Tag: live video

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

How GE Is Using Snapchat To Drum Up Interest For Its Facebook Live Event

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
GE is sending a team into the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua, one of the world’s most active lava lakes, to install a wireless sensor network for monitoring purposes and it is using two of the hottest social media products to share this adventure with fans. Since Tuesday the company has been sending out Snapchat Stories that document its epic journey downward and is planning a Facebook Live event on August 12 straight from the site of the active volcano, allowing fans to ask the staff members all sorts of volcano-related questions.

Why Brands Should Care
GE is no stranger to livestreaming as the company has used Facebook Live and Periscope to broadcast interesting events to humanize its brand. Hosting a live event at an active volcano is an intriguing premise and using Snapchat to hype its Facebook Live event is a great touch. Brands looking to create live video content should take a cue and learn to use other social channels to properly promote Live events. In addition, Facebook has started testing mid-roll ads in Live video, something that brand marketers should look out for as well.

 

Source: The Next Web

Facebook Updates Live Video While Seeking Content Diversity

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to improve its Live video product and diversify its content. Earlier today, the social network announced that it is doubling the length limit of Live videos from two hours to four hours. Moreover, it is adding the option for viewers to mute real-time comments and Reactions during broadcasts, allowing users to focus on the content without distractions.

As for its quest for more content diversity, Facebook reportedly has committed to paying about $2.2 million in the coming months to popular video creators from YouTube, Vine, and other digital video platforms as incentive for them to use Facebook Live. The company also scored the rights to live stream nine U.S. Olympic basketball exhibition games starting July 22. The live coverage will be available on the Facebook pages of USA Basketball and the NBA and sponsored by Verizon.

What Brands Need To Do
So far, Facebook has not introduced any ad products for Live video, choosing instead to focus on improving the user experience first. However, adding Verizon as a sponsor for its live streams of basketball games suggests that Facebook may be open to brand sponsorships for Live video. The extended Live video length grants brands more freedom in conducting longer events on Facebook, and broadcasters can encourage viewers to temporarily hide comments to get their full attention during big moments.

As Facebook continues to build out Live video, early-adopting brands such as Popeyes and McDonald’s have started organizing live events to launch new products and engage with fans. For brands considering trying Facebook Live, it is important to craft engaging content that truly resonates with the target audience, but also to be flexible enough to roll with whatever happens and allow the audience to influence the narrative. For more suggestions on how brands can leverage live streaming for marketing, you can read this CMO’s Guide to Live Video on AdAge.

 

Sources: VentureBeat, WSJ, and Variety

Facebook Updates Graph API With Brand-Friendly Features

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has updated its Graph API to add several features that buff up its support for live videos. Among the new additions, support for live audience restriction based on age, gender, language, or location stands out as it enables brands to deliver the live streams to their desired target audience only. Other added features include support for continuous Live video, more Page insights, and improved design of ads placements to make it easier for advertisers to test and select placement options.

What Brands Need To Do
Graph API, first announced at its F8 conference in May, allows developers to build rich app experiences across a variety of Facebook platforms and services, serving as a “primary way to get data in and out of Facebook’s social graph.” The added features should be useful for brands using Graph API to develop branded experiences on Facebook and its apps to reach their massive active users. With the added features for Live video, brands now have more control over the length and availability of their live streams and can leverage that to craft engaging, targeted live content for Facebook users.

 

Source: Facebook for Developers

Twitter Partners With CBS To Live Stream Democratic And Republican Conventions

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following up on its quest for more live sports events, Twitter has announced that it is partnering up with CBS News to livestream the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions later this month. Similar to its live coverage of the Wimbledon games last week, the live streams will be enhanced with convention-related tweets. This is not the first time Twitter has worked with CBS to cover the election as Twitter used the CBS News’ feed for its live coverage of two presidential debates in November and January. The stream will be available globally to any visitor to Twitter’s site or apps with no log-in required.

Why Brands Should Care
As Twitter continues to build out its livestream capabilities, it is becoming clear that it is taking a different approach than its archrival Facebook. Whereas Facebook is paying publishers and celebrity to use its live video products and encouraging user-generated live content, Twitter is mainly focused on courting media owners to cover high-profile media events, be it political conventions or sports games, and leverage those events to attract and engage with users.

Naturally, the differing approaches of the two platforms resulted in different ways of monetization. Live content on Facebook is more suited to product integration and sponsorships, whereas Twitter’s live streams rely on ad sales for now, functioning more like a digital and social extension of the traditional broadcasting system. Despite the differences, there is no denying that live video content is exploding, and it would be beneficial for brands to understand the nuances of different live-streaming platforms and choose the ones that best fit their campaign goals.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Popeyes Drummed Up Viewer Interest For Facebook Live Event

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Yesterday Popeyes hosted its first Facebook Live event to celebrate National Fried Chicken Day and connect with fans on Facebook. Broken into two sessions, the Popeyes Live Drive-Thru Bash was conducted with a simple set-up designed to mimic the drive-thru experience, with a high-energy comedian and a jazz musician addressing the viewers with trivia and music.

