HOW TO

BUILD AFACEBOOKBUSINESS VIDEOin 5 minutes

Nearly half of U.S. small businesses don’t haveweb sites, according to a new study fromClutch.com. Instead, they’re using review sitessuch as Yelp.com and Angie’s List, or socialnetworks such as Facebook to get the word outabout their businesses.

To promote moresmall business use ofFacebook’s platform,Facebook rolled outa new feature – YourBusiness Story –that makes it easierfor SMBs to tell theirbusiness storythrough video.

Here's how tomake yours...

Step 1: Go toyourbusinessstory.fb.com –Facebook will prompt you tolog on.

You can only create a businessvideo if you’re an authorizedAdministrator for a Facebookpage. If you’re an Admin formultiple pages, choose the oneyou want to create thisbusiness video for.

Step 2: Choose your photos.

Facebook’s businesses aren’tfull-motion extravagances:they’re low-tech (albeitattractive) video montages thatsequence through 8 of yourphotos, providing a quick video montage. Facebooklets you easily select and sequence the photos sothat they provide the movement required to conveya good story. If you haven’t yet uploaded 8 photos,Facebook will prompt you to do so. Confirm yourphoto selections and go onto the next page.

Step 3: Tell your story (very briefly)

Facebook only gives you90 characters to expressyour business saga: thesecharacters will appearafter Facebook’s cannedtext reading“We’re in the business of…” Obviously, you should choosetext that makes sense in this context. Once you’re happywith this text, choose “Confirm Your Story.”

Step 4: Choose your music.

You’re not going to findanything particularlycutting-edge on this page(sorry folks, no Bowie,Prince, or Miles Davis here).

Facebook’s music accompaniment selections are a bitMuzaky, but are probably adequate for many smallbusinesses. Currently Facebook offers a “rocklike” track,“synth,” “electronica,” and percussion-only tracks.

Step 5: Agree with Facebook’sterms.

Facebook provides someadditional boilerplate languagebeyond its standard TOSgranting it a worldwide, non-exclusive right to display yourideo around the world. Unlessyou have an objection to theseadded terms, click “I Agree” andyou’re done.

Step 6: Wait About 10 Minutes.

Facebook processes these videos veryquickly: our test video was live on theintended page within about 10 minutes.

A note -- You can create additionalvideos with different storylines, which isvery useful if your business does morethan one thing.

A couple ofinteresting thingsto notice aboutYour BusinessVideo are:

1. It’s formatted in thesquare (1:1) format,which seems to havebecome the favoritevideo aspect ratio onsocial media, so checkto make sure that anyimages formatted toother ratios haven’tbecome cropped in anunpleasant way.

2. The video addsa gentle zoom-outeffect to eachimage (call it a“limited Ken Burnseffect.”)

3. Once your videois live, you canboost it – just likeany otherFacebook post.

4. If you don’t likeyour video, youcan just delete it.

Facebook’s video tool doesn’t provide anysophisticated effects, editing capabilities, or eventhe ability for the business to provide its own narrationtrack. Many small businesses may find it inadequate forpresenting a refined brand image.

But for those businesses who lack marketing budgets andwant to project a livelier, moreanimated view of what they do -- without spending muchtime or money doing it -- Your Business Story is worthinvestigating.

Facebook's Your Business Story is quick,easy to use, and can put small businessesinto video production without spending adime on production.

Video is big these days: provided you have high-quality photos available (and a good story that willfit into the 90 character limit), you can get into thevideo game in less than a half hour of work.

Do you have more questions aboutsocial media and video marketing?

WE CAN HELP.