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Facebook Live broadcasts are up four-fold since May, but the platform doesn’t always successfully promote good Live content over "noise." And because the News Feed favors Live posts, some Pages are exploiting the format as a way to boost engagement, The Next Web reports.
Facebook is all-in on advancing Live video. It tweaked both its algorithms to display Live content more prominently in the News Feed and its notification system to alert users when a friend goes Live. The company is also in the midst of a big marketing push to promote Live in the US and UK.
But these efforts are having adverse effects. Some Pages are gaming Facebook's promotion of Live, posting low-quality – even fraudulent – broadcasts in order to drive engagement. Live content is watched three times longer and receives ten times the amount of comments of regular videos, according to Mark Zuckerberg.
The Next Web article highlights three videos that seemingly aim to exploit Facebook’s algorithms, including:
A potentially deceptive broadcast. One Page posted a "Live" broadcast a 26-minute video ripped from YouTube and looped it for two hours. Facebook’s VP of engineering even shared the video on his profile before conceding that Facebook could have labeled the video more accurately.
Pointless and uninteresting broadcasts. There are instances of Live broadcasts that might have been better served as pictures. For example, one featured a still-stream of the Empire State Building, shot from several miles away, which was meant to show the skyscraper’s colorful lights at night.
Content platforms can suffer from reverse network effects. This occurs when a social network fails to manage and curate the content on its platform, as it platform scales and starts ingesting content en masse. Algorithms must be refined to separate what's useful and valuable content from what's irrelevant and spammy.
We saw this over the summer when Facebook clamped down on clickbait headlines. The hard part is figuring out how to diminish low-quality content while still incentivizing people to post in the first place.
If 2015 was the year that brands and advertisers embraced online video, then 2016 will see the medium take the next step as live streaming takes off.
Live streaming video refers to broadcasts in real time to an audience over the internet. While the concept of live streaming has been around for years, mobile-first video platforms with user-generated content have just recently begun to make serious waves thanks to improved video quality, faster broadband speeds, and enhanced mobile technology.
Online video has become a key part of the strategic business model for both brands and marketers as they seek more innovative ways to capture consumer attention. Creative live streaming video initiatives and campaigns are a way for companies to cut through the digital clutter and have emerged as the medium of choice not only for person-to-person sharing, but also for business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) communication.
Brands are increasingly using live streaming to reach audiences. Its importance has grown significantly thanks to substantial investments by social platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Twitter to build and enhance their live-streaming platforms.
And advertising dollars are likely to follow. 88% of agency respondents stated that they “might” or “definitely will” invest in live stream video advertising over the next six months, according to a recent Trusted Media Brands survey.
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on live streaming video that examines the eruption of online video from the perspective of both consumers and advertisers and assesses how live streaming is emerging as the medium's next catalyst for growth.
Here are some key points from the report:
Live streaming video will further accelerate streaming videos overall share of internet traffic. Streaming video accounts for over two-thirds of all internet traffic, and this share is expected to jump to 82% by 2020, according to Cisco’s June 2016 Visual Networking Index report.
Live video’s value comes from its unique ability to add an authentic human element to digital communications. As a result, brands are leveraging three main streaming methods to connect with their viewers: tutorials, product launches, and exclusive and behind-the-scene footage.
Advertisers will continue to invest heavily in online video, especially as live streaming video gains traction. Already in the US, digital video ad revenue reached $7.8 billion in 2015, up 55% from 2014, according to figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau.
While live streaming is still in its early stages, brands are leveraging micropayments, mid-roll video ads and direct payments from social platforms, to monetize their live streaming videos.
The success of live streaming video hinges on brands overcoming a lack of measurement standards in the space, as well as changes in social media sites' algorithms that affect what content users see.
In full, the report:
Examines the eruption of live streaming video.
Explores the differences between platforms that host live streaming video.
Breaks down successful approaches from both brands and publishers.
Discusses unique monetization opportunities live streaming presents.
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