Getting Facebook watch hours can seem confusing at first, but it’s actually quite straightforward once you understand how it works. Facebook introduced watch hours as a new metric to measure video performance and determine video monetization eligibility in 2018. Here’s a quick rundown of what Facebook watch hours are and how to get more of them for your videos.
What are Facebook watch hours?
Facebook watch hours measure the total amount of time people have watched your videos. It’s calculated by adding up the view duration from all your video views in the last 7 days.
For example, if you had 10,000 1-minute views of your videos in the past week, your total watch hours for the week would be 10,000 minutes or 167 hours.
Facebook introduced watch hours to give video creators a better sense of how engaging their videos are, beyond just view counts. While high view counts are great, watch hours show whether people are actually sticking around to watch most or all of your videos.
Why do watch hours matter?
Facebook uses watch hours to determine monetization eligibility for videos. To monetize videos with ads, pages need:
- 600,000 total 1-minute views in the last 60 days
- 5 or more active video uploads
- 10,000 total watch hours in the last 60 days
Reaching the 10,000 watch hours threshold shows Facebook that people consistently watch and engage with your videos. This gives them confidence that your content is high-quality and less likely to drive viewers away if monetized.
How to get more Facebook watch hours
Here are some tips to get more watch hours for your videos:
1. Optimize your videos for length
Videos between 1-4 minutes tend to get the highest average view duration on Facebook. Very short videos often aren’t meaty enough to hold viewer attention. Very long videos can be too much of a time commitment.
2. Hook viewers in the first 10 seconds
Facebook autoplays videos silently at first. You have just a few seconds to get viewers intrigued enough to turn on the sound. Use eye-catching visuals, text, and editing techniques to capture their attention fast.
3. Include interactive elements
Posts with questions, polls, or CTAs for viewers to comment or share tend to have higher engagement. This keeps them watching longer to interact.
4. Optimize your thumbnail and title
An appealing, descriptive thumbnail and title piques interest so viewers click to watch more. Spend time crafting these to accurately convey what the video is about.
5. Share teasers and clips
Post short 5-15 second video clips leading up to the full video. This builds anticipation so when you share the full-length video, viewers are primed and eager to watch.
6. Interact with commenters
Reply to any comments on your video, even days later. This keeps the video active and bumps it so more users see and engage with it over time.
7. Promote your videos
Share your videos across social media, embed them on your website, and promote them in email newsletters. Cross-promotion expands your reach and views.
8. Analyze and improve
Use Facebook Insights to see which videos get highest % completion rates and average view times. Make more content similar to your top performers.
How many watch hours do popular Facebook pages get?
Watch hour requirements obviously vary widely based on the size and type of Facebook pages. Here’s a rough look at approximate weekly watch hours for pages with different follower counts:
| Page Followers | Average Weekly Watch Hours |
|---|---|
| 100,000 | 300-500 |
| 500,000 | 1,500-2,500 |
| 1 million | 5,000-10,000 |
| 5 million | 50,000-100,000 |
| 10 million | 150,000-250,000 |
These are just ballpark averages – some pages achieve much higher watch hours based on their engagement levels and video optimization. But in general, this gives you a sense of benchmarks to aim for as your page grows.
Tips to Compare Your Watch Hours
When looking at other pages’ watch hours for comparison, keep a few things in mind:
- Focus on pages in a similar niche. Beauty, comedy, and news pages tend to get different levels.
- Look at channels with a similar upload schedule. Daily pages typically get more watch time.
- Factor in follower counts. Pages with more followers tend to get higher watch hours.
- Consider engagement levels too. A 100K page with very engaged followers may outperform a 1M page.
Getting on track for 10,000 watch hours
OK, so how do you actually get to that 10,000 watch hour threshold Facebook requires for monetization? Here are some tips:
Set an upload schedule
Posting regularly helps build audience anticipation and retention. 3-5x per week is a good goal. Even 1x week is better than sporadic uploads.
Find video lengths that work
Analyze your metrics to see if shorter or longer videos get better completion rates from your audience.
Reuse top-performing content formats
If certain videos like tutorials or listicles tend to perform well, make more using the same formula.
Use watch time metrics to optimize
See when dropoffs happen in videos and tweak that content to retain more viewers.
Promote videos cross-channel
Share your videos across all your social profiles, email lists, and elsewhere to maximize views.
Engage fans on older videos
Comment back, pin engaging comments, and resurface evergreen videos to keep watch time coming in.
Partner with other creators
Collab videos let you tap into other audiences and increase viewership.
Mistakes to avoid
On the flip side, here are some common mistakes that could hurt your watch hours:
Uploading infrequently or inconsistently
Sporadic uploads won’t build sustained viewership. Stick to a steady schedule.
Making very short videos
It’s hard to rack up watch time with videos under 30 seconds. Aim for 1-5 minutes.
Not promoting videos
You can’t just rely on Facebook’s algorithm. Active promotion across channels drives more views.
Using static thumbnails and titles
These don’t grab attention. Use dynamic text, emojis, and imagery that pops.
Ignoring video performance after posting
Keep promoting and engaging with videos to prolong watch time.
Switching up content styles
Find what works and stick with it. Drastic format changes can alienate existing viewers.
Using video ads to supplement watch hours
Running video ads on Facebook is another way to generate additional watch hours quickly. However, there are some caveats to keep in mind:
- Ad watch time does not count towards the 10,000 hour monetization requirement. You still need 10K hours from non-paid views.
- Ad views only help you meet the 600K 1-minute views threshold for monetization.
- Video ads can be expensive, especially for long-running campaigns.
But for a short burst to help hit 600K views or give your organic watch time a boost, ads can be helpful. Just don’t rely on them completely to try and fake your way to monetization. Focus on quality content and community-building for long-term watch hours.
Other Facebook video metrics to track
While watch hours are the key metric, here are some other video stats to monitor for a full picture:
Video views
This tells you total views but doesn’t account for length watched. Still useful to track growth.
Completion rate
Percentage of viewers who finished the video. Higher is better.
Click-through rate
Measures the % of impressions that resulted in clicks to watch. Optimize thumbnails and titles to boost this.
Engaged views
Views with a strong signal of viewer interest, like reactions or comments. These are high-quality views.
Peak view times
When your most views happen. Post more videos at these high-traffic periods.
Traffic sources
Where views come from – Facebook, YouTube, website embeds, etc. Tells you the best channels to promote videos.
Conclusion
Getting Facebook watch hours might seem confusing or daunting initially, but it comes down to a simple formula: create binge-worthy content optimized for the platform and promote it consistently in the right places. Track your performance data, continue improving based on what works, and you’ll hit those 10,000 watch hours in no time. The payoff of higher reach, engaged loyal fans, and unlocked monetization make it worth the effort.