Facebook Hits 8B Video Views Per Day
Facebook Hits 8 Billion Video Views/Day, Challenges YouTube
Did you know?
- More than 1 billion people use Facebook every single day
- 1.39 billion people now use Facebook on mobile devices, including more than 1 billion on Android
- There are 8 billion daily video views on Facebook
- More than 500 million people watch videos on the site daily
- In September 2015, over 1.5M small businesses posted video to Facebook, including native uploads and video ads.
Zuckerberg wanted to make it clear that Facebook is focused on investors, who are focused on advertisers, who are focused on reach – particularly mobile reach. It’s clear that he wants video advertisers to use “views” as a standard metric, even though comparing YouTube views and Facebook video views is like comparing apples to oranges.
Zuckerberg also stated that new video tools for Facebook pages are live, and that the site has been testing a dedicated video section. He confirmed that:
“Over the next few years, video is going to be some of the most engaging content online. And by continuing to innovate here, we have a chance to build the best place to watch and share videos”.
Yep, he just declared war on YouTube, which allows over a billion people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. The big difference between the two is YouTube focus on helping people discover videos – and YouTube’s Content ID program, which ensures that what gets discovered are “originally-created videos.” Facebook is focused on watching and sharing videos.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, shared a couple of more nuggets of news. She stated that revenue from mobile ads was up 73% year on year to $3.4 billion and grew 73% year-over-year. That means that mobile accounts for around 78% of Facebook’s total revenue from advertising. So, Facebook is focused on mobile.
“The average American adult spends 25% of their media time on mobile, and Facebook and Instagram together continue to account for over 1 in 5 minutes on mobile in the US”.
Mobile, mobile, and mobile. Get it? Got it? Good. Sandberg stated that Facebook was a good fit for marketers as it has “the best performing mobile ad products, and video is making them even better”. She believes that Facebook video gives the marketer a chance to reach a mass audience, with great cross device targeting and measurement”. “Our third priority is making our ads more relevant and effective. Carousel ads show multiple images, and now videos, and drive 30% to 50% lower cost per conversion than single-image link ads”.
Video marketers are indeed faced with a two-party system. According to eMarketer, global mobile ad spending is expected to be $72.1 billion this year, and Google’s share of this market is projected to be 33.7%, while Facebook’s share is forecast to be 17.4%. And, according to comScore, the Top 6 – and 8 of the Top 9 – apps in the U.S. are owned by Facebook or Google.
Today, some casual observers may mistakenly believe that it doesn’t matter whether you choose YouTube or Facebook video. But, there’s a big difference between YouTube’s and Facebook’s world view of video marketing and video advertising.
Facebook is primarily focused on advertisers. Facebook is focused on views – and says a “view” is reached at the three-second mark whether or not the viewer has even turned on the sound. In contrast, YouTube has a more balanced concern for partners as well as advertisers. YouTube also has a more balanced concern for giving viewers choice over which ads they watch and connecting brands with a more engaged audience. In fact, with TrueView ads, you don’t pay for random impressions or maybe-they-saw-its. The viewer has to choose to watch your video or there’s no charge. YouTube not only urges advertisers to go beyond impressions and clicks, it also offers Google’s Brand Lift solution to help them measure brand awareness, ad recall, and brand interest.
Finally, if you’re looking for a recent example of the impact of video ads, check out this one: P&G’s Gillette generated buzz for its latest razor, Gillette BODY, by targeting a rapidly expanding audience of body-grooming men. With a digital-first strategy anchored by YouTube TrueView ads, Gillette reached millennial males with their “100 Years of Hair” video ad.
The results: over 84% of the 13.5 million total viewers finished most of the video, there was a 211% lift in searches for the Gillette brand, and the video ad generated over 500,000 clicks to buy.
- Published in Facebook, Video Advertising, YouTube
73% Marketers Say Video Positively Impacts ROI
Over the past few years, online video has become an increasingly vital part of the content marketing mix for a huge number of brands. A new study, based on survey results from 350 B2B marketing, agency and management professionals confirms that 73% of respondents believe that video positively impacts marketing results and ROI.
The Web Video Marketing Council, in conjunction with Reelseo, and Flimp Media, has released the ‘2015 B2B Video Content Marketing Survey Results’ which reflects how many B2B brands and companies are using video as a medium for lead generation, and communication. The survey also takes a look at satisfaction levels with the ROI of video marketing, and the barriers to entry that are still considered to be a factor for many B2B video marketing teams.
Respondents to the survey were either actively using video as part of their content marketing strategy, or had an opinion about using video to generate leads, and visibility.
