If you are using Facebook as part of your online marketing, I do hope you are using videos on your Page to increase reach and engagement.
On the 4 March 2018, I noticed a new layout on one of my Facebook pages when going to edit a live stream. I have seen some changes in the last few weeks with the way that we upload captions to a Page for videos which then seemed to roll back, so it is not clear if this is a design that is being tested, especially as I don’t have the same layout on all my Pages. However the feature does say “welcome to the new video uploader”.
You will note from the screen shots that the editing options are now down the right hand side of the video.
At the bottom of the editing screen for your video you will see three little dots – that give you the option of making the video a featured video on your Page, accessing the embed link for the video and also downloading the video in HD.
I was particularly interested in seeing the option to dowload the HD version of the video as this has not been available for many months – clicking on the button did allow the video to be downloaded but it seems at the time of testing to be no different to the SD version I downloaded.
You can see an example of a featured video in the screen shot below – the video appears at the top of your video page.
One of the key things you need to do to get more click throughs on your video or live stream replay on Facebook is to have a compelling thumbnail – you have the option to:
1 – select a thumbnail from your video
2 – or upload a custom thumbnail, which is what I usually do especially for my live stream replays.
You can preview or change the custom thumbnail before saving it to your video.
In the area titled “Distribution” you can choose where you want the video to appear – deselect the “allow embedding” feature of you do not wish to permit people to embed your content.
The “Cross Posting“ feature allows the video to be used across multiple Pages. You can establish a crossposting relationship with another Page and choose which videos the Page can crosspost.
This feature allows:
– Granting permission to post a video with other Pages
– Re-use of videos that have already been posted
– A consolidated view counter that counts video views across all instances of the video.
To establish a crossposting relationship with another Page:
– Click Settings at the top of your Page
– Click Crossposting in the left column
– Begin typing the Page’s name or Facebook URL and select it from the list that appears.
The Page must confirm the relationship by adding your Page to its crossposting settings. To help the Page confirm the relationship, click and send the confirmation link to an admin of the Page.
Adding Captions to your videos on Facebook is essential to help people understand the content of the video as many people scroll through Facebook with the sound off.
I have covered in many tutorials about Facebook video captions – the new Facebook Video Uploader gives you the options to:
1 – select the language of the video
2 – upload captions or edit the auto generated captions – note that while the feature allows you to upload captions in multiple languages, I found that at the time of testing the new Facebook Video Uploader, it did not permit me to add captions in US English and UK English as was previously available
3 – you can then choose the default language for your captions.
Remember to click “Save” once you have uploaded or edited your captions.
You also have the option to add labels to help you search for your video.
Finally, don’t forget to add Tags to your video – this is located under the description of the video and helps people search and find your content.
One thing I noticed when using the new Facebook Video Uploader is that the ability to add a Messenger button to the video seems not to be available at this time – see a screen shot of what you would get access to in the old video uploader. I personally like this feature as it enables people to Message you on Facebook for example with a response to a question you might ask in the video.
This is what the “Send Message” button would look like under your video post. I do hope this feature returns to the new Facebook Video Uploader.
I hope you found this walk through of the new Facebook Video Uploader of assistance in helping you navigate the interface.
If you would like to watch a video tutorial about how to use the new Facebook Video Uploader you can watch it here or on YouTube.
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To learn more tips about how to use Facebook videos to support your marketing and communications read this article.
If you have questions about using live audio or live video in your communications plans you can schedule a conversation with me here.
