• by Alex Weprin , March 8, 2018

YouTube may still be the king of free, ad-supported video on the internet, but at least in one critical area, Facebook is tops. 

According to a survey by video ad-tech company Clinch, Facebook’s platform is home to some 46% of all branded video campaigns, topping YouTube, which has 41% of the campaigns. When the Facebook-owned social platform Instagram is added to the mix, the company controls some 74% of the digital video campaign market.

Oz Etzioni, CEO of Clinch, tells Digital News Daily that the difference between the two platforms is likely due to viewer engagement. “People go to Youtube to watch content,” he says, adding that the more linear experience relies less on the viewer engaging with the advertising.

“Facebook is a different story. Videos on Facebook are the actual content and are part of the user’s news feed,” he adds. “They are made specifically for the Facebook and Instagram platforms in terms of length, format size and user experience behavior… These videos tend to be quick branded experiences on their own, and therefore are more performance and engagement-oriented.”

The study also found that 78% of marketers surveyed plan to increase their video advertising output in 2018. Fewer than 50% plan to personalize their video campaigns for different platforms, however, with many instead reworking TV commercials for digital and social platforms.

Personalization is a strategy that more brands should be considering, according to Etzioni.

“Just running videos for the sake of running it at scale is not enough,” he says. “Data needs to support those efforts. Brands need to understand and analyze the behavior, interest, needs and signals their customers are willing to provide them to personalize those experiences. In turn, they will see better responses from their audience -- and ultimately, a better return.”