Despite growing numbers on other social media platforms, Facebook, with its 1.32 billion users who check in on a daily, continues to be an extremely productive avenue for marketers. The recently completed launch of Facebook Watch is making it even more competitive with other streaming platforms. The Watch tab is now active on all accounts and its episodes will be integrated in users’ News Feeds, driving views and creating demand.

Video is already extremely popular on Facebook, but this new platform takes it to a new level. Watch will focus on episodic content that fits into a theme or storyline and users can follow their favorites. Of course, Facebook will have features to help users discover new shows based on their interests or on what their friends are posting about. This focuses on shows with recurring episodes, giving brands and marketers opportunities to keep audiences continually engaged with new content.

Facebook has touted Watch as a “platform for all creators and publishers to find an audience, build a community of passionate fans and earn money for their work.” How can marketers put it to work for their brands? Using Watch doesn’t mean videos have to be new in format or content. Livestreaming of events is a great way to build engagement. Serial content, showcasing expertise or answering frequently asked questions are also popular.

GMS clients have been using these type videos for years and will continue to, with Watch offering a more promising avenue for viewership and engagement. Here are three ways Facebook Watch will change the game for marketers.

  1. Ad break ads, shown in the middle of Watch videos, give marketers a captive audience for ad placement in the middle of a video. This is extremely valuable amid the noisy News Feed atmosphere where it is getting more and more difficult to capture the attention of an audience.
  2. This is a power platform for influencers and content creators. Creators can opt out of ad breaks and, instead, tout their partners or products (with transparency). With Watch videos added to friends/followers/subscribers’ News Feeds, viewership and subsequent engagement and loyalty are sure to increase dramatically. This promises to move Facebook well into the realm YouTube has to-date owned as the leader in catapulting video influencers.
  3. Watch allows for more personalization of brands through video. Watch, with its consistent messaging format, will give marketing an avenue for finding the type of content that resonates with audiences and creates an authentic voice. Video formats, frequency and length are all part of the mix that allow, with planning, an opportunity to give them exactly what they want, while spreading the brand message.

Watch takes the popularity of video and power of Facebook’s community aspects and creates a whole new level of engagement. Because of that community environment Facebook has fostered, Watch videos are likely to see much more engagement than videos on other platforms. With that in mind, GMS is concentrating daily on developing and implementing video plans for clients. Would you like to work with us, too?