Tag: Facebook

Live Video May Be Coming To Instagram

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Instagram is reportedly testing a live-streaming feature in Russia, where it is encouraging select users to start a broadcast via a “Go Insta” prompt in its Android app. The new feature appears to be embedded into the Instagram Stories section atop the app’s main page, with Live videos marked by a red “LIVE” banner.

What Brands Should Do
Although Instagram declined to confirm if it is testing such a feature, it would fall perfectly in line with its parent company Facebook’s aggressive approach to getting more users to use its Live video feature. Last week, Facebook launched a global ad campaign for Facebook Live, in which it highlights the variety of user-generated live video content on its platform. The social network has also been testing ad products for Live video.

Extending Live video to Instagram – which seems like a matter of time given Instagram’s quest for more video content in recent years – would no doubt increase the reach of its live-streaming content, giving brands a valuable channel to connect with online audiences in real time. Brands like Birchbox and GE are already using Facebook Live to build relationships with customers and convert interested social followers into customers, and those efforts may be easily transplanted to Instagram to reach non-Facebook users.

 

Source: The Verge

Facebook Adds 360-Degree Photos & Videos To Instant Articles

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to improve its mobile-optimized, fast-loading content format Instant Articles as it adds support for 360-degree photos and videos. This means publishers can now include 360-degree content in their Instant Articles, allowing users to navigate by turning their mobile device or by tapping and dragging. Facebook debuted 360-degree videos on its News Feed last year and added support for 360-degree photos this June.

What Brands Should Do
Instant Articles provide a way for brands to make branded content easier to access on Facebook and deliver a superior user experience on mobile. This update enables content creators to incorporate 360-degree content into their Instant Articles and make the mobile experience more interactive and engaging. Brands looking to distribute their branded content on social channels should take a cue and start exploring this publishing program and its ad unit cousin Canvas ads.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook Updates Pages To Add More Website-Like Functions

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has added new tools to Pages to allow users to interact with local businesses without leaving the Facebook app. An update to the “call to action” button on Pages brings more options such as “Start Order,” “Book Now,” or “Buy Tickets,” which are powered by tech partners such as Delivery.com, Eventbrite, and Fandango, respectively. Even if the business is not using the services of those integrated tech partners, they can still manage bookings and answer quote inquiries with this update.  

What Brands Need To Do
This update builds out the business-oriented functions of Facebook Pages, making it easier for businesses to manage customer interactions. Instead of driving customers off Facebook and to their own websites, now businesses can provide online customers a more frictionless experience. As Facebook and other major digital platforms continue to make their sites more business-friendly, brands should take advantage of the available tools to modernize their customer experience.

 

Source: Facebook Business

Header image is a promotional image courtesy of Facebook Business

Facebook Enables Scheduling And Pre-Stream Lobby For Live Video

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has updated its Live video again to let content creators to better plan their live broadcasts. Verified Page-owners can now schedule their Live video session up to a week in advance and generate URL links to the Live video for pre-broadcast promotions. Scheduling a broadcast will trigger a News Feed post where interested followers can opt in for a reminder via push notification when the live event starts. In addition, Facebook added a virtual pre-show lobby to allow viewers to enter a Live video session three minutes ahead of the start time.

What Brands Should Do
These two useful additions should help content creators attract more viewers on Facebook and deliver a better live experience. As Facebook continues its efforts to build out its Live video product, early-adopting brands such as Popeyes and Birchbox have been hosting live events on Facebook to engage with fans. As livestreaming continues to take off, brands should consider sponsorships or hosting their own events to reach a live audience.

 

Source:TechCrunch

Header image is a promotional image courtesy of Facebook’s media blog

Facebook Adds More Ad Options To Instant Articles

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has added some larger and more flexible ad units to Instant Articles as the company ramps up the monetization in the fast-loading, mobile-native format. Publishers can now bring more of their direct sold campaigns to Instant Articles, including custom, premium formats. And publishers using Facebook’s Audience Network can now engage their audience with video and carousel ads in Instant Articles. In addition, Facebook has also improved support for branded content in Instant Articles to allow publishers to plug in their native ad campaigns.

What Brands Need To Do
As Facebook continues to loosen its restrictions on ads in Instant Articles and offer publishers more options to monetize their content, brands gain more opportunities to reach mobile Facebook users by working with publishers to transplant their campaigns into Instant Articles. Brands looking to make their ads load faster and provide a mobile-optimized user experience can also look into Facebook’s Canvas ads, which are basically “Instant Articles for brands.”

 

Source: Facebook Media

Header image is a promotional image courtesy of Facebook Media

Facebook Starts Testing Ads In Groups

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has started testing ads in Groups, the interest-based, user-generated communication channels that the company released as a standalone app in 2014. The ads in Groups look identically to standard News Feed ads and will be targeted by Group topic as well as the standard identity-based targeting.

