• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, February 4, 2016

Facebook is bullish on the potential of video advertising, and its focus will likely drive even more brands into the video ad fray this year -- with good reason.

The company has said that users are watching 100 million hours of video daily on the social network. On its most recent earnings call in late January, the company encouraged marketers to experiment with its video ads, from short form to sound-off to longer ones. Facebook videos start automatically and with the sound off.

Digital measurement firm Visible Measures said that 56% of the top 10 branded video views in 2015 occurred on the social giant, compared to none the year before. Meanwhile, YouTube claimed 42% of that pie.

Given this push into video, especially mobile, there are a number of best practices brands can implement so their creative pops better in the news feed. For starters, educational or informational short videos that are instructional in nature, such as a how-to video or tutorial, tend to be shared often, and users will often watch the entire video, said marketing firm Videospot, based on its analysis of Facebook video ads.

Video ads should also be short and contain some text and images on screen so the viewer understands the content even if the audio isn’t turned on. Captions and images with text are becoming more common, such as where signs are shown in videos or where frames tell the story in text as well.

Brands should also pay close attention to the critical first three seconds when they have the opportunity to grab attention and lure viewers to engage with the full video. Be sure to choose a compelling thumbnail, make the video embeddable, and then track performance to learn what worked, VideoSpot said.