As we all know, Facebook is really focusing on video, and video advertisers are excited about it. The number of new video features for both users and advertisers is currently quite impressive. It seems like there’s a new feature announced almost every week. With these new features come fresh opportunities for marketers and advertisers. Keeping up with the various tools and options is essential for any marketer looking to improve their video marketing strategy. Here’s a quick overview of the latest updates in Facebook’s newsfeed related to video features and what they mean for you as a marketer, brand, or advertiser.
New Feed Ranking Factors – More Video Abound
Facebook has tweaked its news feed algorithm to include more than just engagement actions on videos. Previously only engagement (liking, sharing, commenting, etc.) with a post would indicate that a video was “liked” by its viewers. Now Facebook has decided that other factors like how long people watch a video, choosing to turn on sound or making the video full screen are also factors that deem the video to be good and worthy of further spread. Liking a video is not longer the only thing that will boost a video’s spread.
What does it mean for marketers?
A potential higher organic boost if people are watching your videos but not liking or engaging with them.
New Video Ad Pricing
What a “view” on Facebook is worth have been discussed by marketers ever since Facebook introduced video ads on its platform. Up until now Facebook has deemed a view to be anytime a video is autoplayed to a user in their newsfeed. Thus a Facebook user could have gotten a video served to them, quickly scrolled past it, but it would still have been counted as a “view” for Facebook, and more crucially, the advertiser who’d have to pay for it. It seems like Facebook have reacted to angry marketers and advertisers and are set to change the policy. In the future, a view is registered only when a video is watched for 10 seconds or longer (which would incidentally be charged at a higher rate). More at The Wall Street Journal.
What does it mean for marketers?
Better knowledge of what you’re paying for and less wasted advertising money (presumably).
More Video Ad Metrics!
A very welcome to the Facebook Page Insights is the new Video tab that is being rolled out globally over the coming few weeks. This further emphasizes the importance Facebook put on video, and will make it easier for marketers to evaluate the performance of their videos. In the video tab, page owners will have access to the following insights:
- Views and 30-second views at a Page level
- Top videos within a certain date range
- Metrics for videos shared from other Pages
Instead of being limited to only seeing the statistics of a single video, page owners can now access all their videos at the aggregate level, and compare it over time. The new metrics are a gold mine for a video marketer, so head over to Facebook to read the full breakdown, and explore it when you get it.
What does it mean for marketers?
Better understanding on which of your video work and which doesn’t. Ditch that excel spreadsheet and compare your videos performance directly from your Facebook page. Comparing video distribution of Organic vs. Paid, Auto-Played vs. Clicked-to-Play, and Unique vs. Repeat — gives a unique insight into the viewing behavior of your page’s audience.
“Floating” Video Player
This new feature lets you detach a video from the newsfeed, and keep it anywhere in your browser while you continue scrolling. The feature that can be seen as a bit gimmicky is quietly being tested by Facebook on various Facebook accounts, but if deployed to all Facebook accounts is sure to bump up the viewing numbers.
Gif courtesy of The Verge – http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2015/07/07/watch-out-youtube/
What does it mean for marketers?
Higher chances that people watch your full video, which brings us to the next point…
Facebook Opens The Door To Sharing Ad Revenue With Content Creators
Facebook is finally starting to get its feet wet in the ad revenue sharing world, something that has been dominated by YouTube for a long time. For now, only big publishers and brands like NBA, Fox Sports and Funny or Die will get a piece of the pie but surely this is just a step on the way before Facebook takes on YouTube for real? Coupled with the big sharing capabilities, a full ad revenue split could entice all content creators to put their videos on YouTube.
What does it mean for marketers?
More videos on Facebook = more ad capabilities. Everything Facebook does to increase video usage on Facebook should be seen as a positive for video marketers.
Conclusion
Facebook is innovating its video products at a staggering rate, to the excitement of video marketers everywhere. Are you putting more money into distributing your brand’s videos on Facebook? Do you think these 5 Facebook newsfeed updates will affect your marketing game? Let us know in the comments.
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