Facebook Video Changes - Feb. 2017

Dustin Comm

Director of The Media Story, podcast and blog.

The above image isn't an actual video, so don't get frustrated trying to click it! :)

As anyone familiar with Facebook Pages knows, their algorithms change all the time, so note the date on this post and take it with a grain of salt if you're coming to it years later... :)

So far in 2017, Facebook videos aren't getting as many views as 2016, relatively speaking. Pages receiving a certain number of views last year are seeing half the views on average this year.

In general with Facebook, it's easy to get hung up on the "why," and trying to understand/beat the algorithm, but I'd just focus on the "how" of creating more effective video posts with these changes, which sometimes takes some experimenting.

Many pages are now focusing on achieving longer viewing time to boost their post in the rankings. Running down a Top 5 list or starting with an unresolved conflict from the beginning which creates anticipation to see the end will increase view duration. The more complete views, the more Facebook will show the video to users.

Also, with Facebook soon introducing ads into their videos and sharing revenue with publishers, many videos below the 90-second threshold to qualify for ad sharing won't be featured as high. Make sure your videos are at least a minute and a half to avoid that penalty.

And if you haven't used Facebook Live yet, those videos are showing up first in users' feeds and have top priority over anything else the platform offers. So if you can record something off-the-cuff, go with Live and get an automatic boost from the algorithm.

Don't let these new changes get you down. Video is the most powerful tool we have to tell our story and invite our communities into that story! Make sure you're using video no matter what.

This article was originally posted on The Media Story.