Facebook not a social network but a video platform says agency sales boss
Rogers
Facebook is telling brands and advertising agencies it is now a video platform as the social network seeks to highlight its premium video ad option to brands.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Facebook Australia head of agency sales Ellie Rogers said: “People ask us are you a social network? Are you a mobile platform? What we’re saying now is because of the rise of video we’re actually a video platform which is perhaps quite an unexpected way to start presentations with clients and agencies.
“When we talk them through the story and they think about their experience on the network they very quickly realise this is an incredible place to showcase your video at scale but to also have that personalised side and use the hyper-targeting we have within the Facebook world.
“It’s the rise and rise of mobile,” she added.
The focus on its video assets comes as the platform highlights its 2014 video numbers with Facebook saying more than 50 per cent of Australian Facebook users who access the site daily watch at least one video per day, as globally the number of video posts per person increased by 75 per cent.
Since June 2014, Facebook globally has averaged more than 1 billion video views every day.
Rogers said mobile is driving video consumption, and has grown by 532 per cent cross platform in just two years according to an eMarketer syudy. It is estimated to increase 14-fold between 2013 and 2018 according to Cisco Systems.
According to Nielsen, one in three of all mobile minutes are spent on Facebook.
“People don’t read their newsfeed, they watch it,” Rogers said.
Rogers highlighted Qantas’ ‘Feels Like Home‘ campaign, which launched in November last year and was hosted on the brand’s Facebook page.
“For them it sat very naturally and creatively it had a lots of synergy sitting in an emotional newsfeed surrounded by family and friends,” said Rogers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16RhgfA662k
“The reach was really high, it reached 5.8m, it had 1.8m video views and 85 per cent of all of those views were actually on a mobile device.”
But to get this type of reach Facebook says there are some different rules advertisers need to play by.
“And the rules that we see as first and foremost – developing content that is going to resonate and be fan friendly, it’s going to make people stop, scroll and watch,” said Rogers.
“For us it’s a bit like an upside down joke. We need to make sure you get that punch line out very quick so you grab the users attention and they feel compelled to watch the video. That is our first creative principle.”
Rogers said secondly the video needs to be visually compelling and needs to make sense without audio due to many users having their volume turned down.
“The third question we get asked is it ok if we use our TV ad? And actually our launch partner McDonald’s, it was a TV ad and it was a really good one. If it’s awesome content it works well in news feeds,” Rogers said.
Miranda Ward
Until you stop auto video plays…
Quite frustrating as a user having to “fast scroll” past every auto video start. Also, how does this relate to actual views when people tend to flick past video’s. Does 1 second of viewing a video count as an actual view?
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“People don’t read their newsfeed, they watch it”
Only because we’re forced to…
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Very interesting, thanks guys. I just wonder, when Facebook quotes that it records 1 billion video views every day, what constitutes a video view? Is it one second of viewing?
I just wonder how many people scroll through their news feeds, are on the video for a second, and then keep scrolling. If that’s counted as a view, then surely the automatic viewing feature in newsfeeds is creating these large viewing stats. How many people are actually watching longer than the “scroll past” mark?
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Hi Ellie.
I see that “Since June 2014, Facebook globally has averaged more than 1 billion video views every day.”
Do you have any data on the average duration of a video view?
Cheers,
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And you can change your setting so you don’t view it & and upside is it doesn’t eat your data!
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There’s more money to be shifted from TV to Facebook vs. display to Facebook.
Nice strategy for Facebook at least. 😉
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I “Like” the above comment
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@whatif – Go to settings, then video on the left and then default and you can switch the auto off.
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Thanks DTM – will do.
However, I am astounded by the fact that auto video play is allowed in Australia. In other countries some form of user interaction (click, cursor moving over the video, etc.) is needed for the video to start playing.
Also, it does not help publishers sell more as big agencies know that this is not a true reflection of actual views. If video’s watched were user initiated… more spend would go toward online video.
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Facebook counts a view when it’s been autoplayed for 3 secs…hmmmm.
