It’s hard to imagine, but it was only a few years ago that Facebook started to auto-play videos in the newsfeed. Initially piloted as a more seamless way for users to engage with videos shared by their friends and favourite bands, videos for Facebook (and just about every other social media platform) are now more numerous and engaged with than any other form of media on the web.

On the average 20 minute Vancouver commute, you can expect to see at least 20+ videos on both Facebook and Instagram, from advertisers and friends alike. If you’re lucky, you might cut that number in half being victimized by a hypnotic like Gif:

That’s good content baby.

Gone are the days of parental TV admonishment: Millenials now spend more time watching on-demand digital services like YouTube and Netflix. What’s more, local GoPro software company CamDo quips that over the next 30 days, there will be more video content published than the total video output over the past 30 years.

User focused platforms are optimizing for video for the very same reasons Gone with the Wind (1939) is still the most profitable movie of all time. People have always interacted with video easier and more willingly than other forms of content. Psychology Today has quantified this marked difference, noting that “videos are processed by the brain 60,000 times faster than text.”

So, maybe video isn’t the future – but the channels to distribute most definitely are. For the savvy social media marketer of 2016, video should be an indispensable component of your digital tool kit. Here are 3 reasons why:

1. Engagement + Reach (outside of “Likes, Shares, and Comments”)

In the ‘pre-modern’ era, Facebook prioritized content on a user’s newsfeed by evaluating a host of factors, formerly known as “EdgeRank”. Likes, Shares, and Comments were the exclusive “Engagement” metrics that helped Facebook decide what they should show on your newsfeed.

This summer, Facebook introduced a host of new tacit metrics they use to determine engagement. Whether a user turned sound on, made a video HD, or clicked to full screen, creative videos have an ever-increasing capacity to help you rank and reach wider audiences.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Forbes magazine recently published that video will supersede written content for SEO value in 2016. If you aren’t aware of the five core tenets of content for SEO, after a quick read it’s easy to connect the dots.

Google crawls a host of engagement and authority data from all of the major social channels as a part of its quality rank. Snapchat, Periscope, Instagram, and others are driving the UX expectation – and Google is adjusting.

3. Constant dashboard Improvements

Facebook reported in early 2015 that video content on the newsfeed is increasing 360 per cent year over year. Facebook is constantly finding new ways to host video and carve out more market share in the graphic space, all because their data indicates continued exponential growth.

The videos created today will be, in effect, communicated on unprecedented channels that you have the opportunity to learn and take advantage of ahead of your competitors.

If you need more ammunition to convince the boss man, Social Bakers finds that posts with video have a 135 per cent greater organic reach than posts absent. Negotiate a few dollars out of your ad budget and roll the dice on video – you wont regret it.

Source – MarketingPilgrim.com