Helping to drive this development is mobile technology, as it allows people to have a camera with them at all times to capture and share images and express themselves using sight, sound and motion.
“The camera is there right on your phone. … You can just upload what you took at the touch of a button,” Aimee, a 26-year-old from the UK told us.1
We are seeing this shift to a visual language come to life on Facebook. In just one year, the number of video posts per person has increased 75% globally and 94% in the US.2 And every day, people upload more than 350 million photos on average to Facebook.3
On Instagram, people have always communicated visually. More than 300 million people around the world post more than 70 million photos and videos each day on Instagram.4 Meanwhile, the average number of stickers shared per day on Facebook around the world climbed 75% from 2013 to 2014.5
With people creating, posting and interacting with more videos on Facebook, the composition of News Feed is changing. Globally, the amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6x year-over-year.6
“Facebook has become way more visual,” observed Jay, a 38-year-old from the US. “Instead of posting a movie quote, I may find the video and post that instead.”1
Since June 2014, Facebook has averaged more than 1 billion video views every day. On average, more than 50% of people who come back to Facebook every day in the US watch at least one video every day.7
A significant proportion of these video views are happening on mobile: 65% globally.7 This shift to mobile video will continue, thanks to faster connectivity, cheaper access and bigger and high-definition screens, among other factors. Cisco Systems estimates that mobile video will increase 14-fold between 2013 and 2018, accounting for 69% of total mobile data traffic by the end of the forecast period.8
Given that adults in the US spend 1 out of every 5 of their mobile minutes on Facebook and Instagram, these platforms will be key contributors to this growth.9
Facebook allows people to discover content shared on News Feed by people and brands they care about. People are recognizing that video is a part of that: 76% of people in the US who use Facebook say they tend to discover the videos they watch on Facebook.10
Facebook is seen as a go-to source for connecting with this extended family: Nearly 9 out of 10 African Americans use Facebook to keep up with friends and family, and 7 out of 10 use it to observe what friends and family are doing. African Americans are also more likely to use Facebook to communicate with family and friends daily: 63% use Facebook to communicate with family, and 60% use Facebook to communicate with friends at least once a day, compared to 53% and 54% of the total population, respectively.
While family is important to defining African American culture, our research showed that celebrating the personal achievement of other African Americans is the top link to African American cultural identity. Facebook is seen as a place to express this cultural pride. 4 out of 10 African Americans use Facebook to share personal achievements and quotes or inspirational messages.
“Facebook represents my culture in a well-rounded way. It helps me keep up with music, local and national news events and family and friends,” Tanya, an African American research participant, told us.
In addition to fostering community connections, brands are attracting the attention of African Americans on social media. Our research showed that 2 out of 5 African Americans are open to brand advertising on social media. More than half (51%) of African Americans believe that video ads on Facebook are an effective form of advertising, second only to ads recommended by family and friends on Facebook.
Mobility gives brands more opportunities to reach people in a visually vibrant way that transcends language barriers via the screen that is with people everywhere, all the time. Brands need to bring the story to life in a matter of seconds. We call that “thumb-stopping creative.”
Value is created very rapidly, starting with the initial thumbnail and first few seconds (~3) of the video. In order to get thumbs to stop and people to watch, plan for strong creative from the first frame on.
Incremental value goes beyond the first few seconds. What ultimately matters is the content and story. While people tend to watch short videos, they will watch long videos, as long as the longer videos are telling good stories.
As part of McDonald’s global World Cup campaign, for instance, the Creative Shop at Facebook (alongside OMD, Arc Sponsorship and Framestore) re-created the most spectacular moments of the day with a real-time video campaign starring McDonald’s iconic French fries as fans, coaches and players in a stadium created from McDonald’s packaging. The FryFutbol campaign resulted in well over 400 million impressions and reached over 125 million unique people (80% of whom were on mobile) across 158 countries.11
With people watching more videos on their mobile phones throughout the day, use video that works well with and without sound so people are engaged even if a video is playing silently inline. Consider a text overlay that doesn’t require audio.
Strong campaigns use a combination of creative assets, such as both photo and video. Brands should optimize their creative for different screens, devices and connection speeds to reach people in the most compelling and effective way.
