Facebook Unveils Free Tool Enabling Creators To Test Video Post Performance Before Publishing

Facebook is launching a nifty tool for video makers that will live within its Creator Studio —  a mobile and web platform enabling creators to publish and manage their content.

The tool will allow creators to test different iterations of the same post against one another to determine which performs best across Facebook, with respect to a number of different metrics. Creators can A/B test different aspects of a post’s creative, including the video asset, headline, description, and thumbnail. Creators can then select the metrics they want to measure — including comments, shares, 1-minute video views, reactions, people reached, or link clicks.

The tool functions by distributing a max of four different post options to a subset of users across News and Watch feeds, without actually publishing them. Creators can can also choose to test more than one aspect of a post at a time. Once the test concludes, a ‘winner’ is determined based on the selected metrics, and the post auto-publishes.

Facebook notes that the free tool aims to better help creators strategize and sustain learnings about audiences over time. The A/B test joins another recent addition to Creator Studio, the Rights Manager For Images tool, which enables video creators to protect and manage their photo IP.

“If you were to ask me if there’s any feature I could have, it would be this,” inspirational content creator Dhar Mann, who counts 18.2 million Facebook followers, said in a statement. “When my producer is arguing with my editor about what the intro should be, we can end the argument and just let the audience decide.”

The tester tool is currently rolling out to select video partners, Facebook says, and will be available to everyone in coming months.