The sporadic nature of social media means content trends are ever changing, a fact that is embodied in the recent influx of ‘micro videos’. These bite size clips have taken our feeds by storm but how do they shape up in terms of that all important user engagement?
First there was Vine, taking our social media channels by storm and filling our feeds with 6 second segments of others’ lives. Then, Instagram video came to take the throne with its inbuilt editing capabilities, longer clips and those oh-so-addictive filters.
But as the Vine vs. Instagram battle simmers on the back burner, it’s actually contestant number three that reigns supreme and repeatedly wins the hearts of tweeters. According to research by Socialbakers, YouTube remains the top video platform on Twitter.
Looking at a cross section of 1141 brands’ Twitter profiles, a recent study found that 4863 YouTube videos were tweeted to consumers; in a perhaps surprising comparison, just 713 Vines and a mere 357 Instagram videos.
The important bit is how this converts to social media in business. In terms of results, YouTube videos included in the study saw 0.036% engagement on Twitter with an average of 19 retweets per video, once again towering above Vine (0.021% engagement) and, in particular, Instagram (0.011% engagement).
So, whilst ‘microvideo’ platforms are climbing up the social media rankings, the ball stays firmly in YouTube’s court when it comes to engagement and successful content.
