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Have you noticed videos automatically playing in your Facebook newsfeed lately? Ryan Carter from Parachute Media has, and was so excited, he shared his thoughts.
Over the past week, he counted the number of different types of content in his feed. On average, 26 out of 30 posts were videos uploaded to FB that auto-play.
“Is Facebook trying something new out? Seems like the average is higher in the evenings than the mornings. It’s not directly from brands but friends sharing them.”
Facebook started testing autoplay videos back in September 2013. Scroll over a video in your newsfeed and it would start playing without sound. Simply click / tap for audio.
Then in December, they rolled out an ad format to support videos.
Before this feature, photos were the king of engagement. But Facebook’s data now shows a 10% increase in likes and shares on videos since implementing auto-play.
Mind that not all brands have the means to create awesome media, and not all users will sit through playback.
They certainly caught the attention of Ryan Carter, a social media strategist in Nashville, TN:
It looks great! I watched each one of them because the first one is short and a teaser. Then you slide over and watch the next two that are recaps of last season of night shift I think. Never seen it but it grabbed my attention. Opens my eyes to new ways of telling a story on Facebook. I’ve never heard of Night Shift but I watched each video! It sucks you in, like clicking play on the next recommended video on YouTube.
Facebook is making heavy investments in mobile ads, like we saw at F8 last week.
Have you promoted any videos lately?
Are you seeing increased engagement?
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best-selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations.You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel.You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.