Facebook is encouraging marketers to publish longer videos. The dominant social media network recently changed its algorithm to move longer videos to the top of users’ news feeds – but only if viewers actually watch them.
The algorithm tweak assigns greater weight to the “percent completion” for longer videos. Facebook explains in its announcement: “If you watch most or all of a video, that tells us that you found the video to be compelling — and we know that completing a longer video is a bigger commitment than completing a shorter one.”
While longer videos that people actually watch will gain more reach, short videos may see less distribution as a result. The change, which is rolling out gradually, will impact only organic videos, not advertisements.
Facebook’s Advice on Length
Facebook’s recommendation: The best length is whatever length that’s needed to tell a compelling story that engages people, which is likely to vary depending on the story. Marketers should also examine insights in Page Analytics to understand how their videos perform.
The algorithm change could substantially impact both marketers and publishers. Many now specialize in short, bite-size video posts.
“Although Facebook seems to be downplaying the potential impact of this News Feed update for publishers, the reality is that publishers will likely need to adapt to Facebook’s new preference for longer-form content,” states Business Insider.
An Effort to Gain Advertising
Observers theorize that Facebook hopes to boost its video ad business. The company hopes to win lucrative deals from TV advertisers, and the social network is now testing interruptive ads that display after users have watched a video for at least 20 seconds. For those mid-roll ads to be successful, Facebook needs an adequate inventory of longer videos, or at least not extremely short clips. Its new update offers companies an incentive to publish longer videos.
Aggressive marketers may pursue longer videos in an effort to gain an edge. But given the higher costs of producing longer video and the risk that viewers won’t stay engaged with them, brands should be cautions, warns says Patricio Robles at eConsultancy. Marketers should keep in mind that longer videos that people don’t watch won’t perform better in news feeds.
To promote its livestream feature, Facebook Live, Facebook paid publishers and celebrities to create live video content – sometimes significant sums. But after finding the efforts were not financially worthwhile, some publishers have declined to renew agreements.
In addition, the preference for longer videos will likely vary by audiences. The targeted audiences of some brands may be more inclined to watch longer videos. Others may like shorter clips.
Bottom Line: Facebook’s algorithm change that favors longer videos may prompt marketers to produce longer videos. Their success may be a long shot. To rise to the top of news feeds, longer videos must keep viewers’ attention. Creating compelling videos that are relevant to their target audiences whatever the length may be a more effective strategy.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
