The following is a guest blog by founder and CEO of On Base Marketing Justin Lafferty who attended the Facebook F8 conference on April 12. Justin was formerly Editor of Adweek’s SocialTimes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @JLafferty21
At F8, Facebook’s global developers’ conference in San Francisco, Mark Zuckerberg didn’t just tell attendees what Facebook is working on now — he laid out a 10 year road plan.
The plan starts with building out Facebook’s ecosystems and grows into building drones, sending satellites to other star systems and virtual reality.
So, where does your business fit into this? Here are the 3 key facets marketers need to know now and keep in mind in the future – featuring insights found using Talkwalker social listening.
1) Embrace live video
Facebook has made a huge push into video, battling old guards like YouTube and young rocketships like Periscope. At F8, Zuckerberg announced that Live (Facebook’s live-streaming platform) is going to be made a more central focus, noting that Live videos gain 10 times more comments than regular videos.
“We’re also at the beginning of a golden age of online video,” Zuckerberg said. “We opened up Live video to everyone, and the response so far has been pretty amazing.”
Facebook also opened up the Live API, allowing you to broadcast live from more than your iPhone.
Facebook is going all in on live-streaming video, something that Twitter and YouTube are passionate about too. Facebook Live videos get more prominent News Feed space and can be a great way to take your customers and fans behind the scenes of your business.
This is where the major social channels are going, taking a cue from Snapchat, where users crave raw, unscripted content. Start thinking of ways to integrate live-streaming into your marketing plan as a way to reach more people and humanize your business.
Social listening data shows that video features strongly in top themes about the 2016 Facebook F8 conference on social and online
2) Facebook Messenger is out to kill email
Facebook announced Messenger as an e-commerce platform at last year’s F8 event, but it got a serious push this week. Facebook is working with major content creators, such as CNN and The Wall Street Journal, to create chat bots.
Want to know the latest news today, or searching for more stories about Stephen Curry? Just send CNN a message on Facebook, and content is automatically delivered.
Bots are also able to tell you about the weather and work with you on placing orders, showing off the power of Messenger as far more than a communication tool.
Facebook really wants you to use Messenger in your business correspondence, pushing new ways for fans and customers to interact with your business without dialing a phone number or sending an email.
Even if you’re not ready to build a bot to handle orders, don’t be afraid to turn on your page’s messaging capabilities. Facebook wants bot technology to be as good (or even better) than a human customer service agent.
But if you want to check this out for yourself and build a Messenger bot for your company, here’s how.
3) Start thinking about a VR experience
Facebook isn’t the only virtual reality pioneer. While the technology seemed unlikely a few years ago, major players such as Google, Facebook and Samsung are making major investments in VR.
But is it too early to think about branded experiences? Definitely not.
More and more people are gaining VR technology, through Samsung headsets that allow the user 360-degree views through their smartphone. Oculus Rift is ramping up and shipping more and more units.
HTC Vive is catching up with Oculus Rift when it comes to online brand awareness according to online share of voice
While it may not be something to integrate into your marketing plan today, there could come a time when VR is a huge part of the social media experience. You could be an early adopter, or wait a few years and let your competitors take the lead.
For instance, if you’re a sports team, you could place a 360-degree camera in the seats behind home plate or courtside, giving people an up-close-and-personal experience without leaving their living room. You could use VR to showcase your company’s new headquarters or take fans on a trip.
While the technology isn’t widespread today, it’s definitely something to think about in the years to come.
For more information about how your business can track and analyze major events using social listening contact us and speak to one of our expert consultants.
Call to action Image Credit: Flickr via Maurizio Pesce
