Expert: Facebook earnings call signals 'golden age' for video

Facebook's latest earnings call has seen stock prices rebound significantly despite it's users spending less time on the social network. According to company information, consumers are spending less time on-site, but ad prices continue to go up, pushing about 43% higher through Q4 2017.

by Kristina Knight

The news pushed Facebook stocks past the $194 mark last week. But, what does Facebook's call mean for marketers? According to one expert, the call is signaling a change, and the change has everything to do with video advertising.

"Facebook is paving the way for the golden age of video advertising for small businesses. While video advertising was once a difficult feat for small businesses, given the cost and production for TV advertising (as exemplified by this weekend's Super Bowl), Facebook continues to democratize the advertising landscape, with video being its top priority," said Jason Hsiao, Co-Founder and Chief Video Officer, Animoto.

Hsiao believes that consumers spending less time on the social network is actually good for marketers because those consumers found on-site will be more engaged with the content there. He also notes that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said himself during the Q3 earnings call that the growth of video will be key in the coming years.

"Brands should still be thinking about their Facebook marketing and ad strategy with a video-first lens," said Hsiao. "As Facebook invests in Facebook Watch, Facebook Stories, and Facebook Live, and other products designed to foster meaningful social interactions, there will be even more opportunities to target potential customers and clients with video. There will be even more opportunities to target potential customers and clients with in-stream video advertising, or ads that play within video content itself similar to how traditional TV commercials work."

According to a recent Animoto survey most Facebook users (64%) made a purchase related to branded video content. The focus on video means more marketers need to up their video game on Instagram, as well.

"With about 2/3rds of visitors to brands' Instagram profiles not being from people that follow them, now is the time to invest in video advertising on Instagram. One such Animoto customer comes to mind: Ecommerce product Click N' Curl saw a 48% increase in sales after running video ads on Instagram with just a $100 spend. We have other small biz examples of businesses having their bottom line impacted by Instagram video advertising," said Hsiao.

Tags: advertising, Animoto, Facebook, social marketing, social video, video advertising, video content