More Social Videos
Wochit’s research shows a 65 percent increase in video production from Q1 to Q2 of 2017. In turn, social media engagement grew right along with the increase in production, as Wochit found that the more videos a brand posted on Facebook, the more total views the page got.
The increase in views was about 25 percent from Q1 to Q2. This suggests if you’re hoping to improve views for your Facebook page, the most straightforward answer may be ramping up video production.
More Engagement in General
Not only will you likely get more Facebook page views by posting videos, but you’ll also get more user engagement. Wochit discovered 28 percent more shares in Q2 than Q1, and nearly 24 percent more comments.
In addition, reactions on Facebook–from the cry emoji to the heart–went up by about a whopping 40 percent! But get this: Q2 saw a nearly 17 percent decrease in likes. When you add up the reactions and the likes, you actually get a six percent reduction in this type of engagement for Facebook videos. So, count yourself lucky if you still get a lot of likes on your videos these days.
Longer Videos on Social Media
You’ve probably heard to keep videos pretty short, and that’s still mostly true since about 78 percent of videos are 30 to 90 seconds long. But there was a decent increase in the amount of videos over 90 seconds long. In fact, when you compare Q2 to Q1, there was a 38 percent increase in videos over 90 seconds long. In Q1, 11 percent of social media videos lasted at least 90 seconds, but now nearly 16 percent do.
According to Wochit, the trend of longer videos lately might have something to do with the fact that Facebook now plays ads in the middle of some of its videos, providing more monetization options for advertisers on Facebook. Also, longer videos now get a little more engagement than they once did, as Q2 saw more views and shares for them than Q1 did.
Changing Preferences for Video Orientation
One thing that has changed in recent years is the type of video orientation people seem to like. Sure, vertical videos have been unpopular for a while now when it comes to social media. That leaves square and horizontal videos to battle it out for most popular video orientation. Which type won for Q2?
Well, horizontal is the most used orientation, as about 60 percent of videos on social media in Q2 were horizontal, and about 40 percent were square. But it turns out square videos get far more engagement, making them the fan favorite for Q2.
Wochit found that square videos on social media got 137 percent more views and 39 percent more comments than horizontal videos. They also got nearly 36 percent more shares and about 17 percent more likes than horizontal videos in Q2. This is likely because so many people watch videos on mobile devices, which are better suited to square videos than other types.
You can learn more about what Wochit found when you check out the Q2 Social Index Report. Do the findings support what you know about videos on social media, or have you noticed other trends when it comes to the length, orientation, and engagement of social videos?