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How to create Facebook videos that break through and get noticed

Huffington Post and Daily Mail are some of the top publishers dominating the Facebook video scene in recent months thanks to unique content that leverages feel-good human-interest stories, top news and interesting science. 

Facebook users? news feeds are increasingly cluttered with videos, which means publishers have serious competition in getting noticed. Huffington Post has seen significant success lately with many of its videos earning high engagement levels, possibly because the media company knows what its audience is interested in, something all marketers can accomplish through the use of data. 

"For marketers, getting a Facebook video noticed is all about thoughtful, calculated engagement,? said Anna Lothson, senior content strategist at Macon Raine. ?Pay attention to data and metrics. 

?While this may seem obvious, what many marketers fail to do is take the extra time to ensure their videos will resonate with a specific, targeted audience,? she said. ?Because Facebook's algorithms are designed to feature videos with higher engagements - reactions, etc. 

?It is important that marketers focus on how their message will capture its intended audience and if the videos have the necessary elements to encourage users to share, comment, react (like, love or hate) and enable others to engage with the videos, too. That means thinking about topics that are focused on thought leadership over pure product or service promotion."

Mobile video popularity 
Now that social media and mobile have given consumers the tools to become publishers themselves, it is important for publishers to share content on these platforms that stands out. It is no longer relevant for media brands to try and get their audience to come to them, but now calls for publishers to reach users where they are already spending most of their time. 


Facebook is still a major player in social media and now acts as a platform for users to get all their news and entertainment content in one place. Video is the dominating factor here and marketers must leverage data to make sure their content is hitting the right audience with the right content at the right time and place. 

Huffington Post success
The Huffington Post had two videos in the top slot for engagement in two consecutive weeks, according to NewsWhip. Its video Cats Get Brain Freezes Too saw a total of 2.4 million engagements on Facebook. 


"Marketers need to connect with the interests of their target audience to make videos that get noticed, watched, and shared,? said Liam Corcoran, head of communications at NewsWhip. ?NewsWhip data shows that the publishers and brands that manage to get big engagement levels for videos are the ones that tell unique stories."

"Like all content on Facebook, the videos have to stand out in order to attract engagement from a time-poor audience,? he said. 

?There is huge competition for space in news feeds, so the videos need to be compelling and informative to get re-shared and spread across Facebook. When used properly, native video allows them to deliver stories to the audience on their terms: mobile, visual, and fast."