There are over four billion video views on Facebook each day. Those views add up to over 100 million hours of viewing time. There’s no denying the popularity of video on not just Facebook, but all social media sites. But why is it such a powerful medium? In this week’s analysis we explore the boom of video on social, and how your business can capitalise.
All the major social media sites have been investing big in video over recent years. And when you look at the numbers the format pulls in terms of reach and engagements, it’s easy to see why:
- On YouTube, there are more than five billion video views each day
- On Facebook around 500 million individual users watch videos every day
- On Twitter, a video tweet is six times more likely to be retweeted than a photo tweet
- Instagram Stories has over 300 million daily active users
- And on Snapchat, there are 10 billion video views each day
“I see video as a megatrend, same order as mobile,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors in February last year. Unsurprisingly, marketers cottoned on quickly.
In fact, there has been a 17% leap in the use of video marketing over the past 12 months, according to Wyzowl’s The State of Video Marketing 2018 survey. 81% of businesses currently use video as a marketing tool (up 63% from 2017), and of that group 99% plan to continue investing in video over the next 12 months. What’s more, two-thirds of the 19% not currently using video say they plan to start this year.
It is evident that the majority of marketers have grasped the potential of video and are pleased with the results thus far. But what is it that makes video such an effective tool in the first place?
It comes down to connecting with the audience. Videos provide a highly visual storytelling platform that allows the brand to shape their image, share their narrative and engage with consumers. In fact, a 2017 paper from BBC’s Science of Engagement research showed that, compared to text content, video is five times more effective in shifting brand image, four times more effective at driving brand consideration, three times more effective at driving brand recommendations, and twice as effective in terms of content persuasion.
Why? “Because text makes you think, while video makes you feel,” the BBC researchers hypothesised. Effective marketing is all about stirring an emotional reaction in your audience, whether that be happiness, sadness, intrigue or surprise. One of the best ways for a brand to do that is through shaping a narrative around the brand – and video provides an immersive, visual storytelling medium.
So, how can your brand take advantage of this social media video boom? There are a number of exciting features available for use in both organic and paid marketing strategies. Here are a few of the most popular:
- Instagram Stories: As noted above, Instagram Stories has 300 million daily active users. These Stories, comprised mainly of short videos (no longer than 15 seconds), as well as images, are quick, easy and inexpensive to create. And with a slew of fun features like stickers, polls and gifs, they give brands plenty of room for creativity and fun. What’s more is that they are seriously effective at generating reach. Socialbakers calculates that the average Instagram story reaches 7-8% of a brand’s follower base, and top brands, are achieving up to 20-30% reach.
- Facebook Stories: Facebook’s Stories offering is trailling behind Instagram at 150 million daily active users, however the company’s COO Chris Cox said this week that Stories were set to overtake news feed sharing (i.e. regular posts) by the end of the year. This is clearly a space to watch, and provides an opportunity for savvy brand’s to get on the front foot with a new type of social media format.
- Facebook and Instagram Video Ads: There are a number of different video formats advertisers can use to reach their target audiences on Facebook and Instagram. However, when you consider that the huge majority of users (some 90% in the UK) primarily use their mobile devices to access these social networks, it makes sense to consider the type of content people want to consume when on that device. For mobile, that is short, ‘bite-size’ 10-15 second videos.
- LinkedIn Video Ads: For B2B brands, LinkedIn’s recent introduction of video ads is an exciting development. In May, the company introduced video for Sponsored Content and Company Pages, offering a suite of targeting capabilities. LinkedIn expects it will be an effective tool for highlighting “not only products and services, but also company missions, customer success stories and thought leadership content”.
To discuss if video has a place in your marketing strategy, please contact LEWIS’ Digital and Creative teams.
Snapchat starts to roll out new camera lenses that react to sound. Read More.
Since GDPR came into effect, Facebook and Google have been accused of ignoring rules and could face billion-dollar fines. Read More.
Some Twitter users’ accounts have been suspended for not complying with GDPR thanks to new age restrictions. Read More.
There are rumours Snapchat is letting third-party developers gain access to its platform in a secret project known as ‘Snapkit’. Read More.
Reddit has overtaken Facebook to become the third most visited site in the US. Read More.
Winner
After KFC’s infamous chicken shortage in UK stores, the fast-food chain has decided to make a comeback with help from none other than Colonel Sanders. It will be the Colonel’s first ad ‘appearance’ in the UK in 40 years. Not afraid to address its troubles head-on, KFC’s latest campaign wins for turning a disastrous year into a PR moment.
Loser
Controversial comedian and outspoken Trump supporter, Roseanne Barr has found her eponymous show and syndicated reruns cancelled after posting racist tweets. Barr’s Twitter account was immediately flooded with criticism, leading the sitcom actress to blame the sedative drug Ambien for her bizarre stream-of-consciousness tweeting.
Creative
Following on from last year’s campaign which introduced us to “Marcia Zuckerberg”, Forbes have switched the genders of several well-known billionaire men, turning Elon Musk to “Ellen” and Jeff Bezos to “Jenny”. The campaign has been created to highlight the gender pay gap around the world stating that women only receive 7% of all venture capital.