What Brands Need To Do
As Facebook is looking to reach maximum News Feed ad load in mid-2017, the company has been turning to its other properties, including Instagram and WhatsApp, to further fuel its ad revenue growth. So it makes perfect sense that Facebook is now putting ads in Groups as well, opening up yet another marketing channel for brands to reach their audiences on Facebook. The topic-based nature of Groups also enables brands to target niche audiences with tailored content and brand messaging.

 

Source: TechCrunch

 

How Ubisoft Used Psychographic Targeting To Drive Its Facebook Video Campaign

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Video game maker Ubisoft leveraged Facebook’s audience data to create a video ad campaign to promote its release of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands in May. The company built audience segments based on Facebook insights, which divide its audience into three key segments – adrenaline-seeking “competitors,” tech-savvy, science-loving “tacticians,” and adventure-loving, wanderlust-having “explorers.” Ubisoft then cut three different trailers for the game with visuals tailored for each segment to appeal to their respective interests.

What Brands Should Do
The video game-maker compared the psychographically targeted videos against a generic trailer for the game and saw significant increases in effectiveness: the tailored video ads raised awareness by 14% among the “competitors” segment while the videos targeting “tacticians” increased purchase intent by 63%. This campaign serves as a good example for brands seeking to leverage the massive amount of consumer data available today and target key audiences in ways beyond simple demographics.

 

Source: AdWeek

Flipkart Turns Sales Event Into A Facebook Scavenger Hunt With 360-Degree Video

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Flipkart, the leading ecommerce site in India, found an interesting way to use 360-degree video on Facebook to promote its annual flagship sales event. The company posted a four-minute-long, 360-degree video on its Facebook Page on Wednesday morning, which shows its employees taking a tour around its office. Viewers are encouraged to look around for clues to unlock various deals and offers hidden in each room of the office. Those that share their screenshots in the Facebook video’s comments section will have a chance to win up to 15 digital coupons.

What Brands Should Do
Flipkart’s use of 360-degree video on Facebook shows ingenuity in the way it fully engages with viewers and rewards their engagement with discounts and offers. More brands looking into producing 360-degree videos should take advantage of its innate interactivity to craft a fun brand experience.

 

Source: Digiday

Header image courtesy of Flipkart’s Facebook Video

NYC AdWeek 2016: Facebook Hits 4 Million Advertisers, Adds Two New Features To Canvas Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook announced at its AdWeek event on Tuesday that it has hit the milestone of serving 4 million advertisers, adding 1 million advertisers in the past 6 months. COO Sheryl Sandberg cited the explosion in video ads and small business advertisers as key sources for growth. Facebook also expressed regret over the error that caused its reporting tool to inflate the average view time on marketers’ video ads, which the company disclosed last week.

In related news, the Menlo Park-based company also introduced two new features to its fast-loading, full-screen mobile ad unit Canvas ads. The social network is adding support for 360-degree videos to Canvas ads, which already support most rich media formats. Brazilian bank Itau has been testing the feature. Facebook is also letting advertisers link one Canvas ad to another, thus enabling brands to create a multipage experience to engage with users. Beats by Dre used the link feature to let people explore multiple Canvas ads that showcase its headphones in different colors.

What Brands Should Do
It makes sense for Facebook to add 360-degree video support in Canvas ads, as it fits perfectly with the focus on interactive rich media. And as long as video ads continue to drive ad revenue growth on Facebook, brand advertisers can expect to see video ads popping up in more of Facebook’s products. The two additions should help brand advertisers tell a more immersive and in-depth brand narrative with Canvas ads.

For more on how and why brands should consider Facebook’s Canvas ads, click here to read our Fast Forward analysis on the ad product.

 

Source: CNBC & AdWeek

Facebook And YouTube Join The Livestream War Over Presidential Debates

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following Twitter’s announcement on Tuesday that it will work with Bloomberg to livestream the upcoming presidential debates, Facebook and YouTube have announced similar partnerships to simulcast the debates on their sites. Facebook is teaming up with ABC News to bring the network’s debate coverage to the social network, with the network creating Facebook Live content throughout the day on its Facebook Page. YouTube, on the other hand, will broadcast the debates as part of its #voteIRL campaign with some help from PBS, Telemundo, and the Washington Post.

In related news, NBC will broadcast the upcoming debates in virtual reality. Working with AltspaceVR, the network created an election-themed “Democracy Plaza” where interested viewers can watch the debate together virtually.

Why Brands Should Care
It will be interesting to see how these debate-related live streams stack up against each other in terms of viewership numbers and the user experience that each site delivers. Although it appears that neither Facebook nor YouTube will carry ads on their live feeds, brands still need to pay attention to how this plays out as it may offer some clarity on the ongoing platform war over live video content.

Livestreaming and VR content offer the kind of immediacy and immersion that brands can benefit from, and as mainstream consumers become increasingly familiar with these emerging formats, brands need to work with content creators and tech partners to develop engaging live and VR content.

 

Source: TechCrunch & Variety & Variety