The battle for marketing dominance between YouTube and Facebook Video

It wasn’t so long ago that YouTube was the dominant video platform on the internet. In the spring of 2014, Facebook launched autoplay video ads and changed the landscape of online video marketing (Edwards, 2014).

In a 2018 survey, 47% of people say that most of their video consumption took place on Facebook, while only 41% name YouTube, giving a substantial lead to Facebook (Arnold, 2018). However, more marketers utilize YouTube than Facebook Video (87% vs. 68%, respectively) (Pratskevich, 2018).

In addition, there are differences in how consumers watch the platforms. As Tayenaka (2018) points out, people tend to visit YouTube specifically in order to watch videos. They are willing to spend time watching those videos, most likely taking a break from other duties to do so. With Facebook, however, people tend to view videos as they mindlessly scroll through their feeds while waiting in line (or something similar), implying that they are not paying close attention to whatever is playing.

So how do you take advantage of each platform?

Facebook:
Brevity is key: Make the video as short and to the point as possible. Attention spans are not what they used to be. Also, be sure to stick in some captions; most people keep their automatically play volume off, and aren’t going to bring out the headphones to watch a video that looks mildly interesting.

YouTube:
Take advantage of the attention. Take a deeper dive into your product and what you want to say about it. You may only have 15-30 seconds, but your consumers will be most likely be watching closely for the entirety of the ad so they don’t miss the start of their clicked video.

Don’t be afraid to take a close look at which platform is better suited for your video ad. Understanding the complexities of both YouTube and Facebook audiences will better enable you to make the best possible marketing decisions.

References

Arnold, A. (2018). Facebook now dominates YouTube for video content. Here’s how brands should respond. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/09/26/facebook-now-dominates-youtube-for-video-content-heres-how-brands-should-respond/#203046cf1cc0

Edwards, J. (2014). Facebook video ads will be released today. Business Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-video-ads-launch-2014-3

Pratskevich, A. (2018). Facebook vs. YouTube: Which platform is more effective for video marketing? Adstage. Retrieved from: https://blog.adstage.io/2018/02/06/youtube-ads-vs-facebook

Tayenaka, T. (2018). Facebook Vs. YouTube for marketing videos: What’s the difference? Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/04/30/facebook-vs-youtube-for-marketing-videos-whats-the-difference/#3d1ffe27363d