Battle of Video: Facebook vs. YouTube Ads - Improvado

What works better Facebook video ads or YouTube ads? We review both platforms and ads' performance to come to a data-driven conclusion. ProductProductsDataExtractionandLoadingIntegrateandmanagedatafromallsourcesDataTransformationMakeyourmarketingdataanalysis-readyMarketingCommonDataModelAutomatecross-channelnormalizationServiceProfessionalServicesExpandyouranalyticscapabilitieswithateamofprofessionalsthatwillmakesenseoutofyourdata.SolutionsImprovadoforEnterpriseMid-MarketBrandsAgencyAgencyIndustryFood&BeveragesEntertainmentGamingHumanResourcesInsuranceandFinanceHealthcareEducationEcommerce&RetailEngineeringandITUsecaseGoogleAnalyticsreportswithoutsamplingRevenuegeneratedbyemailAttributionmodellingCostofacquisitionanalysiseCommerceAnalyticsROMI(returnonmarketinginvestment)analyticsExploreusecasesCatalogIntegrationsPricingCustomersCompanyHelpcenterBlogCompanyBlogAboutPartnerwithImprovadoCareersPrivacy&TermsResourcesDocsContentlibraryFromtheblogSocialMediaMonitoringTrends:7ToolstoStayonTopofConversationsOnlineGeotargeting:HowtoManageMultiregionalPPCCampaignsHowCanSocialMediaDataHelpYouGrowOtherPartsofYourBusinessExploreBlogpostsSignInThankyou!Oops!Somethingwentwrongwhilesubmittingtheform.CloseRequestapersonalized1-on-1demotailoredspecificallyforyoubusiness.RequestademoAllMarTechAnalyticsBigDataCompanyPerformanceTitanTalksTakefullcontrolofallyourmarketingdataPerformanceAnalyticsBattleofVideo:Facebookvs.YouTubeAdsLianneNeigerNoitemsfound.June21,2022January21,2022Videomayhavekilledtheradiostar,butithasadexecutivesfeelingmorealivethanever.Cantheybeblamed?Onlinevideoiswatchedby 78%ofpeopleeveryweekand55%everyday.Infact,accordingto HighQ,justincludingtheword“video”inanemailsubjectline“boostsopenratesby19%.”Theall-powerfulvideohasbeenshowntonotonlyattractlargeaudiences,italsoengagesthem,makesthemfeel,andactonthosefeelings.Mostmarketersareawareofvideo’spower.Thequestionisnotwhetheroneshouldmakevideocontentornot,butratherwherethatcontentshouldlive.YouTubeusedtobethe#1homeforvideo,withoverabillionusersandanexpandinggroupofcreatorswithlargeaudiencesandfollowings.Itssuccessgrewtothepointthat YouTubebecamethesecondbiggestsearchengineafterGoogle.But2014broughtapowershift.FacebookPageowners,forthefirsttime,wereuploadingmorevideosdirectlytoFacebookinsteadofsharingfromYouTube.Facebook’sshareofthevideomarkethasbeengrowingeversince,forcingmarketerstoreconsiderwheretopublishvideos.Beforemakingadecision,itisimportanttodefinethecriteriaormetricsofvideosuccess,andweighthemagainstthecharacteristicsofeachplatform.WhatAreFacebookVideoAds?Asyoulikelysuspected,FacebookvideoadsareFacebookadvertisementsintheformatofvideos.Insteadofwritingoutablurboftextand/oruploadinganimage,you’llneedtoeithercreateavideoin-house,workwithavideographertocreateone,oruseanalreadyexistingvideotouploadtoFacebook’snativevideoplayer.Fromthereyou’llbeabletocustomizethevideodescription,thumbnail,budget,andaudienceyouservetheadto.ReasonstoRunFacebookVideoAdsFacebookvideoadsarethebestwaytoensurepeoplerememberyourbrandandcomebacktoyoursite.Videoisn’tjusttrendingonFacebook,it’sastrategythatworkstoengageandconvertwebsitevisitors,topushleadsdownthefunnelinemailmarketingcampaigns,andtofuelengagementacrossmultiplesocialchannelslikeTwitter,LinkedIn,andPeriscope(whichhasliterallybuiltasocialnetworkbasedjustonlivevideostreaming). TherearethreemainreasonswhyFacebookVideoAdsaresopopularamongusers:1.Usersinteractwithlivevideomorethanotherformsofcontent.2.FacebookLivecapitalizesonFacebook’sawesomesocialpower.3.Facebookfavorslivevideooverotherformsofcontent.Let’stakeadeeperlookateachofthesereasonsbelow.FacebookUsersEngagewithLiveVideoMoreThanOtherFormsofContentToday,videocontentreignssupreme.Infact,socialvideogenerates1,200%moresharesthanpostsusingimagesortext.Butthat’snotall.Today,socialmediaandtheconsumptionofcontentmovefast.It’sallaboutwhat’shappeningnow,atthemoment.And,thisiswhyFacebookLivevideosseethreetimestheengagementoftraditionalvideossharedontheplatform.Okaysure,there’sSnapchat.But,Snapchatonlyprovidessnippetsofvideo—short-formsnapshotsofwhat’shappening.TheawesomepowerofFacebookLivevideoliesinthefactthatit’slong-form,andthere’sahighlevelofviewerinvolvement.DirectInteractionWithPresentersViewerscanjumpinatanytime,anduseFacebookreactionsandcommentstoengagewiththepresenter,whilealsowatchinghowotherviewersarereacting.And,theresult?PeoplespendthreetimesaslongwatchingFacebookLivevideosastheydoregularones.LargeAudienceCoverageFacebookisagiant.Itwasthefirstsocialnetworkevertosurpass1billionusers,andit’sfarlargerthananyothersocialnetworkintheworldwithamassive2.8billionusers.RecentresearchbyStatistashowsthatYouTubeistheclosestsocialmediatoFacebookwith2.29billionusers.So,comparingFacebookvsYouTubeusers,wecanseethatFacebookgrantsalargeroutreach.Comprehensiblecampaignperformance Marketingteamsdon'thavetopuzzleoverthequestion:"Whymyvideosdon'tbringtheexpectedresults?".Facebookoffersaholisticdashboardwheremarketerscantracktheperformanceofeachindividualvideocampaigninreal-time. FacebookvideoperformancedashboardThedashboardshowshowoftenusersviewedyourvideos,theengagementrate,thetotalnumberofminutesusersspendviewingyourvideos,andmanymore. However,there'sevenmoretoexplore.WiththehelpofmiddlewareETLsoftware,suchas Improvado,youcancombinevideoperformancedatawithdatafromFacebookAds,FacebookPages,YouTubeAds,oranyothermarketingplatform. ETLsoftwarestreamlinesinformationfromdatasourcesyouuse,cleansandnormalizesdatatoconvertitintoadigestibleform,andloadsallinsightstoareal-timedashboardwhereyoucantrackallyourmarketingprogressinasingletab.Forexample,Improvadosupportsmorethan 300+datasources,whichcanstreamdatatoanydashboardingtools,suchasGoogleDataStudio,Looker,PowerBI,etc. Forexample,here'savideoadsdashboardtemplatewebuiltatImprovado. Clickonthedashbaordtolearnmoreaboutit.Thisdashboardtemplateshowsthenumberofimpressions,revenuegeneratedbyyourvideos,click-throughrate,andmanyothermetrics.AccelerateyourmarketinganalyticswithourvideoadsdashboardtemplateExploreOneofthemostsignificantadvantagesofETLsystemsisthelevelofdatagranularityitbringstoanalysts.Insteadofdeduplicatingandcleaningrawdata,marketingandsalesanalystscandivestraightintotheanalysisanduncovernewinsightspreviouslyunavailableduetoalackofcross-channelvisibility.GetadifferentperspectiveofyourvideomarketingcampaignswithImprovadoContactusAliFlynnVPofCustomerRelationship‍SuccessMetricsNumberofViewsHowmanypeopleareactuallywatchingyourvideo?Thewinnerforsheersizeofaudienceandviewnumbersis,atleastforthemoment,YouTube.YouTubehasthelargestsliceofthepiewhenitcomestovideohosting,andwithoverabillionactiveusers,theviewsaddup.Moreover,YouTubehassolidifieditsbrandover10yearsastheprimarysearchengineforvideo.Whensearchingforaspecificcliporvideogenre,YouTubeiswherethemajorityofpeoplego.Thisholdstrueglobally.Accordingto YouTube’sreport,80%ofitsviewscomefromoutsidetheU.S.Thatsaid,whenitcomestodesktopviewingalone,FacebookmanagedtosurpassYouTubevideoviewsin2014,delivering