Native Facebook Videos vs. YouTube Links

Video content is expensive to create, and the media and distribution behind it can often mean the success or failure of a campaign. We recently debated how to best distribute video on Facebook. Is it better to post native Facebook videos or links to YouTube videos?

Here are our findings:  As indicated in this study by SocialBakers, Facebook videos pull in more comments on average, while YouTube links tend to garner more likes and shares. But they’re pretty close overall and this doesn’t say anything about views. Let’s dive a little deeper:

Benefits of YouTube Links

• YouTube is the most popular video-sharing website that can aggregate, not only your videos, but also data concerning its views and shares.

• You can share the YouTube link anywhere that supports your online exposure, unlike Facebook videos which cannot be shared outside of the social network.

Benefits of Facebook Videos

• Your Facebook fans can be tagged in the video. • Your Facebook videos suggest that users Like your Page via a button directly in the video.

• The video is more visible in the feed compared to YouTube videos. Also, Facebook videos are the only ones that can be played in the feed on mobile.

It mostly comes down to how the link/video appears in the feed, with Facebook holding the reigns and obviously making their videos more attractive. We found a workaround for larger thumbnails that involves making an image a frame of the video:  Although less than ideal because it requires the user to click out to YouTube, it does allow you to feature your work in a familiar place that isn’t limited by the size of the Facebook feed. Bottom line: If your marketing effort is strictly on Facebook, it’s best to stick with the native video option. Otherwise, use YouTube in order to get more views, which helps SEO for the video and brand.