Facebook Video Specs

Facebook Video Best Practices

*Photo by @timbennettcreative on Unsplash*

If you’re a regular Facebook user, you might have noticed a surge in the number of video ads on the platform. While businesses still use photo ads and carousel ads, they’re growing increasingly fond of the video advertising format. And there’s a good reason for that – people love watching videos. In fact, Facebook has an average daily video view of 8 billion.

Use the list below to improve your video strategy, determine areas of improvement for distribution or to give yourself a roadmap to success! Keep in mind that both your individual videos and the overall behavior you demonstrate on your page factor in to your video distribution.

Recommended Facebook Video Specs

Frames per second: 30 fps
Minimum bit rate:
720 px resolution: 3 mbps
1080 px resolution: 6 mbps
Lots of Motion or Text: 6 mbps

Recommended Facebook Video Lengths

It’s a myth that only short videos work well on Facebook. In fact, both short and longer videos can resonate, as long as the length makes sense for your content and keeps fans coming back for more.

Longer videos are ideal for episodic shows, developing storylines, live streaming and so on.

1 - 3 minutes (good)
3+ minutes (best)

Shorter videos are ideal for sharing fun and interesting moments, teasers, announcements, polls, ads and so on.

Less than one minute
Maximum 20 seconds for Stories

Facebook Mobile Video Best Practices

Your mobile viewers will likely demonstrate these behaviors. We recommend the respective tips to help make sure you reach them!

Scrolling quickly
Hook viewers within the first three seconds of your video
Use recognizable branding
Scrolling vertically
Consider using a 1:1 (square) or 9:16 (vertical) ratio to frame your story and make the most of mobile real estate
Viewing on a small screen
Use close-in shots, easily legible text, bright colors and faces
Engaging frequently
Post frequently and regularly

Facebook Video Authenticity Tips

Find your own voice.
Do you speak formally or informally?
Are you quick to laugh?
Do you have a characteristic quirk or habit? Embrace it!
Be yourself, be real and talk about things that genuinely matter to you.
Express yourself!
Don't impersonate or mislead.
Hold yourself accountable for your statements and opinions.
Publish your own original content rather than sharing content from other sources.
Be meaningful and thoughtful.

Make Sure Your Facebook Video Content Respects Intellectual Property

Before sharing content on Facebook (or anywhere, really), please be sure you have the right to do so. Respect other people’s copyrights, trademarks and other legal rights. It's more than just our preference; it's the law!

Make Sure Your Facebook Video Uses Both Sound and Captions

Design for sound off, but delight with sound on. There are large audiences who stay on mute but also large audiences who don't. Don't miss out on either!

Tips For Sound On and Tips For Sound Off

Sound on

Record voice and/or sound during production.
Use Sound Collection to download free, legal music and sound effects, then add the tracks to your video. Learn more about Sound Collection.

Sound off

Include your own text overlays and logos when editing your video to help communicate your brand.
Add Captions & Subtitles to help communicate your message. You have three options for adding captions from within the video's settings:
- Auto-Generate (always be sure to review for accuracy)
- Write (you can add timeline segments and type in the text for each)
- Upload (if you already created captions for your video on YouTube, you can generate a SubRip (.srt) file to use on Facebook)
- People who watch your video with sound off will automatically see captions. People who watch your video with sound on will need to manually turn on captions to see them.

Make Sure Your Facebook Video is Eye-catching and Easy to Find

Make sure your video's title, description and thumbnail help your future fans discover you on Facebook!

Searchability Tips:

Add an accurate, meaningful title and description.

Create an eye-catching thumbnail.
Add accurate Video Tags (these aren't visible to people, but they do help Facebook make your videos easier to find).
It’s also a good idea to create a video message to help educate your fans on how to find and follow your videos on Facebook Watch. Here's a sample script, but we encourage you to create something in your own voice!
Hi [Page Name] fans, I'm so excited for you to see my new video [Video Title] available on Facebook Watch. Need help finding it? In the Facebook App, tap the Watch icon or find it in the menu, search for [Page Name] and then follow my Page. Once you start following my Page, my latest videos will show up in your Watchlist!

VideoFresh’s team of video marketing experts is ready to help you to craft the perfect videos to boost your online customer conversions.