Tag: live video

Facebook Doubles Down On Video For More Ad Dollars

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
This week, Facebook launched several new features and initiatives aiming to build out the video offerings on its main site. On Tuesday, the social network rolled out a “watch and scroll” feature to all desktop users, allowing videos to keep playing in a pop-up window on the side of the News Feed even when users have scrolled past them. On Wednesday, the company also updated its Live video product to allow all users and Pages using its iOS app to invite a friend to make a guest appearance in their broadcast.

According to multiple sources, the company has inked deals with millennial-focused publishers including Vox Media, BuzzFeed, ATTN, and Group Nine Media to create original series for its upcoming video service, which reportedly will feature long and short-form content with ad breaks. In addition, Facebook has also started beta testing a new ad targeting tool called Audience Direct that gives streaming video publishers access to Facebook user data for more nuanced targeting on their own apps and websites.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook’s recent moves to improve its video features, both live and regular, and acquire more original content are the latest in its push to attract more advertising dollars as it continues to challenge YouTube as a go-to destination site for digital video advertising, which is projected to hit $18 billion in ad spending by 2018. Facebook has significantly grown the video consumption on its site over the past few years, as the social network now claiming that users watch over 100 million hours of video on its site every day. As Facebook continues to double down on its video products, brands should reevaluate their media mix and consider leveraging Facebook’s massive global reach to reach consumers online with targeted video ads.

 

Sources: as linked in the post

Facebook Ramps Up Live Content With Weekly MLB Games

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues its aggressive push for more live video content as it signs a new streaming deal with the Major League Baseball (MLB) to stream 20 games this season. The broadcasts, drawn from a feed from one of the participating team’s local broadcast rightsholders, mostly consist of nationally telecast games and will go live weekly on Friday nights, starting with the match between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds tonight.

What Brands Need To Do
Rumors of Facebook talking with sports leagues and media owners to get more live sports content have been swirling around since this February. This MLB deal confirms the social giant’s play for live sports, which mirrors Twitter’s sports-focused strategy for live video as well.  Facebook has started to monetize its live video content by adding mid-roll ad breaks, which provides brands with a valuable channel to reach sports fans who are not reachable via traditional TV ads.

Live sports are widely regarded as the last bastion against the declining live TV ratings, but with more and more sports leagues signing deals like this one to make their content available on digital platforms, more and more viewers are migrating to those new platforms as well. Therefore, brands seeking to reach sports fans will need to follow along by adjusting their media mix.

 

Source: The Verge

Twitter Scores A Lot More NFL Content (Sans Actual Games) For Live Video

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Twitter continues its aggressive push for more live video content on its site by signing a new multi-year deal to distribute official NFL video and other types of NFL content year-round. During football season, a new half-hour live show featuring NFL network personalities will air on Twitter five nights a week. In addition, the deal also includes live pre-game coverage such as Periscope broadcasts of play warm-ups and sideline interviews that grant football fans behind-the-scene peeks. However, the deal does not contain any actual NFL game.

What Brands Need To Do
Earlier this year, Twitter lost the bid to stream the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games this year to Amazon. But the microblogging service has been adamant in ramping up the video content on its site, as it works with Bloomberg Media to launch a 24/7 live news channel and signed content deals with 12 digital publishers for more original content earlier this month. Twitter is hoping these new video content will attract enough viewers to sell video ads against, and its ad-supported live video provides brand marketers with a valuable channel to reach sport fans, especially those whose viewing habits have shifted away from traditional linear TV and are therefore hard to reach via TV ads.

 

Source: TechCrunch

YouTube Lowers Subscriber Requirement For Going Live On Mobile

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
YouTube is rolling out mobile live streaming to more users, lowering the previous 10,000 subscriber requirement to just 1,000 subscribers. This means more micro-influencers and smaller companies will now be able to leverage YouTube’s livestreaming tools to start a mobile broadcast and connect with viewers in real time.

What Brands Need To Do
This allows more brands to use YouTube live streams to showcase a more authentic side of their brand identity and engage with their fans. Live video remains a fast growth area for digital media, with 81% of mobile audiences watched more live video in 2016 than in 2015. Mobile live video is also particularly engaging, with the average time spent on mobile video being 3.5 minutes for livestreams, compared to 2.8 minutes for VOD. Therefore, more brands should be leveraging live video to reach global viewers and amplify their brand messages with live events, influencer takeovers, and behind-the-scene looks.

 

Source: Engadget

Facebook Launches Mid-Roll Ads In Live Videos, Start Testing In Non-Live Videos

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
In a bid to further monetize its growing video content, Facebook has opened mid-roll ads to more Live videos, extending the ability for certain Pages and Profiles to insert mid-roll video ads, which it dubs “ad breaks,” into their Facebook Live broadcasts. Facebook first started testing mid-roll ads in Live videos in August. This means more broadcasters can show 15-second ads within their livestreams while receiving part of the ad revenue.

