Facebook vs. YouTube: The Video Advertising Showdown
Introduction
In the battle of video advertising, Facebook and YouTube stand as two titans, each with its unique strengths and appeal to marketers. Facebook, with its vast user base and precise targeting options, offers an ideal platform for reaching a broad audience. On the other hand, YouTube, as the world’s second-largest search engine, provides a dedicated space for video content consumption and search-driven advertising.
In the ever-changing landscape that is internet marketing, it pays to stay on top of the latest trends. And nowhere is the landscape changing quicker than in social media
According to the latest statistics, more and more companies are choosing to buy video ad space on social media sites like Facebook. This is in opposition to advertising on YouTube, which—while it does retain a higher average of dollars spent—is on the decline when it comes to video advertising. It’s confusing why this is. YouTube is, after all, a video-hosting website. It would seem to make sense that video advertising dollars would be rising along with the rise of YouTube video viewing, which has been on the rise.
Social Media Video Advertising
The reason for this— the reason companies are pulling back from YouTube and investing more in social media websites like Facebook — is because more and more of their target audience is spending more and more time using social media. They use it to connect to friends and family, and share pictures and stories; and for many folks, it’s their primary source of social interaction with people outside of their hometown. It might surprise you that the biggest age demographic of growing Facebook users is ages 35-54; in other words, the age group with the most disposable income. Part of the reason for the rise of video advertising on social media sites was the misconception that Facebook, Twitter, and all those social sites were being used primarily by high school and college students, who, by and large, have very little income. Now that the research has come in that shows it is an older crowd making up a majority of social media growth, companies have taken notice and shifted their gaze and their marketing teams towards buying space on those websites.
Let’s take a moment to read up on some statistics. This year alone, the advertising on YouTube dropped roughly 10% in terms of actual click-throughs. During that same time period, Facebook has gained roughly 10% of that share. It’s a quick statistic but it’s the most revealing. Facebook is simply engaging their users better than YouTube. Why that is, YouTube better hope to learn soon. Speculate all you want, but statistics— like my cherished 8th grade algebra teacher Mr. Reynolds told us—do not lie. Facebook has always been the dominant site when it comes to click-throughs and if YouTube doesn’t improve their practices soon, Facebook will take over that market completely. YouTube cannot afford to let this happen. Like the vast majority of websites, YouTube makes their money from advertising (a note to all YouTube aficionados: YouTube is owned by Google and Google has the capital and the resources, not to mention the vision, to keep YouTube up as the major player in online video-hosting) but with that income stream rapidly dwindling, they are going to have to shake things up. So far, they have come up with some novel ways to do this. Example: they have recently teamed up with Lionsgate to create a promotional campaign for the blockbuster Hunger Games movie franchise. This is the kind of innovation that will keep YouTube not only afloat, but bring it back as a major player in the marketing realm. Stay Ahead of the Curve! Elevate Your Business with Engaging Video Advertising. Let Video Chef Bring Your Vision to Life.