For media companies leveraging short-form video to reach audiences on Facebook, increasing the quantity of video posts yields disproportionate gains in views and engagement, shows Wochit’s Q3 Social Performance Index. On average, publishers that increased their video production found a tri-fold increase in video views.
Social video creation platform Wochit’s report, released every quarter, is intended to inform brands, media companies and publishers on how to best drive success with social video. Examining over 10,000 videos posted by more than 200 publishers, the report provides valuable insights into the behaviors and preferences of Facebook audiences worldwide and highlights trends in video production.
Reinforcing the importance of quantity, the report reveals a strong connection between the number of videos posted each day and the number of followers for that particular page. In Q3, 8 of the top 10 most followed publishers posted at least 5 videos per day. USA Today was the top producer, averaging 26 per day, followed by NBC News at 19 per day.
The report also shows signs that media companies are looking to Facebook video to drive revenue. In Q3, there was a significant increase in the number of videos over 90 seconds, which is the minimum duration required for Facebook mid-roll. This increase supports the findings of a previous Wochit survey, in which two-thirds of publishers reported intent to monetize video with mid-roll. The 90-second videos, while still in the minority, also drove significantly higher levels of engagement.
Other findings of the report, which compares results from videos posted in June through August 2017 (Q3) against March to May 2017 (Q2), include:
- Publishers already leveraging social video created nearly 50% more in Q3, and those who increased production tripled views
- Engagement is increasingly demonstrated through “Reactions” (Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry) over “Likes”
- Video’s “one percent” persists, with these viral videos getting nearly half of all views and over half of all shares
- Square videos massively outperform horizontal ones by 7.2x the shares
- Latin American audiences remain the most engaged worldwide
“While we’ve seen quantity of video increase every quarter, it’s in Q3 that we see how big the impact that an increase in production can have on the metrics that matter most, like views and reactions,” said co-founder and CEO Dror Ginzberg. “We’re also excited to see how the trend toward longer video progresses and if this does alleviate some of media’s monetization challenge. Either way, we will continue dig through the data to provide the industry with insights and best practices that will help each attain their goals.”
