For starters, you need to decide whether you want to stream from your phone/PC or use more professional equipment. If it’s the latter, you’ll need streaming software that you can connect with the Live Producer platform on Facebook and synchronize everything to make sure it works.

It may sound complicated but Facebook made some changes to its platform to make this process much easier.

Under the “Create post” and “Add photo/Video” buttons, you’ll see a “Live” button that allows you to start a live stream. Click on that button and proceed to this screen:

A lot is going on here but your most important fields are the ones at the top: “Use stream key”, “Use camera”, and “Use paired encoder”.

The “Use camera” one is pretty clear – it’s for when you want to start the stream using the camera on your current device.

The other two options are for using streaming software. You use the “Server URL” and “Stream key” options to easily connect with different streaming platforms. Here’s a detailed guide from Facebook on how to do that.

Once you’re done with setting everything up (and you’ll see a preview in the bottom right corner), click the “Go Live” button in the bottom left corner and keep monitoring your stream! You’ll see reactions and comments you can interact with in real-time during the live stream.

Tips on creating a video for Facebook

What should you pay attention to when creating a video? Here How to make a Facebook video that will get results.

• Keep it short. We already mentioned that Facebook doesn’t place a significant limit on the length of your video: it can be up to four hours long! According to Facebook’s own recommendations, videos up to 15 seconds have the best chance to be watched until the end. Another study found that videos between 2 and 5 minutes might be best if you’re aiming for engagement.
  

• Explore current trends. When it comes to the topics you want to cover, it’s always good to stay on top of the latest trends. We all remember the viral bottle flipping challenge that was raging on social media a few years back. Making a bottle-flipping video at that time would almost guarantee you a certain number of views or even getting featured in a compilation.
  

• Use tags. Facebook video tags are an underutilized option. They allow users to find your videos when searching for certain keywords. You can tag a video on Facebook with up to eight tags, just make sure you use the ones that are relevant to its topic.
  

• Include captions or graphics. A lot of people will watch your videos on mute, which is why you need to make sure that all the videos work without sound. Captions, subtitles, chyrons, and other graphics can help bring your videos to life and make up for the lack of sound. The Dodo does a great job of creating heart-warming, engaging videos that can work without sound.
  

• Promote your videos. Finally, if you want to get a lot of Facebook views, you need to invest in advertising. Visit Facebook for Business and discover how you can do this to get the best results. It’s usually as easy as clicking the “Boost Post” option under one of your posts but promoting a video introduces another set of rules that you might need to take into account.

Conclusion: Post a video on Facebook and get the max number of views

Posting a video on Facebook is not hard – the platform’s creators have made sure that the process is as intuitive and familiar as possible.

Whether you’re posting from your PC or smartphone, you’ll hardly find the process challenging. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine! If you run into any trouble, feel free to consult this guide.

However, getting views on the video you posted is a different story. Nothing guarantees success but keeping your videos short, following current trends, and promoting your videos through the Business Manager will go a long way towards getting you more Facebook views.

Experiment and have fun with your videos: your viewers will appreciate it!

And, if you’re not sure how to go about the production process, check out Bonjoro. Our platform is proof that you don’t need a big production team to create engaging videos. You can do it all on your own – with zero coding knowledge!

Register for a free trial and check it out.