Facebook continues to try and battle against YouTube when it comes to pushing its video content, and it may have just found a new tool to help in its fight – exclusive content from publishers and partners.
Adweek has reported that several partners have already come on board to help push Facebook’s video features. Popsugar, for instance, will push a new program called Popsugar Rush, which will run exclusively on Facebook for 24 hours before being published on its YouTube account. “In every way, we are crafting the video specifically to be optimized for Facebook,” said Popsugar Studios president David Grant about the show.
That’s not all, either. Popular clients like Buzzfeed and Jimmy Kimmel, who hosts a late night talk show on ABC, have also struck similar deals with Facebook, producing video clips that either run exclusively or with a certain timed window on its channel before going to its competitor. The article also reports that several other partners have programs in the works as well.
Ever since it partnered with the social site back in September, Popsugar has seen strong dividends from its Facebook videos. It stated that views of the videos jumped to a whopping 18.5 million views in just a few months’ time, compared to the 20,000 it had when it got started. “Facebook has become a natural extension of our brand,” said Anna Fieler, executive vice president of marketing for Popsugar.
While Facebook feels that exclusive videos aren’t a part of its core strategy, it’s pushing for them anyway in an “aggressively” strong manner, according to the report. One anonymous publisher stated that video view results have been stronger on Facebook through direct posting, instead of just linking to YouTube – a practice that the social site isn’t too fond of, particularly with its pre-roll advertisements.
“Most companies know that a best practice on Facebook is that an image of a video performs better than a direct link (to a third-party player,” said Paul Kontonis, executive director for the Global Online Video Association. “But Facebook native video performs better than everything.”
Content promotion goes a long way with the site, and it appears that Facebook is offering plenty of incentives through deals with programming, although they weren’t highly detailed. Jimmy Kimmel co-executive producer Doug DeLuca said the show teamed with Facebook to help promote the content, through premium placements on the site. “Discovery tends to be easier on Facebook when you are doing something specific,” he said. “I don’t know if as many people would have found (the series) if we had posted it on our YouTube channel among celebrity-driven, high-profile pieces.”
Facebook could announce an even more company-friendly program this week with the forthcoming Facebook Anthology branded-content program, with several partners like Vox, The Onion and Funny or Die reportedly on board with its own content.
While this could have an effect on YouTube’s business in the future, Kevin Cronin, partner for search and social at Universal McCann, noted that it continues to be the biggest view driver in online video overall, and that if the site asks publishers for exclusive content, marketers creating branded content may be forced to limit said content to a single platform.
More details on the report can be found here.