abillionmoreviews.Thiscouldsignalaturningpointinthisbattleofgiants.TotalTimeWatchingArepeoplewatchingyourentirevideo,orjustthefirstfewsecondsbeforetheymoveontosomethingelse?Whenitcomestostayingpower,YouTubeisthewinner.Facebookvideoshavebeenproventobemostsuccessfulwhentheirdurationisnolongerthan20-40seconds.ForYouTube,thatnumberisjustunder3minutes(source).AddtothisthefactthatanaveragemobilesessionforYouTubeis40minutes,andonecouldarguethataYouTubeaudienceiswillingtopayattentiontovideocontentforlonger.Fromavideoanalyticsperspective,Facebookalsolooksweak.Facebookcountsaviewasbeing3secondsorlonger.WithFacebook’sautoplayfeature,itisentirelypossibleforapersonwhodidnotintendtowatchyourvideotoscrollthroughtheirnewsfeed,stumbleonthevideo,watchforafewsecondsoutofcuriosity,andthenscrollpastitwithoutabsorbingthemessage.YouTubeviews,however,arecalculatedbypercentageofvideowatched.Itssystemalsofiltersout“fakeviews”,suchasmultipleviewsfromasingleIP,oranyviewsotherthanlegitimateplaybacks(thisconstitutesthetemporaryview-freezeat301).‍Engagement&SharingArepeoplewatchingyourvideobecausetheywantto?Aretheycommentingand/orreacting?Ifengagementisthemetricyouholdmostdear(asmanydo),thechoiceisnotsoclear.ThewayYouTubeworksinherentlymeansthat,ingeneral,peoplesearchedyourvideoorvideocategory(e.g.“catvideo”)inordertowatchit,makingthatviewintentionalandimplyingengagement.Facebook’sauto-playfeaturemeanstheviewwasnotnecessarilyuser-initiated,andthattheirexperiencewiththevideowasmorepassive.The“YouTuber”phenomenonalsodrivestheaudience’sengagement.YoungYouTubestarsdrawinenormous,enthusiasticand(typically)youngaudienceswhofollowthestar’schannelandothersocialmediaplatforms.Ontheotherhand,FacebookhastheedgeoverYouTubewhenitcomestotargeting.Withitswealthofdemographicdataandpersonalinformation(suchasinterests),Facebookcanreachexactlytheaudienceyou’dlikeyourvideotoreachandthatwouldbeinterestedinyourcontent.YouTubealsotargets,butitmainlyreliesoncookies,whichisnotasaccurateasinteresttargeting.Facebook’spersonalnaturealsomakesitmorelikely,accordingtoresearchby Socialbakers,foruserstointeract,share,anddiscussthevideowiththeirfriends.YouTubeplayshostmostlytocrowdsofstrangers.ConversionsDoesyourvideoactuallyleadyouraudiencetomakeapurchase/visityoursite/followyourcalltoaction?Youcanentertainyouraudiencenomatterwhereyouplaceyourvideo,butwhenitcomestoactuallyconverting,whowins?Well,unfortunately,thereisnosingleclearanswer.Accordingtoa 2014AolPlatformstudy,“YouTubeistheclearwinnerinintroducingnewproductsandhelpingconsumersmaketheirpurchasingdecisions,”citing“YouTube’sownsearchvolumeandpreferentialpositioningonGoogle’sresult”asthereason.Shopify’sresearch,however,providesadifferentanswer,statingthatFacebookistheprimarysocialmediaplatformfordrivingsales.  ThisisduetothefactthatunlikeYouTube,whichreliesonvideocontenttoconvert,Facebook’sconversionrateincludesvideoaswellasitsmanyothercommercialfeatures(links,suggestedpages,Facebookads).Sofinally,whatdoyoudowithallofthisinformation?Isoneplatformconclusivelybetterthantheother?Theanswer,(getreadytorollyoureyes),is:itdepends.Ifyourfocusisonaglobalaudience,chancesareYouTubeisthebetterchoiceforyourmarketingvideo.Iftargetingisessentialtoyourprocess,Facebookhasbetteroptions.Lookingforanaudiencemoresuitedtolongervideos?YouTube.Aresharesandcommentsmoreimportanttoyouthanviewcount?Facebook.Wantitall?Considerpostingonboth!Ourrecommendations:ReadmoreaboutBestFacebookAdsReportTemplatesGlobalDigitalAdvertisingSpendbyIndustryin2021GaindeeperinsightsintovideomarketingcampaignswithImprovadoBookacall‍LianneNeigerCopywriterWNoitemsfound.Share 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