3 New Facebook Updates You Need to Know About
Facebook has had a busy week.
The Social Network has started 2017 off with a bang, introducing several new features and product updates that are sure to intrigue both users and marketers alike.
Here are three of their latest announcements, and the implications surrounding them.
1. Long-Form Content Gets Priority
In the past, Facebook has used the percentage of video watched as a key component in their News Feed algorithm. This week, they’ve announced a bit of a shake up.
Now, longer videos will receive greater priority when the same percentage of video is watched as a shorter video. This will help anyone producing quality long-form content – but remember, quality is the key word here.
Poor performing long-form content still won’t perform well, so make sure you’re producing your best work.
2. Stories are Coming to Facebook’s Mobile App
They’re already testing this feature in Ireland, but expect it to roll out over the next few weeks.
Facebook already introduced Stories on Instagram, and the implementation has been a wild success. 150 million users are using the feature every day, which is equal to Snapchat’s daily active users.
The implications for Snapchat are large here – they’ve developed a feature that’s clearly one of the best ways to view video content, and Facebook has taken notice.
Snapchat will need to improve on its feature set to avoid becoming obsolete, and this pressure is coming just weeks before an expected IPO announcement from Snap, Inc. We’ll be watching this story closely.
3. A New Way to Consume Video
Finally, Facebook has announced a turn toward traditional television. They’re working on an app for television set-top boxes in an effort to further increase advertising revenues.
Facebook’s already predicted that their revenue growth will slow in mid-2017, as they’re running out of areas within the News Feed to display advertising. The push into video and traditional TV markets will give them another way to display advertising.
It’s all part of Facebook’s video-first atrategy. We can only speculate, but it wouldn’t be a far off prediction to suggest that their next move is into premium content.