Facebook video vs YouTube: Which should brands use?
Shortly after its inception, YouTube became the go-to platform for watching and uploading videos, so brands begun uploading content to it to attract consumers. But in recent times Facebook has nudged its way in, placing an increased focus on the exposure of its video content to attempt to take a slice of YouTube’s marketing pie.
Here’s a look at Facebook video compared to YouTube.
If you think about Facebook you scroll through content quickly, not tending to spend too much time so, the shorter the video and the quicker it gets to the point the better. YouTube on the other hand, people are on there because they are already in the mindset of ‘I’m going to watch a video’.
It’s important to note that Facebook and YouTube count views differently. On YouTube, someone has to watch 30 seconds of the video to be considered a view. But on Facebook, a view is counted as three seconds and automatically starts when someone scrolls through a newsfeed.
It should also be noted that Facebook videos appear to peak quickly and then drop off, whereas YouTube video engagement seems to be more sustained over a longer period of time. Facebook video’s are great for time- sensitive offers and YouTube is better for video’s which are more detailed focused telling a story. Check out a recent YouTube branding story for Kingsford Kitchen presented by our senior creative Nik Sweeney.
One big advantage of Facebook video over YouTube is that you can retarget people that watch the video. Even better, you can also segment this by how much of the video people watched, so you can use different creative for people that are more engaged (watched through to end) versus people that saw just the first few seconds. This opens up all sorts of creative opportunities and enables you to be much more efficient and thoughtful with your marketing focus.