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Video vs. hashtags: Which Facebook offering will have the biggest impact?

Video is the big news from Facebook this week, but the social network also recently introduced hashtags, with both developments likely to have implications for marketers.

Mobile consumption of video is quickly growing, which is why Facebook yesterday introduced a video feature for its Instagram photo-sharing app. Following on the heels of the announcement that Facebook?s is making hashtags in timelines clickable, it is clear that the social network is continuing to look for ways to enhance both the user experience and marketing opportunities.

"Hashtags on Facebook are a me-too move by Facebook, in their begrudging acknowledgement of our culture's love affair with pound signed quips and tags,? said Betsy Smith, senior social media strategist at Flightpath, New York. ?It's a smart move, but not earth shattering.

?On the other hand, lowering the threshold of video creation and putting production capabilities in the hands of millions of mobile users is a game changer,? she said. ?Brands have been trying to motivate consumers to create video for years, with varying degrees of success.

?Now the emotional connection users have with brands will be on display in video, hash tagged for discovery- brands should rejoice!"

15 second videos
Facebook?s new video offering for Instagram is likely to have a more immediate impact from a mobile perspective since it is available for iOS and Android right away ? although advertising is not supported at launch - while Facebook hashtags are not yet supported in mobile.

The new Video on Instagram service introduced by Facebook yesterday enables users to take up to 15 seconds of video through the Instagram camera on their mobile phones. The length of the videos appears to be its major point of differentiation from Vine, which enables users to take six second videos.

Instagram is also offering 13 filters specifically for video.

The videos will post natively on Facebook news feeds.

While Facebook acknowledged during the presentation for the new video service that there is a natural business opportunity with video, the initial focus will be on the user experience and not advertising.

Facebook is looking to tap into how quickly short form video-sharing has taken off, with Twitter?s Vine boasting over 13 million users and SnapChat reporting over 150 million videos and images are shared per day.

Engaging content
With m arketers already embracing Instagram as part of their mobile social strategies to reach users with visually impactful campaigns directly from brands or aggregated from brand advocates, adding video will enable marketers to broaden that interaction.

?Facebook needed to launch something like this since they don't have a way to share video through their mobile platform - and so they don't lose out to apps like Socialcam and Vine - the impact will be great,? said Rebecca Tann, vice president of marketing at Regus, Dallas, TX.

?Adding video adds another dimension to how you can use it, but brands need to do it right,? she said. ?This won't be like YouTube, where you can upload long videos and commercials - it will be short and to the point.

?The videos will need to be engaging and also creative. At the end of the day, companies that are already doing well on Instagram will more than likely continue to do so with the addition of video.?

Big brands
In terms of driving Facebook?s mobile monetization strategy, video could have the bigger impact than hashtags.

For marketers, hashtags can help them get their message out to a wider group of users. By hashtagging relevant words or phrases, marketers can increase their visibility on Facebook and raise brand awareness.

While hashtag marketing is growing, mobile video advertising is the fastest growing mobile advertising channel. Video is also attractive to big brands, which are familiar with it as an advertising medium.

Facebook?s mobile advertising strategy is quickly growing and video could help put it in more direct competition with YouTube for advertisers? dollars.

?From a marketer perspective, pre-roll videos are some of the most valuable pieces of content on mobile,? said Krishna Subramanian, chief marketing officer at Velti, San Francisco. ?Video is easy to convert and recode across all platforms and screen sizes, it?s also highly engaging and attracts big brand dollars ? the likes of which Facebook has yet to attract.

?Bringing video to mobile is the next step and will help Facebook stay ahead of the game,? he said. ?The movement to mobile video will give Facebook the chance to capture some of Google?s YouTube advertising dollars as well.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York