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People don’t read their newsfeed, they watch it,” Rogers said.
Oh come on.
Sounds like the cult of Facebook sales slogan. After brand money so they can gobble even more Australian revenue they don’t pay tax on. Their entire strategy is based around attacking brand $$$.
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Good messaging from Facebook here. Stealing TV share is the big game and companies like FB and Goog have the deep pockets to try and do it here in AU.
Whether or not migrating spend from traditional TV to pre-roll is the right thing to do is irrelevant however … just like how display ate up magazines and print (despite there never being much hard evidence suggesting more efficacy) once these things start the momentum can’t be stopped.
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Its not about turning auto-pay off, this issue is about over stating their performance due to an unfair inflation of views… 1 sec is NOT a view!
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And the word came down from Menlo Park: SELL MORE VIDEO ADS.
And the disciples did hear the word and took it the Trade Press with a fancy slide deck.
And behold the agencies and clients heard the word and did obey.
And the Zuck was happy.
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Facebook’s autoplay is so annoying, I think it actually takes away from the experience for the user. Having a small business fan page to engage your customers regularly becomes less effective if people are trying to scroll past things they have no interest in viewing. People still value earned recognition from reading about positive customer reviews who have had an excellent and pleasing experience in the quality of the service or product or service and feel strong enough to let others know. of course, if your service or delivery is terrible, you can expect the negative word of mouth online to spread further.
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@ Interested I believe that views are classified as a fully completed (100%) view of the video, whereas an impression is literally an impression where the video is not viewed within the news feed window. Ergo…Qantas was 5.8m reach, 1.8m views.
@Shamma, as an advertiser, it’s incredibly relevant. The cost efficiencies that pre-rolls deliver, just based purely on a CPM basis, are remarkable vs. TV. Combined with the fact that we can measure viewing completion rates, and adjust targeting and / or creative accordingly very quickly and easily, as well as drive directly to information or promotions to drive sales, speaks volumes as to why this is a momentum that can’t be stopped.
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Smart move for a publisher of this size to switch gears to the bigger bet which is brand dollars. The fb sales team seem pretty slick and are working tightly with agencies, certainly something their google friends could learn a thing or two from.
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well at least it’s not a chair any more.
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Menlo Park / Scientology. Same thing.
“Now tell Australians a video view is the answer to their higher brand being”
“Send money home to HQ in installments”
“Avoid scrutiny”
“Defend”
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FB is just an ad platform
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@Sell more video ads…. brilliant comment. Had me in stitches this morning.
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The Other Ed – my experience has been pre-roll CPM’s v broadcast are generally not on par … like for like (ie. pre-roll v tvc) pre-roll is generally more expensive but can be cheaper depending on the quality.
I would argue the significant cost benefits are really not there – hence the argument to move spend out of TV into pre-roll isn’t a financial one, it’s generally an impact one.
Not saying one works more than the other but you would have to agree there’s no rock solid non subjective evidence to suggest either is superior.
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Fantastic to see so much lively debate around video. There is no doubt that it’s going to be a massive year for video, specifically mobile video, and it’s great that we can now be part of that eco-system. In relation to the question around what constitutes a video view, for both organic and paid it is 3 seconds. If anyone wants to continue the conversation, or fancies some ‘free food’ then email me on elliemayrogers@fb.com….the cake over here is pretty good 🙂
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Very clever @ellie 😉
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Ellie….does the American company you work for pay tax in Australia?
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@Nay sayer – why ask the obvious? Also, it is not really like that is something she would have any control over. Don’t be a d…
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WhatIf – Don’t get defensive. It’s a question I’m sure Facebook can easily answer if HQ permit. I’m sure they pay for all the free food.
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And remember, ordinary workers in Australia all pay their taxes fairly while American GIANTs dripping in wealth – like Google and Facebook – come here, take revenue away from Australian companies and don’t pay tax. And probably laugh at our country.
Forgive me if I don’t buy the video pitch.
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