BMW recently got almost 9 million views with the following Facebook video. What aspects of video marketing did BMW nail with this ad, and how could they have done even better?
The video is fun, quirky, and shows off the value of the remote control parking function (if you ignore the fact that the passenger of the car they parked next to has to get in their car somehow).
What did they do right?
BMW nailed several of the important elements of a great Facebook video. It’s short (Facebook video viewers have an even shorter attention span that YouTube viewers). It works even with the sound off (85% of Facebook videos are viewed without sound). What’s more, BMW have been really great at responding to comments on the video. That’s no mean feat considering there have been over 14 thousand so far.
What did they do wrong?
As I said, this is a great example of a Facebook video. And Facebook can be a great way to engage people, but it’s not the only way. This video doesn’t appear to have been uploaded to BMW’s YouTube channel at all.
Yes, I’m sure that BMW has a whole social strategy and they focus more on Facebook than YouTube. Perhaps this is because they have 19 million followers on Facebook and less than a million YouTube subscribers. Or maybe it’s the other way round, and those numbers are due to the company’s choice of platform to focus on.
So, should you follow BMW’s lead and only post in one place? I don’t think you should. Facebook is the new kid in town as far as video is concerned, and there are still some limitations on how well it works for business.
For one, a Facebook video view is not the same as a YouTube view. Facebook counts a view after 3 seconds. How many of those 9 million views were actually people who watched the video rather than scrolling past while it autoplayed?
More importantly, in my opinion, Facebook makes it hard to search for videos. So in a couple more weeks nobody will be watching this. On the other hand, search is YouTube’s main advantage, giving videos a far longer shelf life. If somebody asks their friend in a month’s time whether they saw that great BMW remote controlled parking video – where are they going to look?
More Marketing Video Blogs
For more tips on making your marketing video amazing, check out our previous blogs below: