18 Jun Facebook Steals Video Ad Views, Engagements from YouTube
Within the past year we’ve witnessed Facebook actively trying to steal shares of video videos from YouTube, and for the most part it appears to be working. Could it be that YouTube is losing its appeal for users? Could it be from the algorithm changes Facebook has made within the past year favoring video over other forms of content?
Video Ads on Facebook to Increase
Looking at the placement trend from 2014 to 2015 has shown one key factor for this shift: marketers. eMarketer recently released an article stating nearly 9 in 10 US advertising executives intend to run video ads on Facebook in 2015, making Facebook the top social site for video ad placement and pushing YouTube into second place. Other networks like Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn also saw strong intent-to-use growth.
Video Ads That Drive Engagement Top for Marketers
These investment changes appear to have a correlation with the shift of success metrics for video campaigns. As impressions and clicks become less of a priority, advertisers are beginning to value engagement and sharing more, making Facebook more attractive.
Female Audiences More Likely to Engage with Video on Facebook
Now, why would marketers choose to leverage Facebook for video content, and not YouTube? To start, it appears that some audiences are more likely to engage and share more with video content on Facebook than YouTube. Specifically, a SheSpeaks poll from March of this year concluded that 83% of adult female internet users said they discovered videos via Facebook, and are more likely to share video content on Facebook. This data gives many advertisers a reason to invest or test more video content on Facebook moving forward.
Still, this recent change doesn’t mean the end for YouTube. As I stated earlier, it really depends on who your target audience is. Male audiences are still strong YouTube users, with many using YouTube as their discovery engine for both entertainment and product information.
Interested in reaching more female audiences with video? The eMarketer study gives you one more piece of advice: “videos need to give them a good laugh or make them smile.” Well, this explains why I keep seeing videos of tea-cup pigs in sweaters, or kittens playing with puppies on my Newsfeed!
