Social video is really having its moment. But as video gets increasingly social, it’s not enough to post a link to your video hosted on YouTube. You need to be posting native videos. Facebook videos are shared 157% as often as YouTube videos and are 60% as shareable as the next most shared type post on this social network. Although only 31% of videos posted are native on Twitter, they account for 67% of total video engagement. (Social Bakers).
With stats like these, it’s now time to post native videos on Facebook and Twitter.
What exactly are native videos?
Native advertising is a form of “paid media where the ad experience follows the natural form and function of the user experience in which it is placed.” (Sharethrough) Native videos are not necessarily paid media, but they fit into the environment of the channel they are placed in. Native video is created within or uploaded directly to the social channel and autoplay within the news feed or timeline. Previously you would have posted to YouTube or Vimeo and then shared the link via your social channels. Now you can add them directly to the social media channel.
Why is this important?
According to a new study from Socialbakers, the top 500 brands on Twitter posted nearly as many native videos as from YouTube in July. This already occurred for Facebook back in December. It may seem like a lot of extra work to upload your video content to each channel but you will reap the benefits.
The algorithms favour native video. Native videos will work harder for you on Facebook; the algorithm is designed to prioritise videos in the feeds so more people are likely to see them. Average organic reach on Facebook is higher than links or status updates:
- Video – 8.7%
- Status – 5.8%
- Link – 5.3%
- Photo – 3.7%
You can also get more detailed stats on native videos in order to improve your output.
More importantly, native video is getting engagement. A study by Search Engine Journal found that on average native videos on Facebook reach 2.4 x more people, receive 2.38 x more likes, 2.67 x more shares and 7.43 x more comments. It’s a similar story on Twitter; native video gets 2.5 x more replies, 2.8 x retweets and 1.9 x favourites (VentureBeat)
It’s also a good chance to get ahead on your competitors. Despite these stats showing that video brings engagement, there are still many more photo posts. Take the opportunity social video offers to increase your brand’s engagement with great, shareable content.
Mobile and native video
Over 65% of Facebook video views occur on mobile in the US and 90% of video views on Twitter are via mobile. Indeed reflecting this, Twitter video is designed to be created or uploaded from mobile.
Both Facebook and Twitter native videos autoplay silently and any click turns on the sound. With autoplay, according to Twitter, people were 2.5x more likely to prefer autoplay to other playing methods including click to play and thumbnails.
So, how do you attract people with silent movies? Firstly it’s vital to start the video off with an exciting visual opener to keep attention. You can also use captions on the film so that they can still understand the film and respond to the call to action. In addition, there could be other ways to encourage them to turn the sound on, maybe by showing dialogue which your audience is intrigued to hear.
Tell your story across channels
Think about who you want to reach, choose the right social channels and take time to design appropriate content for your audience and that social channel. In terms of length:
- Facebook – 30-45s
- Twitter – up to 30s
- Vine: 6s
- Instagram: 15s
Put your video into context by writing a caption to tell your audience what the video is about and a clear to call to action. Each of these native social videos tells another part of your brand story, so think about it in the wider context of your brand and buying cycle. You can also have a suite of longer, more detailed videos on your website or YouTube channel.
… And YouTube still matters
Don’t forget YouTube. It’s still the world’s second biggest search engine and owned by Google, so it’s an effective way for your brand video to be found via search.
In a recent study of the top 100 brands on YouTube, viewership and engagement on the channel were on the up. Subscriptions were up 47% year on year, views were up 85%, and brand-owned channels were receiving 10 times more likes than dislikes.
Increase engagement with a strong thumbnail, manage the structure of your YouTube channel, and optimise your videos for SEO. The survey mentioned above discovered that brands were seeding content mid-week to capitalise on higher traffic at the weekend, but we advise testing what works for your audience.
Tools to help post your social videos
There are tools to help keep your social video campaigns as effective as possible. Buffer has just included the ability to post and schedule native videos on Facebook and Twitter as well as Linkedin, Google Plus and Pinterest. You can also post to Twitter via the web, and for videos longer than 30s you can post them via the Buffer’s video player.
We’ll be posting more tips on how to maximise social video over the coming weeks. Tweet us your questions to @hurricanemedia
