(June 2014) In the past couple of months, there have been a number of reports published that have studied consumer behavior with mobile digital video. I wanted to synthesize the findings from these studies and share my perspective on the implications.

There are three interesting consumer behavior trends regarding mobile digital video.

1. Consumers are starting to watch more video on smartphone than tablet.

2. Consumers watch short videos on their smartphone in quick bursts throughout the day.

3. Consumers discover original digital video spontaneously.

Trend #1: Consumers are watching more video on smartphone than tablet.

Mobile video watching continues to gain share, comprising over 22% of streaming video views in Q4 2013, up from about 15% the same time a year before (according to a report by Adobe). That’s a relative increase in share of almost 50% year-over-year.

What’s interesting is that video views on smartphone overtook tablets in Q4 2013, with smartphone taking 12.8% of video starts during the quarter, compared to 9.2% from tablet. In 2012, video views on tablets were 7.3% share of total views, edging out smartphone’s 7.2% share.

This seems a little counter-intuitive, since smartphones have a smaller form factor, and the viewing experience is better on a tablet with a larger screen. Also, tablets are more likely to have wifi access, resulting in a better connection and therefore better streaming quality. But smartphones are winning because you have it with you all the time, not just when you’re at home. As it turns out, having your smartphone with you at all times means that you can watch video whenever you are bored. This brings us to our next interesting consumer trend for mobile.

Trend #2: Consumers watch short-form videos on their smartphone in quick bursts throughout the day.

What kind of video content are users watching on smartphone? According to Freewheel, it’s short-form video. Freewheel, a video ad network, measured video ads viewed by device and found that tablet and OTT (over-the-top devices) primarily showed video ads along with long-form content, whereas smartphones showed video ads along with short-form content.

This makes sense. Consumers tend to watch digital videos on their smartphone in short bursts during found time throughout the day. They don’t have the time to sit through an entire TV show episode when they have a few minutes of found time— but they do have time for bite-sized videos. On the other hand, tablet and OTT viewing behavior resembles traditional TV viewing — longer-form shows and movies rule those devices, because consumers use them at home when they have more time.

What’s even more interesting is that, according to GFK’s April 2014 research, many more consumers are watching original digital video — professionally produced video only for online distribution and viewing (not TV) — on mobile devices than last year. In fact, the percentage of monthly consumers who watched original digital video on smartphone grew from 26% to 46%.

The consumers who participated in the GFK study provided some great insights about how and why they watch video on their smartphone.

“I’ll watch in between class, on the bus ride to campus, in a coffee shop. Time when it’s quicker. When you can fill in. When I’m not going to watch a whole TV show. (Original digital videos) are shorter, easier to watch in a smaller space of time.” Male, 26

“I’m at an in-between point, I’m finding a minute. I might be waiting for someone at Starbucks (preferably where there’s wifi).” Male,39

“If I’m on the patio and the kids are in the pool, I’m still going to be doing things on my iPad. I’d watch a short video, but not a whole TV show.” Female, 38

“I’m not going to stream a TV show if I’m taking a break…original digital video is shorter and easier to watch…now you have something that fills those shorter periods of time.” Male, 32

These consumers are all saying the same thing. They open their phone and watch a video when they have a few minutes to kill. And more and more, they are watching professional video content that’s been produced specifically for digital distribution — original digital video.

Trend #3: Consumers discover original digital video spontaneously, and more often from social media sources.

The GFK study examined consumer behavior around three types of video content:

• TV Online — Network TV shows online such as Pretty Little Liars, The Walking Dead, Colbert Report or those found on sites like ABC.com or Hulu.com
• Amateur — called “amateur online video” for the survey respondents — defined as: created by regular people and looks and feels like it is home made. (Examples are baby videos or funny cat videos)
• Original Digital Video — originally produced online video — defined as professionally produced video only for online distribution and viewing (not TV)

One interesting finding from the GFK study was that consumers discover original digital video (which includes content from TV networks that was produced specifically for online distribution) spontaneously— they stumble upon new clips, and there’s an element of serendipity. By comparison, TV online is more likely to be a “planned” activity.

How does the spontaneous discovery of digital video occur? More often than before, it’s happening on social media sites.

The consumers who participated in the GFK study discussed the differences between how they discover original digital video v. TV online.

Unlike TV, discovery is a fundamental part of the original digital video experience.

“People know what’s available on TV, you don’t have to tell them. But with original digital video, not everyone knows about them, so you have to share….you send a link.” Male, 26

“The cable universe is finite. The internet is infinite. To become popular, a video has to be shared.” Male, 32.

The original digital video viewing experience often begins with a recommendation.

