Brief:
- Social video ads on mobile devices are key for reaching younger adults, with 90% of Generation Z and 83% of millennials spending at least one hour a day watching videos on their smartphones, according to a survey from video creation platform Wibbitz shared with Mobile Marketer.
- Gen Z spends an average of 2.9 hours, while millennials spend an average of two hours watching video on mobile. Gen Z watches the most video content on YouTube, and millennials most frequently view video on Facebook. Both groups watch the most videos on Facebook for news coverage, while YouTube is more popular for career development and entertainment.
- More than half (59%) of respondents who said they like social video ads also bought something right after watching a video on social platforms. Brands make up the lowest percentage of accounts followed on every social media channel (about 10%), but have the highest chance of getting followed on Facebook-owned Instagram. Respondents who like social video ads were most likely to name YouTube as their favorite social video platform.
Insight:
Wibbitz's survey is the latest research to confirm that smartphones are more important than TV for video consumption among millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Z (born 1997 to 2010), with mobile video time outpacing time spent viewing TV or reading articles. The survey follows other studies that show how smartphones have become the dominant channel to watch online video. Mobile's share of online "video starts" crossed 50% for the first time last year, with mobile forecast to make up 72% of spending growth on online video advertising.
As for sentiment toward social video ads, millennials are 16% more likely to hate them, while Gen Z is 15% more likely to feel neutral about them. Both groups typically feel more interested and informed about brands that post videos on social media, Wibbitz found.
With more than half of the young consumers that like social video ads buying something after watching them, brands could consider unboxing videos or haul videos after a shopping spree — two popular video genres on social media — as part of their social marketing strategies. Toys are mentioned in 29% of unboxing videos, ahead of phones and accessories (16%), computers, tablets and accessories (10%) and gaming consoles (7%), according to a study by packaging company Shorr. Clothing is mentioned in 59% of haul videos, ahead of other product categories such as general discount (11%), beauty and makeup (9%) and home décor (6%), the study found.
