The combination of video and mobile has been touted for a while as an increasingly important way to engage connected consumers who access and share content on the go, and in smarter formats and styles. In the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, this combination is important more as some of the markets in the region are clearly becoming mobile first.
Facebook IQ commissioned Kantar Media to conduct a biometrics lab, and a survey among 1999 people aged 18+ in the UAE and UK, who regularly watch short-form videos online, to better understand some of the trends governing video viewing in the region.
The research uncovered five key trends related to the rise of online video viewing:
#1. Smartphones are driving video’s momentum: People surveyed in the UAE are 1.40 times more likely to watch video daily on mobile than on computer.
#2. Attention seems to be getting shorter: 77 percent people surveyed prefer video under 10 minutes.
#3. Binge-watching has become second nature: 65 percent of Millennials surveyed say they watch large numbers of video clips in a row and 60 percent do it without even consciously realizing it.
#4. Context still counts: Among lab participants in the UK and UAE, video on Instagram inspires 1.80 times higher levels of joy among viewers than the same content viewed on other digital platforms.
#5. Novelty and movement can reignite attention: Among lab participants in the UK and UAE, people spend 5.00 times longer looking at video than static content on Facebook and Instagram.
What does this mean for marketers? In short, online video viewing is practically irresistible. It is up to marketers to move at a mobile minute to integrate video messaging into their campaigns.
There are various steps that marketers can take to ride the video wave. Some of the necessary steps include creating video for mobile. Attention may seem scarce, but mobile could be the antidote. Almost half of people surveyed find it easier to pay attention to video when viewed on a smartphone vs a desktop. Inject mobile-optimized creative into people’s feeds to ignite action.
It is also important to keep the video short and sweet. More than one in three people surveyed say that seeing the logo of a brand they like could get them to stop scrolling and watch. Marketers should capture attention quickly and feature the brand and key messaging up front.
Also, brands should seek to build surprise and delight. The research revealed that people’s eyes cannot resist new, immersive and moving formats, with participants in the lab experiment gazing five times longer at video than static content and 40 percent longer at 360 video than standard video.To create connections that count, experiment with new formats—from Live video to 360 video—to find out what works best for your brand and campaign objectives.
