Should You Post YouTube Or Native Videos Onto Your Facebook Page?

Read our update to this post here.

Although Facebook has its own video uploading feature, allowing businesses to post videos on their Page, many companies still prefer to post links to YouTube videos on the site. In fact, over a five day period in January, analytics site Socialbakers registered 3,684 YouTube links compared to just 458 Facebook videos posted on Facebook.

Of course, this is completely understandable. Having created a video intended for online sharing, a company will normally post it on YouTube first. It’s then easier and quicker to post a link from the video on YouTube than it is uploading it all over again. However, Socialbakers’ study revealed that although there were far fewer Facebook videos posted on Facebook than YouTube videos, they got almost the same number of likes and even more comments. The YouTube videos, on the other hand, were shared more often.

Presumably, the Facebook videos received far more comments on Facebook because commenting on Facebook is easier than on YouTube: you’re already logged in and the other comments on YouTube, which often ‘flame’ videos, can often dissuade you from contributing. If people want to comment on a YouTube video, they can do it on YouTube.

There could be any number of reasons why YouTube videos are shared more frequently. I would guess, though, that it is mostly because, seeing as companies can post other people’s YouTube videos instead of just uploading their own, users are more willing to share them: they are more diverse, and users won’t necessarily be directly advertising a company by sharing their YouTube videos. Of course, the company’s name will still appear in the share.

Facebook videos have a lot of other great features that are lacking in their YouTube counterparts: a ‘Like Page’ button can be included in an uploaded video, but not on a shared link; people can be tagged in videos; uploaded videos will appear in a Page’s gallery instead of being pushed further and further down the timeline; put simply, Facebook videos just look better on Facebook.

The main advantage of a YouTube video, apart from the speed and ease of posting a link, is that it can be shared across all social media platforms. You can then measure how many views the video gets using YouTube’s analytics software. Also, any YouTube video you personally create and post on Facebook will link back to all your YouTube videos on your channel.

So, which is better, a Facebook upload or a YouTube link? In my opinion, if you have the time, you should upload any video you create for your company to both YouTube and Facebook. YouTube links look ugly in the timeline and News Feed, and they quickly disappear, whereas Facebook uploads just fit, sticking around in your Page’s gallery.

Of course, you’ll miss out on YouTube’s analytics software, helping you measure how popular your video was across all sites, but you can just monitor Facebook’s own analytics and add it to your YouTube views. By uploading a Facebook video, you will also encourage more commenting and engagement on your Page. If you don’t have time to upload your videos to both sites, then uploading to YouTube is clearly the better option, but if you do have the time, you’ll definitely benefit from uploading every video you create twice.

Stay vigilant though, Facebook’s upcoming video ads could turn public opinion against Facebook vids. If you still can’t decide, our graphics department has cobbled up a quick table showing all the pros and cons of Facebook and YouTube.



Do you prefer posting YouTube links or uploading videos on your Facebook page?

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Will Sigsworth

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