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Welcome to this week's edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media.
On this week's Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore improvements to Live video on Facebook and Instagram, paid live streams in Facebook Events, and Messenger Rooms with special guest Luria Petrucci.
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Watch the replay of this week's show below.
About Our Special Guest
- Luria Petrucci is co-founder and owner of Live Streaming Pros, where she teaches people how to establish their expertise, build their audience, increase engagement, and increase revenue with professional live video.
Use the timestamps below to fast-forward to our top stories in the replay above.
- 1:30 Facebook Introduces New Live Video Features for Facebook and Instagram, Live With, and Donations
- 5:30 Facebook Rolls Out Ability for Pages to Charge for Live Videos in Events
- 17:10 Facebook Expands Test for In-Stream Ads on Live Videos
- 26:24 Facebook Expands Messenger With Messenger Rooms, Virtual Backgrounds, and More
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Facebook Introduces New Live Video Features for Facebook and Instagram, Live With, and Donations: With more people turning to Facebook Live and Instagram Live to connect with one another, take classes, attend faith services, and more, Facebook is adding several features to make broadcasts “even more useful” to brands and businesses.
Facebook is bringing back Live With, which allows page admins or profile owners to select a guest to go live with them during a mobile broadcast. Facebook notes that while pages can go live with a profile, they can't add another page to their live stream. This update began rolling out on Friday, April 24, and will launch globally “in the coming days.”
Facebook also announced that broadcasters can raise money for causes by adding the Donate button to live videos “wherever nonprofit fundraisers are available.” Similarly, Instagram users can now create fundraisers and collect money for non-profits while live streaming either alone or with others.
Instagram now allows users to fundraise for nonprofits while livestreaming https://t.co/CdjDljJZSt by @sarahintampa pic.twitter.com/BhbQIMLaOh
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) April 28, 2020
Facebook Rolls Out Ability for Pages to Charge for Live Videos in Events: In the next few weeks, Facebook pages will be able to integrate Facebook Live with Facebook Events and charge for exclusive access to these live video events. These Facebook events could be marked as “online-only” and applied to anything from online performances to classes to professional conferences.
.@Facebook to Introduce Paid Livestreams for Musicians and Other Creators https://t.co/JUJqYfO50O
— Variety (@Variety) April 28, 2020
Facebook states this update is part of the company's bid to support creators and small businesses on its platform. It also provides a way for musicians, entertainers, and other creators to monetize their online performances.
Facebook Expands Test for In-Stream Ads on Live Videos: Facebook expanded its test of in-stream ads on Facebook Live to more verticals. Marketing Land notes the ads will include “pre-vetted” entertainment, news, and sports partners and will only be open to a select number of publishers to determine if “content creators are able to successfully monetize their live video streams with in-stream ads” before a broader rollout.
Facebook expands test for in-stream ads on Live by @soulmilkco https://t.co/suHEmbJMul
— Marketing Land (@Marketingland) April 29, 2020
Facebook Expands Messenger With Messenger Rooms, Virtual Backgrounds, and More: Along with the updates to live video, Facebook introduced a range of new tools to enhance Messenger such as AR effects like bunny ears, immersive AI-powered 360-degree backgrounds, and mood lighting.
The biggest update announced is Messenger Rooms, a new option to set up virtual hangouts or meetings across all of Facebook's apps. Messenger currently only allows up to six video chat participants at a time, but Messenger Rooms will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit. It started rolling out in “some countries” this week and will expand to the rest of the world in the coming weeks.
Users will be able to start and share rooms on Facebook through the news feed, groups, and events, making it easy for people to drop in and out of the chat. Facebook notes that it plans to add ways to create rooms from Instagram Direct, WhatsApp, and Portal, too.
Other News Mentioned
- Facebook Teases Ability to Go Live from Portal
- Facebook Reports Growth in Quarterly Earnings Despite Lowered Demand for Ads. More details on the company's financial results and investor call can be found in Facebook Q1 2020 Earnings Reports.
- Facebook Sets Up Virtual Dating for Facebook Dating Over Messenger
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