360 Videos: A Social Media Marketing Game Changer

The Relevance of Social Media Trends

The most important rule any savvy social media manager should remember is versatility. Social media landscapes are ever changing to meet the growing needs of their users. As a manager, you need to have an open mind, enjoy testing out new things and perhaps stepping out from your comfort zone as well.

For instance, just a year ago we were uploading videos on YouTube and then sharing the link on Facebook and Twitter. Today the rules have changed – all we have to do is upload the video directly onto Facebook and Twitter and our fans and followers could watch the video directly on their news feeds. Social media strategies are changed for two reasons:

1) to reflect the wishes of social media users on each host platform;

2) to acquire a larger organic outreach.

Another example of a shift in social media trends is live-streaming. Before March, 2015, we were creating podcasts on Google+ because that was practically the only “popular” social network for us to host our podcasts on. Today, we have several more options for hosting live-stream videos, such as Meerkat and Periscope (owned by Twitter). Facebook is now following in their footsteps, and we must keep our social media strategies up to date with these changes.

360 Videos for Facebook Advertising

Photo by Facebook Newsroom

It came as no surprise when Facebook unveiled its new taste of virtual reality last September – 360 videos that can be viewed directly from your news feeds.

The new video clips, available on Android and iOS devices, will enable viewers to drag a finger or cursor around the screen in order to view from every conceivable angle. Anyone can publish these videos, which appear like any other post in News Feeds.

Facebook is not the first to implement this technology. A number of publishers and brands including GoPro, Google, Vice, and The Disney Channel have already published 360 content.

Facebook says there are more videos on the way from the likes of BuzzFeed, Nickelodeon, and ABC News. The social network is also launching a new microsite for the format, explaining how to upload the videos and best practices for shooting.

As with the original announcement, these initiatives show that Facebook is keen to popularize the 360-degree format as much as possible — after all, it’s an opportunity to the fully fledged virtual reality platforms that the largest social media platform thinks are the future of social networks. And, of course, there’s the opportunity to rally more profits from advertisers.

Facebook is hoping to test 360 videos ads from companies including AT&T, Corona, Nescafe, Samsung, and Disney very soon.

According to the introduction of 360 Videos by Facebook Newsroom, this is how to view a 360 Video:

“when the video is playing on Facebook, you can choose what angle you want to see it from. On the web you can do this by dragging around the video with your cursor, and on mobile devices you do it by dragging with your finger — or even just by turning your device. You’ll be able to hold up your phone and the 360 video will follow you as you turn, looking around, to experience things from all over the world like never before.”

Below is an example of a 360 Video:

For more 360 Videos on Facebook, visit  Facebook 360.

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