One very interesting statistic from the study was the fact that 63% of brands and companies had been using video as part of their content marketing campaigns for the past 5 years, with 32% of respondents stating that they began using video only in the past 2 years.
What stands out to us, but is by no means a surprise, is that 96% of B2B companies are using video content in some way. The fact that 32% began using video in the last two years goes to show how powerful video is becoming, especially recently.
Furthermore, the top reasons companies are using video come as no shock either… brand awareness and engagement.
via 73% Marketers Say Video Positively Impacts ROI
- Published in Automotive Marketing, Video Marketing
85% Find Success: Online Video Marketing
Online Video Marketing
Ascend2 conducts a monthly research series, and its most recent Online Video Marketing Strategy survey was conducted online and had 280 respondents, who are US and international marketing, sales and business professionals representing a range of demographic roles, channels and company sizes.
According to the report, the most important objective of an effective online video marketing strategy is to increase brand awareness. Other key objectives include: Increase online engagement, improve customer education, and increase leads generated.
85% of companies that found value in use online video marketing as a strategy. The remaining 15% are struggling to achieve success with video marketing.
What are the most challenging obstacles to video marketing success? According to Ascend2, lack of an effective strategy is the most challenging obstacle to video marketing success according to 48% of those surveyed. Other challenging obstacles include: Lack of compelling content, inadequate video budget, and lack of production resources.
About half of the marketers surveyed consider customer testimonials, explainer or tutorial videos, and demonstration videos the most effective types of online video content used. However, they were also asked, “What are the most difficult types of video content to create?” Customer testimonials and project reviews/case studies topped that chart.
Online video marketing effectiveness is increasing for 87% of respondents, with 43% saying the increase is significant.
- Published in Automotive Marketing, Video Marketing
Video Advertisers: Your Audience is on Mobile
Back in 2011, only 6% of YouTube views came from mobile devices. But, things have changed dramatically since then. YouTube views coming from mobile devices jumped to 25% in 2012, rose to 40% in 2013, and increased to 50% in 2014. Today, more than half of YouTube views and 65% of Facebook video views occur on mobile devices.
So, where and when can you reach Millennials? Well, as we learned a couple of weeks ago, you should probably try to be in the right place at the right during one of the micro-moments when they check their smartphones 150 times a day. Yep, whether you start with mobile or your start with Millennials, you end up in the same place.
In October 2014, Google and Ipsos asked 1,519 smartphone owners aged 18- to 34-years-old to keep detailed accounts of all of their online and offline video activity over 24 hours. Respondents had to access video via an app, so the study was limited to Millennials who owned a smartphone in 2014, But that still covered 81% of individuals age 18 to 34. The research found that smartphones were the top device to reach 98% of those Millennials, higher than tablets or desktops. The research also revealed that watching video on a smartphones was less distracting and disruptive for respondents, compared to watching video on a TV. Watching videos was the sole activity for 53% of the mobile video sessions.
Now, home wasn’t the only place Millennials were watching mobile video last year. 34% of mobile video minutes were watched while people were out and about. People watching digital video outside the home were also 1.8x more likely than average to be meaningfully engaged because they were likely to be watching video for active purposes, such as looking for information or exploring a passion. While marketers traditionally sought Baby Boomers’ attention in their living rooms, sitting in front of a television, mobile video consumption by Millennials has changed that dramatically.
Since the research was conducted a year ago, YouTube reports that users are spending more time per session watching videos. On mobile, the average viewing session is now more than 40 minutes, up more than 50% year-over-year. The number of hours people spent watching videos on mobile is up 100% year-over-year. And YouTube’s mobile revenue from advertising is up 2x year-over-year.
So, why did advertisers finally jump on YouTube’s bandwagon? Well, they were probably jumping on the mobile video bandwagon – and YouTube as well as Facebook have both benefited from this trend in the digital video marketing business. Advertisers realize that Millennials are twice as likely to be focused on the content while watching a mobile video as they are while viewing it via a television screen. Mobile truly is the first screen when it comes to this demographic.
This was validated by more research conducted by Google and Ipsos in February 2015. They wanted to see how this enthusiasm for mobile video translated for brands. So, they surveyed U.S. consumers who watch video on various devices. And this year’s research found that people who view videos on their smartphones are 1.4X as likely to watch ads as those who view videos on TVs or desktop computers.
- Published in Automotive Marketing, Video Advertising
Why You Can’t Ignore Video Marketing
It’s the worst kept secret on the internet, but video marketing is one of the best ways for businesses to connect with customers. In virtually every situation, video marketing proves to be more powerful and engaging than written content. Despite this, so many businesses fail to give it a second look. Instead, they proceed with a head-down mentality that emphasizes ‘doing things the way they’ve always been done.’ Don’t be that business.
