Nowadays, nobody can deny that video has already been crowned as the absolute king of content. What is more, by 2019 video is expected to account for 80% of all global consumer Internet traffic.
Social media certainly fuels this exponential growth with an increasing number of views on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Your brand can’t miss out on the opportunity to establish a meaningful conversation with your audience, to show your product’s unique features and build up brand awareness.
In this article, we are going to list 10 essential social video stats and give actionable ideas to harness the amazing power of online video and boost your social marketing strategy.
1) Almost one-third of total internet users, over one billion people, are on YouTube.
That’s quite a number, don’t you think? Every day these users watch hundreds of millions of hours and produce billions of views. Your brand can’t afford to lose so many potential clients, you need to have a presence on YouTube.
Aren’t you convinced yet? YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google so if you want to rank higher in the search result pages you’d better upload your video on this powerful platform. You could even get to the #1 spot!
In a nutshell, if you don’t know where to begin with your social video strategy, just kick off on YouTube, you can’t be wrong.
2) 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.
Facebook generates 8 billion video views on average per day but most of them happen in silent mode. This is not surprising given that the platform has created an environment in which it is not necessary to turn on the sound. As mobile usage has increased steadily over the last few years, we can assume that this stat also applies to other social media sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Mobile users will keep scrolling if they don’t understand your content. To prevent that, your video should be able to stand on its own without sound. Adding captions and overlayed text will help your audience to understand your message even on silent mode. If publishers can make it work with everyday news, you can do it with your product too:
https://www.facebook.com/theguardian/videos/vl.1466114636818144/10156545050306323/?type=1
3) People have a shorter attention span than a goldfish
Sad but true, according to a Microsoft Corp’s study, we generally lose concentration after eight seconds. This is a crucial fact about online users that marketers should take into account.
Don’t waste time, be clear and straightforward stating your brand message from the beginning of your video. Remember that nothing is more important than the first few seconds to retain your audience’s attention.
All that being said, there are some nuances about the perfect video length. According to Hubspot’s insights, the optimal video length varies for each platform: 30 seconds for Instagram, 45 seconds for Twitter, 1 minute for Facebook and 2 minutes for YouTube. Keep those numbers in mind when creating your own video.
Recommended for you: 8 Point Checklist for Video Marketing.
4) 65% of people who watch the first three seconds of a Facebook video will watch for at least 10 seconds, and 45% will watch for 30 seconds.
Well, luckily, there is always a bright side of life: people still enjoy watching videos. On Facebook, they prefer audiovisual content to photos or text.
Leverage each of those views by creating the best video for your brand. A fully customized video with your brand’s colors, themes and imagery is the best way to create a distinctive and memorable experience.
5) Video posts on Facebook have 135% greater organic reach than photo posts.
There are so many photos shared every day that your video will stand out in the newsfeed.
Don’t take this stat for granted, though. Gear your video towards boosting your click-through rate. Your title should be brief and clear about your content and don’t forget to create customized thumbnails!
6) On Facebook, people spend 3 times longer watching a live social video compared to one that has been prerecorded.
After the release of Facebook’s own live-streaming feature, watching and interacting in real time video has proven to be popular with its user base. Twitter and Instagram also allow for this possibility. Besides, on Facebook, the video ranks higher when it is live.
Company announcements such as product launches, organization changes, acquisitions or charity work can be shown and engage your community much more than a simple press release. Events and Webinars are also an opportunity to reach your audience, providing them with valuable knowledge that will fill their needs.
7) Videos are 6X more likely to be retweeted than photos and 3X more likely than GIFs
Twitter users really engage with videos and love to share them with their followers. Keep in mind that due to the autoplay feature, native videos will get you the most retweets and interactions.
If you take Twitter user’s profiles into account, posting video ads will surely drive concrete marketing results: 53% are early adopters and 63% are more likely to influence a purchase, according to the platform stats.
As for the length, native Twitter videos can be at maximum 140 seconds long. Note that videos less than 6.5 seconds long will loop automatically.
8) Most Twitter users (70%) say they only/mostly watch videos that they discover in their timelines while only 11% say they use search on Twitter to find specific videos.
Twitter commissioned Research Now to conduct surveys across 14 countries about video usage on the platform. They found out that Twitter is used differently than YouTube. While most Twitter users say they discover videos on their timeline, the inverse is true for YouTube.
“Only 20% of consumers say they only/mostly watch videos that they discover on YouTube, but 63% say they always/usually use search to find specific videos on YouTube. This finding shows a difference in intent: consumers come to Twitter to discover content they don’t already know about rather than searching for something specific.”
Leverage this pattern of showing videos created for the top of the sales funnel. Let those millions of users know your brand with an impactful video that shows your company’s values like this:
WOW. An incredible 450,000 of you have ticked to stay in touch with our lifesaving work. You can still opt in https://t.co/AR423v4Zs4 pic.twitter.com/qSKgi2qymB
— RNLI (@RNLI) February 7, 2017
9) The longest average length of videos from top publishers on Instagram is 60 seconds
Bear in mind that, on average, Instagram videos are very short compared to other platforms. The top publisher as of June 2017 was Buzzfeed and its average length of the video was 60 seconds.
According to the platform’s figures, the amount of time users spend watching video has increased by more than 80 percent year-over-year. However, be aware that in this particular platform, photos see more average engagement than videos. Taking that fact into account, you should post your video on this platform but maybe it is not necessary to create a special video for it.
Note that unlike stories and live streaming, video posts remain permanent unless deleted by the user.
You may also like: Is Video a Part of Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
10) Smartphone users hold their phone vertically 94% of the time.
Having mobile phones have become the norm, you should consider vertical usage when creating your video. Even if users can change to landscape position, according to this stats, most of the time they use their phones vertically. Social media knows that and they have made changes to embrace the new format and publish video with no black borders. Even when landscape mode provides a better viewing experience, platforms want to retain viewers so they catered to mobile users. Check out how companies like Louis Vuitton have started to experiment with vertical ads.
Final Words
With all these stats showing the power of video, creating your own is a no-brainer. Leverage different types of videos to create a brilliant marketing strategy. Study this data to cater them specifically to each of your social media platforms. Don’t wait! Create great video content that drives awareness for your brand and achieves your marketing goals!
This article is written by Víctor Blasco. He is the founder and CEO of the explainer video company Yum Yum Videos. He is also an audiovisual designer and video marketing expert. Aside from running the business, he loves studying Chinese philosophy and is a real geek for science fiction films and comics! Follow him: Twitter | LinkedIn.
This article is written by Víctor Blasco. He is the founder and CEO of the explainer video company Yum Yum Videos. He is also an audiovisual designer and video marketing expert. Aside from running the business, he loves studying Chinese philosophy and is a real geek for science fiction films and comics! Follow him: 
Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
