The rise of long-form video on Facebook

The growing dominance of video in today’s digital age is undisputed. A recent Cisco report​ estimates that 80% of all internet traffic is currently attributed to streaming online video, and this is one of the most-cited statistics currently in online circles.

Over the last few years, we have seen Indian brands gradually waking up to this new reality. But to most brands, “video marketing” merely means distributing 6-30 second video ads across social media. This is attributable to the notion that mobile users only watch snackable videos (< 2 minutes) online, especially Facebook, which has now been proven wrong by recent audience data and insights.

The dramatically decreasing costs of smartphones/data plans, combined with increasing internet penetration, better video compression technology, and a boom in video content, have contributed to growth in longer form video content consumption.

Conventional thought has always put YouTube as the place for long-form video, while Facebook and Instagram have been perceived as platforms suited for shorter videos. But Facebook has been actively promoting its Watch platform on its native app, and has made IGTV an integral part of the Instagram experience, both of which promote long-form content.

Earlier this year, the Facebook newsroom announced: “​As we’ve shared in the past, it’s important to ensure that videos capture viewers’ attention for at least one minute. We will add more weight in ranking to videos that keep people engaged, especially on videos that are at least three minutes long.”

At around the same time, business pages on Facebook started seeing this notice on the video sections of their admin panels:

Source: Facebook

They couldn’t have been more direct.

Facebook is banking heavily on revenue from in-stream video advertising on its platform, and in order for it to be successful it has to get its audience into the habit of watching longer form video content, and hence tweaked their newsfeed algorithm.

At Glamrs, since we publish 12-15 video posts a day on Facebook, we saw these effects up close.

In May of this year, we saw a sharp decline in the performance of all our videos that were less than 3 minutes long. But videos that were longer than 3 minutes saw more engagement and retention than usual. By July, all our videos were in the 3-5 minute range were flourishing.

This is in stark contrast to the theory that videos on Facebook should be short and sweet, keeping in mind diminishing attention spans. Facebook is known to tap into the dynamic nature of its audience requirements, and the new update is definitely one that marketers need to pay attention to.

Are users becoming more open to consuming longer video content on Facebook, and will it actually help the brand?

Here are two key statistics to consider:

1. Longer videos on Facebook received 79% more shares and 74% more views than shorter videos.

2. 53% of consumers engage with a brand after viewing a video on social media.​


And here’s the most telling insight of them all — a BuzzSumo study done in 2018, which was ​Before​Facebook’s recent push for longer videos:

Source: BuzzSumo

Facebook was well aware: knowing that videos longer than 3-minutes got the highest engagement and then capitalised on this trend.

Facebook also started giving businesses more tools to promote longer form videos. They announced that it will be replacing the 30-second-video-view metric with a 1-minute one. So brands have to start thinking beyond 6-second advertisements when it comes to effective video content.

Consumers want to feel engaged with brands at their fingertips, and they want an experience which goes beyond just the product.​​ Long-format videos allow for in depth engaging content which takes them beyond the traditional buyer-consumer relationship. This is a key insight marketers need to understand while strategising and planning their campaigns.

Here’s an example of a 4-minute video on “underarm care” that we produced for Nivea in 2018, before Facebook’s push for longer content.

How to Take Care of Your Underarms

The English and Hindi versions of the video together have almost 5 million video views on Facebook, with high retention and engagement metrics.

While the optimal length of a successful Facebook video will always vary, brands should keep in mind that social media is a two-way street. Time and resources spent on creating thoughtful and valuable videos will help build long term connections with your consumers, who in turn will invest their time to engage with your brand.

Not a bad tradeoff, right?

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of BuzzInContent.com and we do not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)