Charts showing the rise of Facebook video throughout 2015-2016. For more, see NewsWhip's blog: newswhip.com/blog

1. Social Video, ONA London, April 1 2016

2. State of Facebook Video, Spring 2016
• Questions remain for publishers around how best to
balance video experience with cultivating a loyal audience.
• Video has become the defining feature of most users’ news
feeds.
• Facebook Native video is now a vital feature for many
outlets, allowing them to deliver stories to the audience on
their terms: mobile, visual, and fast.
• With development of new social platforms, consumers’
expectations for video have shifted.

3. “In 2015 Boston.com generated well over 12 million
views, which is orders of magnitude more than what
we were able to deliver through our site.”
Matt Karolian, The Boston Globe

4. Publishers are posting more video every
month
Number of Facebook videos per month
June 2015: 35
October: 164
February 2016: 313
June 2015: 68
October: 217
February 2016: 302
June 2015: 29
October: 92
February 2016: 139

5. The proportion of native video posts
is growing
% of Native Video Posted to the Huffington Post Facebook Page
96%
4%
80%
20%
June 2015 February 2016
Other PostsNative Videos

6. There has been huge growth in
engagement with native video on Fb
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
CNN The Huffington Post Upworthy
3,153,177
3,899,375
3,407,309
1,657,031
1,770,302
1,313,569
548,776
1,408,129
345,974
Total Engagements on Facebook Videos per Month
October 2015June 2015 February 2016

7. Highest average share rates, above even Instant
Articles for most publishers
Average share rate per post type, February 2016
Links: 530
Photos: 641
Video: 1,417
Links: 836
Photos: 1,348
Video: 4,731
Links: 150
Photos: -
Video: 2,798

8. Five key considerations
• Pre-made videos are short.
• Mobile first: square or vertical.
• Being able to watch without sound is now standard
consumer expectation.
• Differences emerging between successful native and
live videos.
• Videos have the highest average share rate of any
Facebook format.

9. The Average Length of Facebook Videos

10. Differences between Live and ‘Native’
• Length: Some pages have seen success with very long live
video, while native clips on Facebook remain short.
• Talking heads: Less exciting in native clips, more room for this
format with Live video.
• Followers notified once video goes live (although Facebook
have given the option to dial this down lately). People spend
more than 3x more time watching a Facebook Live video on
average compared to a video that’s no longer live.

11. Outside revenue, problems remain for publishers…
• Getting consistent engagement across new videos
is difficult. (New Facebook analytics may help.)
• Understanding what’s worth turning into a video can be difficult.
• Unpredictable nature of the algorithm. Scant information
around what formats are favoured, and for how long.

12. The most viral videos account for a much higher
bulk of engagements than other formats
Top 5 video shares as % of total, February 2016
Total Videos: 197
Total Shares: 279,159
Top 5: 151,530 (54%)
Videos: 96
Shares: 268,591
Top5: 203,690 (76%)
Videos: 313
Shares: 1,480,773
Top 5: 966,112 (65%)

13. What’s getting engagement?
1) Explainer Videos: Business Insider
2) Live News Video: CBC News, BBC News
3) Food: BuzzFeed Food, Tasty, Tastemade

14. Get in touch!
@_liamcorcoran
liam.corcoran@newswhip.com