It seems the tides are changing in the digital realm, more specifically when it comes to video advertising. If you’re a regular reader of our blog it should be pretty apparent that video advertising is one of the best ways to advertise your business. Not only does video engage consumers better than text and picture but with 80% of users able to recall a video they viewed in the past 30 days, it’s become a necessity for brand recognition and growth.
So you’ve got on board the video advertising train, but your next big question is where is the best place to put said video? Well, you could try digital signage or the even cheaper option of placing it on your website, but you want as many eyeballs to see your video as possible. So you consider the various social media sites. Your first thought for video is probably YouTube, and back in December 2015 most people would agree with you, but as of May 2016, it seems the most popular site for video advertising amongst marketer was Facebook at 65%, with YouTube coming in second at 45%.This is the beginning of a big shift in the go to place to place your video ad, much to Facebook’s delight.
Why do brand prefer Facebook for their video ads? Well according to a study carried out by Wolfgang digital using a video ad on Facebook is not only cheaper than YouTube but will also get your video more impressions. Facebook’s average cost per thousand impressions is €0.98 whereas YouTube’s cost per thousand impressions is around €4.31. The same study also found that Facebook garnered more hours of views for video ads over YouTube. However, the quality of views on YouTube is higher than on Facebook. This means that more people view to the end of the video on YouTube than they do on Facebook. YouTube also works out cheaper than Facebook for quality views.
So how do you pick which is the better option for your video ad? Well if you want as many people as possible (within your budget) to see your video then Facebook might be the best option for you. If you want people to watch your entire video then YouTube is probably a better option. The difference between the two channels is understandable. When a user goes to YouTube they are specifically seeking out video, so they are already in the mindset to watch a video, so if your video ad catches user attention it is more natural for the user to watch to the end of your ad. On Facebook however people seek a number of different things, updates from friends, news and maybe some funny photos. Video isn’t what they are specifically looking for, but Facebook does a good job of allowing videos ads to be watched. All videos and video ads appear natively within the Facebook timeline, so it’s easy for people to watch them. Even better the user doesn’t even have to click play because videos autoplay in the newsfeed as a user scrolls past.
So while marketers are making the move to Facebook over YouTube it is important not to jump to the easy conclusion that your brand also needs to be doing video ads on Facebook like everyone else. The right platform comes down to your specific business needs and goals, but if you still can’t make up your mind, you can always just try both platforms and analyse your results later.
Create a great video ad for Facebook and YouTube at www.viddyad.com
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