Valuable Reasons to Focus on Video
Your marketing strategy doesn’t have to focus solely on video to be successful – that’s impractical and unsustainable. However, you should focus on diversifying your existing content strategy by naturally incorporating video whenever and wherever you can. Here are a handful of the top reasons to consider doing so:
1. Increased ROI
If you ask businesses that currently focus on video marketing what benefit they enjoy the most, almost every company will respond with an answer that revolves around increased ROI.
2. Better Engagement
But what’s so engaging about video content? Well, it’s a combination of multiple factors. Primarily, video capitalizes on the human brain’s craving for visual stimulation. When combined with audio, that stimulation leaves a much more powerful impact on the viewer. This impression often leads the viewer to pursue a specific action in the seconds, minutes, or hours after watching.
3. Flexibility
From a marketer’s perspective, video marketing is preferred because of the flexibility it affords the creative team. There are virtually endless options when it comes to creating different types of videos and disseminating them through a variety of channels.
Some of the most popular forms of video content include customer testimonials, product reviews, new product previews/trailers, video blogs, news features, social media content (Snapchat, Instagram, Vine, etc.), interviews, behind-the-scenes tours, whiteboard videos, and more.
4. Ability to Reach All Demographics
It’s no surprise that video connects best with the younger demographic that’s been raised on YouTube, DVDs, and streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. However, it’s not just millennials that relate to video marketing. Unlike other forms of online content, which must be tailored to fit dozens of unique customer profiles, video marketing has a tendency to work well across the board.
Young, old, first class, middle class…you name it. Everyone connects with video. While you certainly can’t forget about customer profiles when creating video content, you also don’t have to stress over it.
Internet users of all ages will naturally flock to video when given the choice between written content and video alternatives.
Invest in Video Marketing Today
While it may feel like it, you haven’t missed out on the video marketing opportunity…yet. There’s still time to build your internet presence and reach the millions of users that watch online videos on a daily basis. Consider these points and begin formulating your strategy today!
via B2C
- Published in Automotive Marketing, Video Marketing
71% Marketers: Video Converts Best
A new study based on feedback from marketers, confirms that video has been found to convert better than other forms of digital content, with 71% saying online video performs better for them than text and images.
86% of those surveyed in the report from Vidyard and Ascend2, “Video Content Marketing: Identifying Metrics and Measuring Impact” also confirmed that they were seeing very positive engagement rates from using video, while 69% of respondents indicated that video had been a good vehicle for lead generation.
95% of respondents to the survey confirmed that video was an important and valuable form of marketing content. The overwelming majority indicated that video was far more important now than it had ever been, with another 32% acknowledging it was somewhat more important. None of those polled (from a pool that were using video as part of their marketing campaigns) said that video wasn’t important to them.
How well does video perform compared to other types of content at generating conversions (sales, downloads etc) for organizations? 71% confirmed that video was better at driving conversions than other type of content, with a further 27% indicating that it held its own. Only 2% of those polled said that video wasn’t performing as well as it should for them.
Brands and companies that are using a combination of self-hosting, and exposure on other websites, like YouTube, are seeing the greatest Return on Investment (ROI) for their video marketing efforts. Only 11% were choosing to host videos exclusively on their own properties, while 43% were exclusively posting content to external platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.
In terms of ROI, publication to a brand-owned property, plus an external portal such as YouTube, provided the best investment return, particularly if there were 51+ videos being created per year.
- Published in Automotive Marketing, Video Marketing
Why Online Video Needs To Be In Your 2015 Budget
Online Video needs to be in your budget in 2015 & beyond. Here’s why:
Digital has surpassed all forms of traditional advertising in Canada & Video Advertising has outpaced overall digital growth rates over the past five years.
- Published in Automotive Marketing, Calgary, Facebook, Social Media Video, Video, Video Advertising, Video Marketing, Video Production, YouTube
Video Marketing Provides Great ROI
Video Marketing Provides Great ROI
There’s no question: online video marketing helps businesses increase their brand awareness, generate genuine buzz, and increase sales.
What’s becoming more evident is just how much of a difference it makes, which is reflected in the results of the latest industry studies. One of the latest, released this year by Animoto, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers, highlights the impact of video:
- 73% are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video.
- 96% say online videos are helpful when making purchasing decisions.
- 71% say watching online video content leaves them with a positive impression of the brand, service or company.
According to eMarketer, online video marketing is a strategic marketing approach that promises the greatest return on investment.
