While not first to market in the live video space, Facebook is making swift moves to go head-to-head with competitors in the race to win the live video wars. Facebook wasn’t first with a live broadcasting feature. Meerkat, Periscope and others beat them to the game on that one. Facebook also wasn’t first to incorporate fun filters to their photos and videos… Snapchat garnered all the attention for their crazy filters last year. And dual-person broadcasts? Nope, not Facebook at the lead there either. Blab offered up to a four-person live broadcasting experience (and also with the ability to schedule shows in advance with user notifications when a broadcaster is live). So, will a “Fast Follower” strategy payoff for Facebook Live? Given their insanely large user base of over 1.5 billion monthly active users, their penchant for building solid tools and their marketing prowess, there is little doubt that Facebook will come out on top in the live video wars.
You will soon be able to publish to Facebook Live directly from the MSQRD app. MSQRD is an app, acquired by Facebook in March, that allows you to use filters and face swaps similar to the filters on Snapchat. What is interesting is that you will be able to use and swap filters using the MSQRD app while broadcasting on Facebook Live. Some nice features of publishing directly to Facebook through the MSQRD app include the ability to choose your audience and select your first filter before going live. Thus, you control who sees your broadcast (go public for everyone… or broadcast live to just a specific person) as well as the ability to switch filters during your broadcast as much as you like. Why the push for filters as a Facebook Live feature? Well, Snapchat has experienced tremendous growth, especially amongst a younger demographic. By adding this feature to Facebook, they are attempting to swoon the likes of millennials as well as those who just “don’t get” Snapchat. With over 10 billion video views on Snapchat every day (and 150+ million daily active users) – it would be crazy for Facebook not to offer a competitive feature. Being a fast follower on this trend is a smart move for Facebook. With their huge user base, simple user-interface and now integration with MSQRD, they are able to bring this to a broader market with perhaps, a bit more simplicity.
One of the other exciting new Facebook Live features to roll out will be the ability of a viewer to join a broadcast that is already airing, bringing dual-person broadcasts to the forefront. Broadcasters can bring viewers right into the mix and onto the screen in real-time. The possibilities of this feature are very intriguing and could be a huge opportunity for businesses looking to conduct interviews, share different perspectives, interact with fans, conduct live Q&A sessions, have debates, broadcast from multiple locations, etc. Those familiar with the live “chat room” experience on platforms such as Blab and Huzza are hoping this might be an indication of the direction Facebook Live might be heading… where multiple broadcasters can be live at one time in one feed. It will be interesting to watch this one play out on Facebook Live.
Scheduling live broadcasts in advance will also soon be available as a Facebook Live feature. This allows a broadcaster the ability to promote their upcoming livestream to their target audience, who can choose to be notified when the broadcast is live or join a “waiting room” where they can interact with others. This is a great feature for Broadcasters to build up an audience before they actually go live. Many broadcasters waste the first few minutes (or more) with “filler” content as they wait for their live audience to build. This can be frustrating for early viewers who came to the broadcast for specific content. By building up the wait room and allowing people who indicated they were interested in the broadcast to be notified when live, this should help reduce the wasted time at the beginning of a live session. Obviously the power of marketing an upcoming broadcast and building an audience is something that many businesses will find helpful.
As with many other new Facebook Live features, some of these will be offered to verified accounts only first before becoming more widely available to the general public. But, it is definitely game on in the live video wars and Facebook just made some strategic moves to win that war.
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Darcy Schuller is the Chief Digital Marketing and Brand Strategist at Suvonni, an innovative boutique digital marketing agency based out of St Petersburg, FL. As a leader in the digital marketing space, Darcy is passionate about helping clients build stronger brands through elevated customer engagement, social media marketing, content marketing and dynamic web experiences. Darcy is a respected marketing thought leader, speaker and consultant.
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Darcy,
I think the 'waiting room' concept is genius because it's another way of fostering engagement. People who share similar interests can start discuss the live event before it even happens. It brings together people of shared interest. I know a lot of the time before some TV episode or live sporting event or convention, my friends and I will start discussing it on FB. Pretty smart on their part.
Also, do you think that FB's strategy here is to bring together some best in breed features from other players into their platform and leveraging on their scale? Thanks.
Hi Hasan,
Yes - totally agree! The waiting room concept is crucial for encouraging engagement - and making live video seem more conversational as opposed to a one-to-many scenario. I don't doubt that Facebook has been creating these robust features (and more to come), perhaps taking cues from others in the space as they further develop them. They are great innovators who also are smart about taking best practices and making them their next practices.
Darcy