The kicker of the event, however, was that Popeyes handpicked some U.S. viewers who commented on the Live video post and rewarded them with a delivery of its $5 Boneless Wing Bash combo. Selected winners were announced by the host in real time and instructed to get in touch via private message to claim their free meals. So far, the two Live videos have racked up a total of over 47,000 views on Facebook.

What Brands Need To Do
While Popeyes is certainly not the first brand to host a Live event to engage with fans on social media, it is commendable for taking an extra step and adding real-time rewards into the event to entice viewer participation. As more and more brands start exploring Live videos and hosting live events, it is imperative that brands should try experimenting with the emerging format to stand out and keep viewers entertained. The high volume of engagement this event received provides a good example for brands looking to fully engage viewers during Live events and maximize the promotional impact.

 

Source: AdAge

Header image courtesy of Popeyes’ Facebook Live Video

 

Facebook Live Adds New Features, Readies For Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to make a strong push for its live-streaming product as the company unveiled some upcoming features of Live at the 2016 VidCon on Thursday. Soon, users will be able to add another broadcaster to a live video, pre-schedule a live broadcast to enable Facebook to send viewers notifications, and create a virtual waiting room for viewers before the broadcasts commence. Moreover, the social network is also getting ready to test different monetization models for Facebook Live over the next couple months according to Fidji Simo, head of Facebook’s video product, who indicated that in-stream ads are part of the plan.

What Brands Need To Do
The new features should be helpful for content creators and brands to spice up their broadcasts with celebrity guests and cameos and amass an audience for their live videos before they start. Some early-adopting brands, such as Birchbox and GE, are already using Facebook Live to build relationships with customers and convert interested social followers into customers. The confirmation that Facebook is getting ready to introduce ads to Live videos should also come as a promising sign for bringing brand marketers more opportunities to reach the massive audience that Facebook Live captures.

 

Source: TechCrunch & Marketing Land

 

Facebook Adds New Features To Live Video

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to build out its live-streaming product as it debuts two new features. The social network launched a Continuous Live Video API, which enables persistent streams on Facebook for things like always-on nature feeds for bird-watchers. Previously, live broadcasts on Facebook were capped at 90 minutes. Moreover, Facebook also added a graphical timeline of user engagement in Live videos based on numbers of real-time Likes and comments, allowing users watching the replays to skip ahead to the interesting parts.

What Brands Need To Do
The new features should attract more users and content creators to Live Video, giving Facebook a considerable boost over other live-streaming platforms. Although Facebook’s Live Video does not currently carry ads, some early adopting brands such as GE have started using it to broadcast sponsored events or branded content. For brands wishing to connect with audiences in real time, Facebook’s massive reach and the relatively low production costs of live-streaming content make Facebook Live an appealing emerging platform to explore.

To read more on how brands can reach the fragmented audiences on streaming platforms, please check out the Appified TV section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch & The Verge

Facebook Is Making A Brand-Friendly Live Morning Show

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is venturing into producing live programming as it teams up with London-based marketing agency DigitasLBi to create Rise and Shine, a daily morning show that will be live-streamed to users via the News Feed. The show will include common morning show segments such as local weather reports or recipe recommendations, but it will also offer many branding opportunities. Each episode will be sponsored by a brand and appear on that brand’s Facebook Page, and DigitasLBi promises to work with sponsors to customize content. Besides the News Feed, users can also follow the show by subscribing to a chatbot on Messenger.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook’s live videos do not currently carry ads, but some brands, such as GE, are already using it to broadcast sponsored events and branded content. This live morning show offers brands an opportunity to reach the massive audience on Facebook. As livestreaming continues to take off, brands should consider similar sponsorships or broadcasting their own events to reach a live audience.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Birchbox Is Using Facebook Live To Convert Customers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Birchbox is joining the live-stream craze as the subscription-based, online beauty retailer recently started doing live shows on Facebook on a regular basis. The goal, according to Rachel Jo Silver, the former director of social marketing for Birchbox, is to build relationships with customers in real-time and convert interested social followers into customers. Birchbox has seen success in using livestreaming to acquire new subscribers and promote products. One of its best-performing livestreams lasted for 40 minutes and racked up nearly 50,000 live viewers with an average view time of 10 minutes. In addition, Birchbox is taking advantage of Facebook Live’s feature of saving livestreams as videos after they end to generate content for its various social media outlets.

What Brands Need To Do
Livestreaming is starting to explode across digital channels with Facebook making a strong push for its Live video feature in the past few months, which creates new opportunities for brands seeking to engage with online audiences in real time. Birchbox’s early success with Facebook Live is illustrative of how brands can use livestreaming to directly engage with online consumers. As this trend continues, we expect to see more brands start exploring live-streaming platforms to elevate brand image and attract new customers.

 

Source: Marketing Dive