the rise of facebook video - ona london 2016
TRANSCRIPT
Social Video, ONA London, April 1 2016
State of Facebook Video, Spring 2016
• Questions remain for publishers around how best to balance video experience with cultivating a loyal audience.
• Video has become the defining feature of most users’ news feeds.
• Facebook Native video is now a vital feature for many outlets, allowing them to deliver stories to the audience on their terms: mobile, visual, and fast.
• With development of new social platforms, consumers’ expectations for video have shifted.
“In 2015 Boston.com generated well over 12 million views, which is orders of magnitude more than what
we were able to deliver through our site.”
Matt Karolian, The Boston Globe
Publishers are posting more video every month
Number of Facebook videos per month
June 2015: 35October: 164February 2016: 313
June 2015: 68October: 217February 2016: 302
June 2015: 29October: 92February 2016: 139
The proportion of native video posts is growing
% of Native Video Posted to the Huffington Post Facebook Page
96%
4%
80%
20%
June 2015 February 2016
Other PostsNative Videos
There has been huge growth in engagement with native video on Fb
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
CNN The Huffington Post Upworthy
3,153,177
3,899,375
3,407,309
1,657,0311,770,302
1,313,569
548,776
1,408,129
345,974
Total Engagements on Facebook Videos per Month
October 2015June 2015 February 2016
Highest average share rates, above even Instant Articles for most publishers
Average share rate per post type, February 2016
Links: 530Photos: 641Video: 1,417
Links: 836Photos: 1,348Video: 4,731
Links: 150Photos: -Video: 2,798
Five key considerations
• Pre-made videos are short.
• Mobile first: square or vertical.
• Being able to watch without sound is now standard consumer expectation.
• Differences emerging between successful native and live videos.
• Videos have the highest average share rate of any Facebook format.
The Average Length of Facebook Videos
Differences between Live and ‘Native’
• Length: Some pages have seen success with very long live video, while native clips on Facebook remain short.
• Talking heads: Less exciting in native clips, more room for this format with Live video.
• Followers notified once video goes live (although Facebook have given the option to dial this down lately). People spend more than 3x more time watching a Facebook Live video on average compared to a video that’s no longer live.
Outside revenue, problems remain for publishers…
• Getting consistent engagement across new videos is difficult. (New Facebook analytics may help.)
• Understanding what’s worth turning into a video can be difficult.
• Unpredictable nature of the algorithm. Scant information around what formats are favoured, and for how long.
The most viral videos account for a much higherbulk of engagements than other formats
Top 5 video shares as % of total, February 2016
Total Videos: 197Total Shares: 279,159Top 5: 151,530 (54%)
Videos: 96Shares: 268,591Top5: 203,690 (76%)
Videos: 313Shares: 1,480,773Top 5: 966,112 (65%)
What’s getting engagement?
1) Explainer Videos: Business Insider
2) Live News Video: CBC News, BBC News
3) Food: BuzzFeed Food, Tasty, Tastemade
