Since June Facebook has been an averaging over 1 billion daily video views. Even more impressive has been the speed in the growth of Facebook’s video viewership. The number of daily views has grown by 50% from May through to July this year.
Auto Playing Video
In September 2013 Facebook introduced videos that played automatically in users News Feed. At first the video plays silently but if a user wants to watch it they can tap on the screen. It is then plays with sound as a full screen video. If users don’t want to watch the video they can simply scroll past it.
Facebook Replicates YouTube Features
Facebook is adding a number of “YouTube like touches”. This includes publicly displaying the videos view count. Videos that publishers share as public will appear just below the video next to the number of comments and likes. This will only apply to videos that are posted to Facebook from September 8, 2014. In another YouTube-style move Facebook is planning on providing embed options for its publishers.
Providing More Relevant Content
Facebook is making changes in order to provide more relevant video content for its users. When a video stops playing on mobile they will see related videos that may interest them. These related videos will be displayed below the video that they have just watched.
Mobile Is Now 65% Of Video Views
As we said before, the tilt towards mobile video viewing, is one of the most important developing trends in video marketing. This is certainly the case for Facebook. Now 65% of video views come from mobile. Brands that are looking to use video in their marketing need to consider how they will appear to mobile devices.
Adding A Call To Action
Facebook is enabling publishers to add a call to action (CTA) to the end of the video. This includes a button where you can include text encouraging users to click on your selected link. You can add a CTA by first uploading a video then clicking on the Add A Call To Action option. Follow this by entering the text for the CTA and the desired web destination.
While Facebook doesn’t yet have the reach of YouTube (Which was averaging 4 billion video views in 2012), it is rapidly becoming a serious contender. Facebook has proven to be adapting very well to the shift towards the mobile web. For brands looking to use video as part of their content marketing, Facebook should be seriously considered.
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