The company also announced it has officially started testing mid-roll ads in non-Live videos, including the ones uploaded by users. Facebook says ad breaks will only be available after the first four minutes of playback, with additional ad breaks available after every five minutes.

What Brands Need To Do
With Facebook users watching 100 million hours of video every day, the site is quickly evolving beyond a mere social network into an online video destination. Earlier this month, the company announced it is building an OTT streaming app for viewing its video content, following a series of initiatives focused on improving its video products. As Facebook continues to add new video ad products to its increasingly video-heavy social platforms, brands may consider adjusting their video budgets accordingly to reach today’s mobile consumers in a more targeted, effective way

 

Source: Marketing Land

McDonald’s Is Handing Out Big Mac Sauce Via Multi-Platform Livestreams

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
McDonald’s is gearing up for a big multi-platform livestream event where the fast food chain will give away its Big Mac Sauce to viewers that tune in in real time. The event, scheduled for 2 p.m. ET of Jan. 26,  will run simultaneously on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Besides the live giveaway, the chain is giving away bottles of the branded condiment at a number of its U.S. locations, which customer can use McDonald’s branded iMessage app to find more information about. The company has been quite active on Instagram as of late, consistently employing Instagram’s live video feature to engage with fans.

What Brands Need To Do
This is one of the latest examples of brands tapping into the surging popularity of live-streaming to reach and engage with customers at scale. As the major social platforms continue to improve their respective live video products, brands will have more and more channels to disseminate their live content and reach a wider audience. Brands such as Birchbox, Popeyes, McDonald’s, and GE have experimented with Facebook Live to reach customers while brands like Carl’s Jr, Coca-Cola, and Geico have sponsored livestreams on eSports sites. All these examples showcase the versatility of marketing opportunities that live streaming offers, which more brands should leverage to connect with their audiences in innovative, exciting ways.

 

Source: AdWeek

Facebook To Test Live 360-Degree Video With Nat Geo

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Live video on Facebook is about to get a lot more immersive as the social network readies the debut of its first live 360-degree video for National Geographic. The nature and travel publisher will publish the first 360 Live video tomorrow at noon on its Facebook Page, documenting in spherical view as scientists emerge from the isolation pods at Utah’s Mars Desert Research Station. Facebook says live 360 broadcasting will be added to Facebook Live’s API later this month as it plans to roll out the capability to all Pages and users next year. Facebook is not the first major platform to combine these two emerging media formats as YouTube introduced its first live 360-degree video in February.

What Brands Should Do
This new feature further improves Facebook’s Live video product and offers content creators and brands a new way to connect with viewers with immersive and real-time content. At a time when many brand advertisers are starting to see the potential of 360-degree video, this move by Facebook should help it attract more experimentations as brands race to incorporate the immersive format into their digital ads. While it will not doubt take more careful planning and robust technical support to pull off, melding live streaming with 360-degree videos should provide brands a chance to connect with customers on a more urgent and interactive way that they should not miss out on.

 

Source: TechCrunch

How QSR Brands Are Using Livestreaming To Connect With Customers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Several quick-service restaurants (QSRs) have been early-adopters of livestreaming, as marketers from Dunkin’ Donuts, Wendy’s, and Taco Bells shared some of their insights in using live video as a marketing channel with Digiday. The three QSR brands agree that livestreaming is a great way to connect with fans and boost online engagement in real time. While Dunkin’ Donuts and Taco Bells leveraged livestreaming to show customers some behind-the-scene peeks into their operations with kitchen tours and special events, Wendy’s partnered with social influencer Cody Johns this summer to promote its Baconator burger by making one live on air.

What Brands Should Do
Brand marketers looking to enter the livestreaming arena should take a cue from what these QSR brands are doing and learn from the insights and strategies they developed, from the necessity of fast and reliable internet connection in order to ensure the stream quality to letting the social media personalities take the center stage to avoid overt product promotion. In addition, it is also important for brands conducting live video sessions to remain nimble and open-minded to interact with the live audience and offer appropriate responses so as to maximize engagement.

 

Source: Digiday

Lowe’s To Host Facebook Live Event To Promote Black Friday Deals

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Lowe’s is set to reveal eleven Black Friday deals during an upcoming Facebook Live event on Saturday. The home improvement retailer has been running video ads on the social platform for the last two weeks to push the 20-minute livestream event named “Mystery Box Bonanza.” This is not the first time Lowe’s has run a social video campaign on Facebook as the brand tested Facebook 360-degree video in July to teach viewers DIY home improvement skills and drive sales.

What Brands Should Do
This campaign marks the latest example of brands using live video to promote their products and drive sales. Brands such as Birchbox, Popeyes, McDonald’s, and GE have experimented with Facebook Live to reach customers while brands like Carl’s Jr, Coca-Cola, and Geico have sponsored livestreams on eSports sites. All these examples listed showcase the versatility of marketing opportunities that live streaming offers, which brands should leverage to connect with their audiences in innovative, exciting ways.

 

Source: AdWeek

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