“Viewing them often starts by being sent a link by a friend or family.” Male, 57

“Normally, it’s a recommendation of some sort. Most often through Facebook.” Female, 52

“Most of the time, it’s a link I pull from Twitter. Others come from blogs I look at like Gawker or Deadspin” Male, 32

Implications:

So what are the implications of these consumer trends around digital video?

1. We will start to see more short-form original digital video.

2. It will get harder to discover video on smartphone.

3. Social media sites will continue to become an important source of spontaneous video discovery on mobile.

We will start to see more short-form original digital video.

Professional content producers and brands will start to produce even more short-form original digital video as they strive to reach their audiences on mobile. In Q4 of last year, for example, The New York Times introduced The New York Times Minute, “a thrice-daily, one-minute news segment highlighting three top stories of the moment.” Also last year, we saw movie studios begin to take advantage of short form video formats, such as when Fox debuted a 6-second preview of The Wolverine on Vine. Brands like Target and Lowe’s have also produced short-form original digital video clips to engage their audience on mobile.

Sports will be a big driver of mobile video viewing. According to Adobe’s Q4 2013 US Digital Video Benchmark, “Sports video streaming is up 640% year-over-year” and “Over 25% of online viewing on special sporting event days occurs on a mobile device, and mobile viewing is up 73% year-over-year.”

Twitter (my employer) partnered with the NFL, the NBA and MLB to enable them to publish game highlights on its platform. Avid sports fans who aren’t in front of their TV (but who have their smartphone on them) no longer have to miss great plays, and can follow along even with bite-sized clips and highlights.

It will get harder to discover video on smartphone.

According to Comscore, the number of videos being viewed by consumers has been exploding. The number of videos that US consumers watched between Feb 2013 and Feb 2014 grew by 48%, from 33 to 49 billion.

This trend will only continue, as it becomes easier for both users and professional content producers to publish short-form video, and therefore more content becomes available to watch.

The GFK study found that “The majority of Original Digital Video viewers say finding content is ‘easy,’ however this number is slightly down from 2013 perhaps due to a vast increase in content available.” Over one-third of consumers reported that finding video content is difficult, up 21% year-over-year.

With more short-form video being produced, all else being equal, consumers will start reporting that finding video content is getting harder and harder. Especially if they only have a couple of minutes to watch a video on their smartphone, they don’t want to spend most of the time searching. What they want is instant access to relevant, timely, bite-sized video content.

Social media sites will continue to become an important source of spontaneous video discovery on mobile.

So as short-form professional content explodes over the next few years, and as it becomes more and more difficult to discover great video content when you’ve only got a minute, what are consumers going to do? Social media is coming to the rescue.

There has already been tremendous growth in the number of consumers who discover original digital video from social media sites. The GFK study found that “Word of mouth is still the main way Original Digital Video viewers discover new content, however social media’s role has increased markedly versus a year ago.” The increase in discovery via social media is pretty dramatic. In 2013, 24% of consumers reported that they discovered original digital video via social media . A year later, that number had grown to 41%, a relative increase of more than 70% year-over-year.

As I mentioned earlier in this article, Twitter Amplify is a great example of how social media sites are helping connect consumers with professional video content clips on mobile. In a recent article in The Guardian, the author describes how Amplify works:

“Twitter Amplify allows broadcasters and rights holders to share live TV clips and video content into Twitter in real-time, giving users the opportunity to watch the videos without leaving Twitter. It also drives viral distribution and discovery of that content, as Twitter users retweet their favorite clips and push them out to their own followers, extending the reach of the videos more broadly.”

Users are also discovering video content on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr, and other social media apps and sites. The trend of users spontaneously discovering great video content on social media will only continue.

As consumer usage of smartphones continues to grow, so too will mobile video watching. Despite the smaller screen size and lack of always-on WiFi, consumers are still watching more video on smartphones than tablets — mainly because they have their phones on them all the time. Consumers are increasingly watching short-form videos on their smartphone in quick bursts throughout the day. They are discovering original digital video spontaneously, and more often from social media sources.

The implications from these consumer behavior trends are that, over the next few years, we will see an explosion in professionally-produced short-form video content — not just from traditional media sources, but also from brands. As more video content becomes available, it will become harder and harder for consumers to discover the most relevant content for them, especially if they only have a couple minutes to watch. Social media’s role in helping to connect consumers with video content will grow, as shown by the huge growth in users reporting that they discovered original digital video from social.

We’re still in the early innings of the transformative impact of smartphones other Internet-connected mobile devices. It’s really exciting to think about how mobile video will continue to evolve over the next few years, and a great time to be part of all this change!