2015 is undoubtedly the year of social video. So much so that the world's largest social network has already made significant strides developing its strategy, more than tripling the amount of year over year video content in News Feeds worldwide. Here's where advertisers may be missing out.
[Native] Video Killed The YouTube Link Star
Or at least put it on a respirator...
Now that Facebook has over a decade under its belt, we can clearly see an evolution of video on the platform. And while the ability to upload and share video has been available since 2006, last year marked the explosion of premium ad options for Facebook native video including targeting (and retargeting), sequencing and the advent of auto-play. These tactics have become so successful in fact, that in August of last year the 'Book surpassed YouTube for desktop video with over 12B views recorded from June 2013 to August 2014.
These Underused Tactics Can Create Above Average Results
With so much evolution in so little time, what is a brand to do? We found 4 tactics marketers should be taking advantage of, and added one of our own for good measure:
1 | Test Alongside TV
Television is and continues to be the primary method for generating a massive reach in a short amount of time. Social media in contrast is more like a scalpel than a sword, which can get to the most relevant consumer for your brand. Companies who advertise on TV, especially for huge live events like the Golden Globes, the State of the Union, or the Super Bowl, should take advantage of Facebook's reach & frequency and cross channel reach (XCR) tools to follow valuable audiences across platforms.
2 | Revisit Retargeting
As a social marketer you are likely aware of retargeting photo or link ads, but our source says that many companies are not taking advantage of this feature for video content. For those still learning, retargeting allows brands to re-engage users that visit their website without converting (e.g. signing up for a newsletter, completing an order, etc.) on social media. Retargeting campaigns in general can generate as much as twice the CTR and 8 times the ROI then those that don't.
3 | Storytelling Isn't Just For The Kids
While living in the moment may be great advice for life, Facebookers tend to want the whole story. Enter: sequencing. While it's common knowledge that the most successful companies are those who can tell their brand story in a way that is both entertaining and simple, very few marketers are telling it via social video. Sequenced stories can increase the amount of people visiting your landing page by 87% and conversions by 56%. Add in a little underutilized targeting (cough retargeting cough cough) and BAM - that's a spicy social marketing sauce.
4 | Constructing Effective Creative for Auto-Play
Auto-play has revolutionized how we consume video on Facebook, and with this change comes some key learnings for advertisers. First off, unlike preroll where the user is somewhat forced to view to get to the content that they desire to watch, Facebook users are already in a content discovery mindset when your video hits their feed. Consequently, not only must your content must be visually stimulating and interesting, its got to be visually interesting in the first few seconds. Oh, and because auto-play is initially muted, you also have to be stimulating without sound. Your move content teams.
5 | Understand The Value of Your Views
Ok, so maybe you've been reading this and feel pretty good because you've already been testing, targeting, storytelling and stimulating. If you are, trust us you are ahead of the curve. But which users are viewing only a few seconds, and which are watching until the very end? Make sure your social marketing platform can help you differentiate between who completes your videos, and who does not.
Looking Ahead
These tactics are just the beginning - the network has already hinted at some more big things happening this year as well, including scaling the best video features across their entire ad suite.