The significance of branded video contentin social media marketing and other digital marketing strategies is growing. A report by Buffer Social found 83 percent of marketers plan on making more video content in 2017. If you haven’t started creating branded video content for your company, now is a good time to start.

Once you do start, you’ll want to measure your videos’ success. The following insights from our team of South Florida digital marketers and social media experts hope to address that goal. Below is an introductory guide to social video analytics and metrics for Facebook and Instagram.

FACEBOOK

Facebook Video

According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook plans to prioritize video across all its apps. If you want your brand to connect with Facebook users, branded video content is the way to go. The first option is to post a traditional video which can be up to 120 minutes in length or 10 minutes long if it is a 360 video. A Facebook video automatically plays and loops, but a view will only be counted if the user views the video for at least three seconds. There is an exhaustive analytics dashboard within a Facebook Page Insights where page owners can view their social video metrics.

Click on the “Videos” tab to see:

• Performance of all videos
• Total number of video views
• Total number of 10-second views
• Most viewed videos on Page
• Breakdown of views
• Organic vs. Paid
• Auto-Played vs. Clicked-to-Play
• Unique vs. Repeat

Click on the “Posts” tab to see:

• Performance of individual videos
• Reach
• Engagement level
• Post Clicks / Reaction, Comments, Shares
• Reactions / Comments / Shares
• Post Hides, Hides of All Posts, Reports of Spam, Unlikes of Page
• Engagement Rate
• Minutes viewed
• Unique viewers
• Video views
• 10-second views
• Video average watch time

Facebook Live

Facebook has put a lot faith in its live video platform Facebook Live and its algorithm prioritizes live videos. Videos that are live streaming appear higher in users’ News Feed than videos that are no longer live. There is red “LIVE” label at the upper-left corner on a live video and next to that label is a real-time view counter. Live videos need to be viewed for three seconds or more for that view to count and they can last for 240 minutes maximum. When a live stream ends it is automatically saved and published on the page as a regular video. The social video metrics for Facebook Live videos are the same ones as for normal videos, and they are accessed in the same places. There is only one metric that is unique to live videos:

• Peak live viewers

INSTAGRAM

Instagram Video

Instagram, which started out as a pictures-only platform, has quickly embraced video and now has three options for companies who want to publish branded video content. The first option is a traditional Instagram video (labeled by a movie camera icon on the upper right corner), which appears and is saved to an account’s feed. These videos automatically play and can only last 60 seconds before they automatically loop. A view time of 3 seconds or more counts as a view. Instagram only offers advanced analytics to business profiles, accessed by pressing “View Insights” where account holders can check the following metrics:

• Views (DIY metric tip: Add up views for all videos posted within a month and divide by the total number of videos for that month to get average number of views.)
• Likes
• Impressions
• Reach
• Engagement

Instagram Stories

Following the example of Snapchat, Instagram recently introduced its Instagram Stories. This new feature allows account holders to post a series of videos and images that disappear after 24 hours. These videos (which can last a maximum of 10 seconds) only appear on the Stories platform, unless they are saved to the account’s feed. A video view is counted as soon as the post is opened. The social video metrics of videos within a story disappear 24 hours after posting, so taking a screenshot may be necessary. Instagram business tools, available to business profiles, provides these metrics for each story:

• Views (DIY metric tip: Divide total number of views on the last post of a story by the total view count on the first post to get Completion Rate, the percentage of people who viewed all the posts in that story)
• Who viewed it
• Impressions
• Reach
• Engagement
• Replies
• Exits

Instagram Live

Multiple social media sites and apps have embraced live video and Instagram is no exception. Instagram Live is the most recent addition to the app’s video publishing tools. A live video can be streamed up to 60 minutes. Followers get a notification whenever the account goes live and a view is counted once a user joins the broadcast. After the broadcast ends, the video is not saved and therefore no longer viewable. Instagram Live videos do not come with an analytics dashboard, there are only two social video metrics available for them. The first can be viewed during the live stream on the upper right corner and the second is shown after the broadcast ends, both can only be saved with a screenshot. Here are two key metrics to analyze:

• Live viewers at any given time
• Number of viewers

At Keenability, our multi-skilled team of South Florida digital marketers and social media experts can help your brand kick start your branded video content and other social media marketing strategies. Call us today to find out how we can elevate your brand.

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