One key business-to-consumer sector is retail, where we are seeing video marketing used to assist a customer’s journey through the sales funnel. Video marketing offers a better view of products, they can be used to promote trends, express brand culture, and video marketing makes a statement that’s much bolder than most marketing and advertising methods. From longer-form videos on YouTube to bite-sized content on Vine and Instagram, the smart brands are getting on board, and they’re seeing results.
Zappos was one of the first and it continues to be one of the most mentioned retail brands leveraging online video marketing. Tens of thousands of videos are embedded on its website at any given time and its YouTube channel is full of products, how-tos, and company culture videos. Zappos also encourages its customers to play a role by allowing them to upload their Zappos Experience videos. While the online shoes and clothing shop is a huge video-hustle example, smaller retailers can start to emulate its success with a few small pieces.
French Connection is another example of a brand that regularly pushes video content to its network on YouTube and other social media. It creates and releases seasonal fashion updates, fashion tips, campaign teasers and series of short “films” that celebrate the “power of clothing.”
Most of them are short and sweet with creative fair – the company puts some of its fashions on a 360-degree moving display, which offers a more engaging experience that is trusted by consumers more than, say, digitally manipulated photos. Other top retail YouTube channels include Home Depot – with a variety of cool DIY project tutorials – Bed Bath and Beyond “product of the week” segments, and Best Buy how-to videos and “latest technology” news.
With mobile traffic set to increase 13X by 2017, retail brands have been quick to experiment with short-form video platforms such as Vine and Instagram. From Ford to H&M, Reebok, GoPro, Ralph Lauren and Tide, there’s even a mashup of the top branded short-form videos of February, 2014. From informative content to entertainment to shock value, there’s no shortage of creativity and unique approaches.
Strategically, it’s about honing in on content a retailer’s target demographic would find intriguing, engaging, informative and helpful, all of which contributes to brand awareness and increased sales. Most brands take a similar strategic approach to video marketing, though the content, of course, is quite different and tailored specifically to their audience.
Not convinced yet? Here are a few more stats from the initial study mentioned:
Video plays an impressive role in consumers’ lives with 94% watching it at least once a week from their desktop.
76% of smartphone owners watch videos at least once a week on their devices.
89% are likely to share a video if they consider it educational.
86% are likely to share a video if there is an incentive, such as a promotion or discount.
Roll and record, retailers. This is your year to make an impact with video marketing.
Lisa Ostrikoff is a TV journalist and anchor-turned-creator of BizBOXTV.
via Video marketing provides great return on investment – The Globe and Mail.
- Published in Facebook, Lisa Ostrikoff - The Globe And Mail, Video Marketing, YouTube
YouTube Turns 10 – BizREBELS
- Published in Video, Video Advertising, Video Marketing, Video Production, YouTube
Want customers to remember you? Social video is the key
The explosion of the ‘social’ Internet has provided content creators, marketers and advertisers with a cost effective way to distribute and share online video. And unlike traditional advertising, online video lets them target their audience and measure its impact through analytics
Social video is content that is influenced by social media and intended to be shared from person to person. If we find something relevant, informative or entertaining, we pass it on, and the cycle continues. This is essentially how content goes viral.
Content and news discovery is becoming less and less about searching out the information you are looking for. Instead, it’s being shared via social network recommendations – likes, shares, Retweets, Pins, +1, etc.
If you’re already knee-deep in social media, you’re exposed to this type of sharing behaviour on a daily, or minute by minute basis, depending on how often you frequent such platforms.
BI Intelligence recently examined the social video landscape, taking a closer look at how advertisers specifically.
Some of the main takeaways include:
• Online & social video audiences are expected to double by 2016, reaching 1.5-billion worldwide ( Cisco)
• Social media video has trumped non-social video as far as views/audience size.
• The majority of people now, and an increasingly significant number in the future, will discover and watch video content on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
• Video length is shrinking. Social media audiences seem to prefer to “snack” on social video.
• In the U.S., Facebook had the fastest-growing online video audience of major web properties over the last 10 months, and is just second to Google in terms of video audience size. In April 2013 alone, 63-million people watched video on Facebook.
The phenomenon isn’t showing signs of slowing anytime soon. So if you’re a business owner, now is the time to start thinking about integrating social video into your marketing and advertising budgets, before your competitors do.
Need another reason? According to the study mentioned above, “consumers are more likely to enjoy a brand video and remember the brand involved if they come across it because of a social media recommendation.”
It may still be early in the game, but it’s better to stay ahead of the curve than work to catch up when it might be too late.
Lisa Ostrikoff is a TV journalist and anchor-turned-creator of BizBOXTV, a Canadian online video production, advertising and social media marketing agency. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook .
Want customers to remember your brand? Social video’s the key – The Globe and Mail.