We all know that videos on Facebook perform extremely well. Over the past year the number of video views per day has skyrocketed. Facebook now reports more than 4 billion video views happen on Facebook daily.
But what about the times when you have really good video and you want the traffic going to your website? Here’s a simple trick to get your audience to notice your content, while also encouraging them to view the video on your website. All you need is a great image with a subtle call to action. Use any attention-grabbing still shot from your video, put a play button icon overlay on it and use that as your custom image thumbnail for your Link Post on Facebook.

Video Tutorial
Here’s a short video showing exactly how to do this …
Step-by-Step Instructions
It’s easy, here’s how:
Step 1: We made it super simple… use this Google Drawing Template we created to get you started. Just click “File > Make a Copy” to create a new copy for your Google Drive.
Step 2: Get a good, attention grabbing still shot from your video. Crash caught on tape? Get the moment before impact. Great dash cam video? Get an intense moment. You get the point.
Step 3: Take that still shot and import it into the Google Drawing Template.
Step 4: Right click on the image and navigate to “Order > ‘Send to Back'” — This should make the play button come front and center.
Step 5: Go to “File > Download As > ‘PNG Image (.png)'” Once the file downloads, be sure to go name it accordingly so you can find it easier later.
Step 6: Attach your link in a new post, and click “Customize” under the thumbnail image, then select the image you just created.
Step 7: Customize your message, being sure to maintain best practices in your post text, and send it now, or schedule it for later!
Of course, you could use Photoshop or any other image editor to apply the play button overlay if that’s easier for you. You could even develop your own, brand-specific play button, like Rare News does, if you so choose. Ultimately, how you style it is up to you, but the more you make it look like a video player on Facebook, the more traffic you’re going to drum up from Facebook to your website.
If you have questions about this tip, you can always contact us at support@socialnewsdesk.com!