With the massive growth in online video, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect that brands who can master the use of video will be the strongest survivors in the quickly evolving retail landscape—and reaching consumers on the right platforms will also be key to success.
New research from Strategy Analytics reveals that Facebook is indirectly becoming a solid source of user-generated video content—and is often replacing time otherwise spent viewing similar videos on YouTube.
The new report from the User Experience Strategies (UXS) group at Strategy Analytics, UXS Technology Planning Report: Video, which investigates the needs, behaviors and expectations of consumers regarding video consumption, has found that while consumers look to Facebook to see what friends and family are up to and to gain information overall, videos are being increasingly consumed as a part of this experience.
“Content is ‘finding’ the user within social media—consumers no longer have to search for videos themselves,” said Christopher Dodge, report author and associate director at UXS, in a news release. “Furthermore, new ‘live’ video, along with countless shared video content, is shifting behaviors and resulting in more unintended video consumption.”
Social platforms are becoming the main source of consumption of ad-hoc short-form video
Sites such as Facebook and Instagram are increasingly sources to communicate new content availability, while sites such as Snapchat, IG stories and Boomerang are leading the drive towards social video creation and sharing.
In addition, socially shared and discovered “viral” content not only serves as entertainment on its own, but can impact an unintended direction for users and their video consumption.
Ongoing live video streaming and posting of temporary “stories” across Facebook and Instagram are also driving users to return.
“Identifying Facebook as a solid source for video—inclusive of professional, user-generated, and ‘viral’-type videos—not only makes Facebook’s experience even more compelling for users, but also drives advertisement revenues for this platform,” said Chris Schreiner, director of syndicated research at UXIP, in the release.
Strategy Analytics clients can download the report here.
