On Facebook, it’s 10 seconds– with 6 seconds being the average.
Not apples-to-apples because:
* Our YouTube channel is long-form content that is as long as 2 hours, but mostly 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 30 minutes.
* We are boosting on Facebook, but not on YouTube.
* Our 893 YouTube videos are mostly unlisted– so it’s internal training, watched on a desktop.
* Facebook is top of the funnel for new audiences to learn about us, while YouTube is where people who know about us want to go deeper.
Facebook has removed average watch time from the mobile and desktop post insights, probably because these low watch times look bad and generate confusion.
YouTube gives you a choice of showing average watch times in either minutes or hours– there are no seconds options, tellingly.
Don’t conclude that YouTube is better than Facebook since they work together. For example, your potential customers can watch a few snippets of interesting content (some highlights, some stories, some places you’ve been featured), which leads them to your longer-form content.
After all, you have to earn the right to an hour of their time through a few initial social touches.
For the same reason, search is not better than social– nor is email (the unsexy, but powerful workhorse in e-commerce) “dead”.
Which leg of a tripod is most important?
You need social, search, and email working together. Don’t be a myopic, single-channel marketer who is missing the big picture.
