Facebook Watch, announced in August 2017, has more and more “publishers” who choose this format to offer streaming videos. Here’s how it works and how it can be leveraged.
Lately it is more frequent to intercept some “different” videos from those we are used to in your news-feed . In addition to the usual descriptive text, they have a title in bold and below, the specification of ” Most recent episode “. On the right, the ” Follow ” button appears, accompanied by the well-known feed symbol. But no more chatter, an image is worth more than anything else:
So far nothing striking. As mentioned, Facebook Watch was announced in August 2017 and has been in the rollout phase for quite some time. Few and selected publishers can now take advantage of this new platform , but this number is growing exponentially and in 2018 it is expected to open beyond the US borders. The main goal is to provide exclusive videos , nurturing the relationship between “content creator” and audience. The former can monetize the offer, while the latter comment both live and deferred, share and save videos. Let’s go into detail to better understand how Facebook Watch works .
Show Page measurements, buttons and call to action
At the moment there are not many ” Show Pages”, that is the Pages dedicated entirely to episodic shows, but those few give us various information that we can exploit. First of all there is only one way to request it and that is the compilation of this official form: www.facebook.com/help/contact/showpageinquiry. What catches the eye of these pages is that they are organized in an intuitive way, like “YouTube” if we want to be mischievous. This makes it easier for users to watch episodes and other related videos, connect with communities, and comment on shows. Here’s everything you need to know in detail ( desktop version ):
It is therefore necessary to underline some aspects:
- The dimensions of the new Facebook cover(video or images) are 1920 × 1080 .
- The ” page attribution“: the new feature allows you to establish a connection between the Pages, which is also a great way to increase brand awareness.
- The ” Follow” is much more prominent than the ” Like ” and excludes the like on the Page. One consideration: in the near future it could become a KPI to be taken into consideration.
- In addition to videos, Pages can be saved.
- In the page format, under the cover, the videos are clearly highlighted, in “ Youtube style“.
For the mobile , some aspects change:
What are the differences between Show Page and Brand Page?
Show Pages focus on videos related to the Page themes. Unlike brand pages, they can have a cover trailer with the presence of a showmark, the organization of episodes into seasons and the automatic addition of new episodes to the Watchlist of followers. The contents are distributed in the Facebook Watch programming , in addition to inclusion in the users’ news feed (which, however, can also be excluded as an option).
Like brand pages, however, they can have communities “to connect” and the group administrator can moderate and interact with the identity of the show page. Very interesting aspect that we have only caressed: the show pages will be able to monetize … but how?
Facebook Watch: you can earn with videos
Facebook is free and will always remain free . This statement underlies social media. But Facebook is also a joint stock company that invents ways to capitalize every day. In this case, users don’t have to pay anything to enjoy the shows, but there seems to be a new way of advertising . Facebook reads:
Let’s deepen this aspect of the ” Ad Breaks “. This is a new format that allows you to introduce targeted advertisements both during live shows and recorded episodes. The gain for those who host such interruptions is a percentage (still unclear, we are talking about 55% ) of what the platform earns. Facebook thus becomes a “contractor” who uses show pages to be able to offer advertisers a new channel where they can insert advertising . In this way, however, the channel itself also gains.
To be “eligible” a show page must have at least 2,000 followers ( please note: followers, not fans! ). Commercial breaks can occur from the first minute during any broadcast that has at least 300 users online and at least 3 minutes in duration. To help professionals better understand the performance of ad breaks, an in-depth fact sheet will also be added to Facebook insights .
When is Facebook Watch in Italy?
At the moment there is no date yet, but it is likely that something will move in the coming months. We have the time to study ad hoc digital strategies for brands that will decide to invest in video, which still remains one of the great social media trends of 2018 . Although the way to interact and see videos on Facebook Watch is already available in the Support, the platform is only active in America. We therefore wait for ” Video platform “. We look forward and continue to study.
Change the Facebook algorithm: the most viewed videos will dominate the news feed
The latest updates of the algorithm will reward the distribution of videos within the news feed according to two main parameters:
- “ Intent matters“, that is: searches on Facebook will reward the visibility of the contents . This means that the videos of the Pages that users actively seek or frequent will be distributed more in the news;
- “ Repeat viewership matters“: with this update, the videos that are (re) viewed several times by users will return cyclically in the news feed.
