06
Jul
First Read: Facebook Video Calls
by Jeff Bodzewski

This afternoon’s announcement about video calls on Facebook will likely produce a wave of positive news as some social media experts will focus only on the likely jump in the amount of time people will spend on Facebook, the mainstreaming of Facebook and the likely expansion of users within certain demographics. Zuckerberg himself called out grandparents.

And all that will likely happen in the coming months, but there are also sure to be some Unintended Consequences for brands as well. My top three cautions:

  1. Your competition just grew exponentially: There is a finite amount of time a person realistically can spend on a single online channel and we often talk about how a brand’s competition isn’t just other brands, but viewing family photos, posting on friend’s wall, etc. You’ll have to be smarter than ever to keep your engagement level on Facebook where it is today with video calls in the mix.
  2. Brands pages will need better focus and value proposition: Facebook has somewhat defied recent trends in “traditional media” of fracturing – just look at the magazine industry and the myriad niche titles. Video calls will bring in a surge of new users who, likely spurred by friends and family, aren’t social media savvy nor do they necessarily want to be. Do you want to be all things to all people or continue to refine your page’s value and risk not being of interest to everyone?
  3. Great Facebook ads will become more expensive and harder: I expect cost-per-click rates and bids to increase as targeting becomes more important than ever to reach the audience you want. Plus, those ads will need a stronger call to action than ever because clicking on your ad conceivably is keeping a daughter from video chatting with her parents back home.

 

That isn’t to say today’s announcement won’t bring new opportunities to brands on Facebook because we’re excited about a lot of the possibilities, including significant development opportunities. It’s just a caution from one marketer to another that the game has evolved and approaches to social media marketing must as well. What do you think?

1 Comment
Stored in: Digital Marketing, Social Media, Word of Mouth
  • Matt Koppelman

    Like a multibillion dollar game of pin-pong, Facebook is simply returning the volley Google unleashed with the Beta release of Plus. The unknown-unknown in this equation is how much these video calls will be of use for brand engagement since Pluse is (yet) to open itself to the brands and could be considered Facebook’s “edge.”

    However, while there is always a benefit to being first to market, the ultimate win is being first to be USEFUL in the marketplace… two things that aren’t necessarily one and the same.