Video content accounts for a large amount of the time spent and bandwidth used on the internet. Sites like YouTube and Netflix are top internet destinations and a recent study shows that there influence is also seen on mobile devices. A study from Ooyala found that mobile video consumption increased nearly four fold since 2013.
Ooyala recently released data that found mobile video views had grown 367 percent since the first quarter of 2013. Ooyala released their study on the first quarter of 2015 which found that mobile devices made up 42 percent of all online viewing during the first part of the year.
The growth in mobile video is nothing new, though the pace is still staggering. What makes the Ooyala data interesting is that it shows mobile viewers react to ads differently than their TV watching counterparts, especially when using tablets.
According to Ooyala, tablet viewers watching TV broadcasts finished the ad 89 percent of the time, while smartphone users complete ads 79 percent of the time. At a time when broadcasters are worried about the effects of DVR and illegal downloads, this data shows that offering the content on mobile offers a value to the publisher.
It will be hard for TV networks to ignore the potential of mobile video. During the first quarter, TV broadcasters saw 53 percent of their content plays on mobile devices. Publishers and brands only saw 31 percent of their content shown on mobile devices.
“Our data is indicative of the rapid pace of change in consumer viewing behavior, which creates new challenges and opportunities for content producers, service providers, and advertisers,” says Jay Fulcher, chief executive officer of Ooyala. “We’re seeing a confluence of major trends that are reshaping audiences on a massive scale – in particular, ubiquitous TV-capable mobile devices, and a major influx of premium content streaming to, and in many cases produced for, over-the-top services. A mobile-first mentality with a keen eye on personalization has never been more important.”
In its own way, the report also advocates for the use of social media to increase viewership. Ooyala’s data showed that consumers will view recommended content as often as 50 percent of the time. For news broadcasters, the Discovery starts ratio (the amount of times a recommended video was watched completely) ranged from 33 percent to 44 percent. For sports broadcasters, it was 40 percent to 53 percent. And for consumer publishers, the Discovery starts ratio was at least 33 percent and as high as 58 percent.
Content publishers who use video can use this information to their advantage. It’s important to embrace mobile devices when creating videos and choosing how to get that content to consumers.
One way to do this is by ensuring video content is enjoyable for people using tablets and smartphones. For example, don’t use fonts or text sizes that are harder to read on smaller screens. Video publishers can also encourage people to share content by having social buttons on the video player.
Publishers should also be sure to add their content to platforms like YouTube, Facebook or Vimeo. These platforms are known to work well with mobile devices (or have popular apps that do) and it will make it more likely that mobile internet users will check out the video if it’s sent to them.
For more information on the power of mobile video, read this article with data that suggests video content will account for 80 percent of traffic by 2019.