Marketers Think YouTube, Facebook Are Most Effective Video Ad Platforms (Surprise!)

Google and Facebook's grip on the digital advertising ecosystem also extends soundly into the realm of digital video, according to new research from Wyzowl.

The company, which creates animated explainer videos, conducted a worldwide survey of marketers in December 2017, finding that YouTube and Facebook were considered the first- and second-most effective video platforms for marketing—in that order.

Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter were middle-of-the-pack finishers when it came to effectiveness. But one interesting result was that Snapchat was in last place for usage. Nearly 90% of respondents said they'd never used Snapchat's video advertising features.

That might be due to the fact that Snapchat has long focused its efforts on mature markets in North America and Europe, where more money is spent on video advertising—and where consumers tend to have more advanced smartphones capable of handling the app's intense data and processor requirements.

But Wyzowl also found that even among those who had used Snapchat for video marketing, only 27% thought it was an effective channel, raising questions about the platform's ability to deliver return on investment.

In September 2017, eMarketer revised its worldwide ad revenue estimates for Snapchat downward, due in part to slower-than-expected user growth. We predict the platform will generate $1.47 billion in ad revenues this year, a figure that's still up 90% from 2017's tally.

Meanwhile, Wyzowl noted that LinkedIn was an often overlooked video advertising channel, and one respondents said delivered results. While just 38% of marketers polled posted video content on LinkedIn, 75% of them thought it to be a successful way of reaching target audiences.

While LinkedIn is most often thought of as a business-focused platform, it has also avoided many of the brand safety problems recently suffered by YouTube and Facebook, perhaps increasing its appeal among marketers.