Delivered at DONA 2016 in Copenhagen on November 28 2016. Blogposts referenced: Facebook Video: http://po.st/egFQyb, http://po.st/wY4gqV Instagram: http://po.st/dZ5zIq newswhip.com

1. Social Media and Publishers,
DONA Copenhagen, November 2016
@_liamcorcoran, NewsWhip

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Real time signals drawn from the activity of billions of individuals
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Discover
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appearing on the open
web or on any network.
2 3
What is NewsWhip?

3. I’ll cover: Three areas of focus, and some advice
• Challenges, and advice for 2017.
• The rise of Facebook Video, and how publishers are reacting.
• How engagement with publishers’ content on Facebook
and Instagram is changing.

4. Social Media & Publishers in 2016
• Questions around the role of quality publishers in a social
first landscape emerged.
• Video has become the defining feature of most users’ social
news experiences.
• Native distribution became a reality. Link engagement
declined, Instant Articles and Live Video emerged.
• Publishers’ platform priorities changed, and so did
consumers’ behaviours and expectations.

5. Five data points on Facebook
video for publishers in 2016

6. 1. There has been huge growth in
engagement with native video on Facebook
0
2500000
5000000
7500000
10000000
CNN BBC News The Guardian
2,590,646
6,352,365
9,578,093
564,859
2,061,220
3,577,605
202,482273,265
87,498
Total Engagements on Facebook Videos per Month
January 2016June 2015 October 2016

7. 2. Videos have the highest average share rates,
above Instant Articles, for most publishers
Average share rate per post type, October 2016
Links: 693
Photos: 51
Video: 5,207
Links: 1,088
Photos: 1,215
Video: 4,149
Links: 339
Photos: 104
Video: 2,560

8. 3. So, publishers are posting more videos
Number of Facebook videos on main page per month
June 2015: 35
January 2016: 164
October 2016: 627
June 2015: 17
January 2016: 46
October 2016: 83
June 2015: 68
January 2016: 176
October 2016: 385

9. 4. …and the proportion of native video
posts is growing…
% of Native Video Posted to the main CNN Facebook Page
77%
23%
56%
44%
January 2016 October 2016
Other PostsNative Videos

10. *Based on total engagements of videos posted to publishers’ main
Facebook pages during each month.
Mic.com
CNN
BBC News
Fox News
The Guardian
0.00% 26.67% 53.33% 80.00%
15.58%
28.06%
24.72%
36.61%
50.25%
43%
46%
54%
62%
75%
5. Meaning that videos are accounting for more of
publishers’ monthly total engagements.
October 2016
January 2016

11. What else is working for publishers
on Facebook and Instagram?

12. We are moving to a more conversational
style of output on Facebook.
• Successful stories are conversational and
descriptive.
• Algorithm changes mean that it’s tougher to get
surfaced in news feeds.
• Publishers should not withhold information, or create
misleading expectations with their headlines.

13. What’s working, and what isn’t?
Less successful
- Sites that didn’t experiment with any form of native content
formats.
- Generalist sites that failed to define a niche audience.
More successful:
- Sites with strong op-ed sections on hot topic issues for
readers.
- Publishers that incorporated native formats like Live
video in their reporting.

14. Instagram has grown hugely as an
engagement channel for publishers in 2016
• Instagram passed 300 million active daily users in
summer 2016. 80% are based outside the US.
• Like Facebook, video is driving engagement for
publishers.
• Engagement on publishers’ pages grew hugely in 2016:
Fox News increased engagement by almost 200% from
January to September (NewsWhip data).
• With links coming to Instagram Stories, expect to see
more potential for publishers on Instagram in 2017.
However: Don’t see it as a ‘magic bullet!’

15. Publisher problems on social,
and advice for 2017

16. Outside revenue, problems remain for publishers…
• Metrics troubles and the unpredictable nature of social
algorithms. What formats are favoured, and for how
long?
• How best to balance video experience with cultivating a
loyal audience? How to scale social video?
• Building trust with the audience.

17. Advice for 2017
• Speak to readers’ specific interests on social media -
whether they be through personal pages, sub-topics, or
otherwise.
• Focus on holistic metrics: what does the sum of all parts of
your audience’s behaviour mean?
• Aim to become the definitive news source to your social and
mobile audience in 2017. Be credible, authoritative, and
accessible.

18. Questions? Get in touch!
liam.corcoran@newswhip.com
And check out newswhip.com for more.
@_liamcorcoran