Video continues to overtake the web with Facebook appearing to lead the way. With Cisco forecasting that 80% of all internet traffic will be video by 2019 it’s not hard to see that Facebook will be a major player.
A few recent news items to drive home the point:
Last week Facebook announced it was expanding transparency with its’ metrics so it can be compared more easily with television. The ability for a media buyer evaluate it like television will put it on a more level playing field. I’m sure Facebook is hoping those TV media budgets follow.
Industry sources just announced that Facebook will start testing mid-roll video ads – offering publishers the opportunity to insert an ad after the first 20 seconds. They’ll share the ad revenue with the same split as YouTube (55% to publishers). This will encourage better quality videos that increase engagement (so you stick around) and provide a nice revenue stream if you’re good at it.
Add to those items – Facebook Live (launched April 2016) allows anyone with a cell phone to broadcast to the world at any time. I encourage those who haven’t seen this to click on the Explore menu on the left side of your browser view and go to “Live Video” to see a world map and click on anyone broadcasting.
Implications for Small Medium Business
For an SMB, anyone following you gets a notification when you start broadcasting Live about your business…so this can truly put you in front of your customers in real time. Think special promotions, grand openings, showroom tours, etc. For more ideas on how video can build your business see the short video here.
Use the new and improved “Write something” section on your business page to promote your latest video, create an event and more.
Develop a brief Explainer video that shows a prospective customer the value you provide and the problem you solve better than anyone else. For explainer video samples and stats click here.
Make sure to learn from your metrics. Facebook delivers some valuable data that can be pulled from organic or paid social media content. Metrics like engagements, clicks, likes, shares, and comments are all data that can help you refine and distill your message to bring you more sales.
With the continued growth of online video, who knows…maybe Facebook Video Network won’t be far behind.