Sahail AshrafFacebook is all about video these days, but still some social media marketers question what the best strategy is for their pages.
Should I be posting a native video versus posting a YouTube or an Instagram video on Facebook? Do third-party video posts underperform?
Let’s take a look at the facts in order to answer these questions.
79.6% of pages use Facebook videos.
For this study we looked at 555 video-posting Facebook pages in the month of June.
79.6% of these pages used Facebook native video. 19.5% used YouTube and 0.9% used Instagram.
Combined, these pages posted 6,596 videos. 96.4% of all videos were native Facebook, 3.5% were YouTube videos, and 0.18% Instagram videos.
Which of these strategies works best? Let’s find out.
Facebook video reach is 67% higher than YouTube
The big question is does Facebook give an extra boost in reach to native videos? Well, our numbers do confirm a higher organic reach for native videos.
Facebook native videos achieved on average 13.2% organic reach of the total page likes.
7.9% was the number for YouTube videos and Instagram videos had 6.8% reach of the total audience.
Facebook native video organic reach is 94% higher than Instagram, and 67% higher than YouTube video!
The clear takeaway here is to post Facebook native videos only.
Facebook video engagement rate is 97% higher than YouTube
But what about engagement? How much do people engage with these videos?
Average engagement rate for Facebook native video was 6.3% of the page likes reached. For Instagram video it was 3.6% and for YouTube video it was 3.2%.
Facebook native video engagement rate is 97% higher than YouTube and 75% higher than Instagram!
The clear takeaway once again is to post Facebook native videos only.
The reason that Instagram video beats YouTube video in engagement might be the way Facebook displays YouTube links. YouTube videos are now simple images that appear as small static thumbnails, while Instagram videos appear larger and more similar to the size of the native Facebook video.
By the way, for more general reach and engagement stats do take a look at our latest Facebook study.
Are there any advantages in posting YouTube videos on Facebook?
So are there any advantages in driving your Facebook page likes to view your YouTube and Instagram videos instead of Facebook videos?
None. Not as far as we can see.
This is especially true since the announcement that Facebook will now allow you to monetize your native videos. Video producers that make advertising money on YouTube videos will soon be able to do the same on Facebook native video views too.
Is there an easier win than this?
If you’re one of the 20.4% of video-active pages that still don’t upload Facebook native videos, do get started now.
A quick change in your strategy that will give you a 67% boost in organic reach, and a 97% higher engagement rate compared to using YouTube.
It’s definitely a quick win and will provide you with great numbers to show to your directors and other stakeholders in your next social media report. Is there an easier win than this in social media right now?
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