With Facebook’s new video and TV announcements, plus Mark Zuckerberg’s Manifesto and all the online discussions it spawned so far,  it’s been another BIG week in Facebook-land. News included the following:

Facebook rolls out autoplay videos with sound on

Eeks, apparently after testing sound on, Facebook received favorable feedback… I’ve yet to meet someone who actually enjoys/prefers autoplay sound on in videos anywhere on the web. However, when you think about it, it’s much the same as turning on the TV and going channel surfing… unless you’d muted the volume control, of course, the sound would be on. The good news for users is you can tap the speaker icon and turn off sound, or disable autoplay sound entirely. Or, if your phone is set to silent, videos will autoplay without sound.

And, for marketers, take note that automatic sound-on fades in over 4 seconds when a viewer scrolls or pauses on a video. Facebook states, “we recommend that you avoid including crucial audio elements within the first 4 seconds of a video, as viewers might miss them while sound is fading in.” Hm. Something to consider!

Did you get your VIRTUAL TICKET for Social Media Marketing World 2017 yet? You can still save almost $300. Plus, as an added bonus, when you get your ticket, I’m also including a $100 Gift Voucher to apply towards any of my own Facebook courses this year!

Social Media Marketing Talk Show – Facebook Video News

I was delighted to be the featured guest expert on my long time friend Mike Stelzner’s weekly social media marketing talk show, with SME co-host Kim Reynolds. We explore the new Facebook video & TV announcements in the first segment. Tune in here. 

Facebook video app for TV

Facebook just announced a new video app for playing Facebook videos on TV. This is a BIG deal, my friends. 🙂 The app will roll out soon to app stores for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV, with more platforms to come. Facebook already dominates in the digital advertising world; the company generated $8.8 billion in revenue just in the last quarter. And, 85 percent of all online advertising revenue is funneled to either Facebook or Google.

Add to that the fact that TV advertising revenue is currently at $73 billion in the United States alone (and expected to grow to $81.7 billion by 2020). TV advertising is a HUGE slice of potential digital video advertising pie that Facebook is starting to venture into, including starting with licensing TV-style shows.

See the full Facebook video news announcement here.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Manifesto

See also Mark Zuckerberg’s epic “Building Global Community” manifesto released this week. And this thought-provoking analysis of the manifesto by The Atlantic. The author writes,

“Zuckerberg is building a news organization without journalists.”

[The manifesto] “should set off new alarm bells for journalists, and heighten news organizations’ sense of urgency about how they—and their industry—can survive in a Facebook-dominated world.”

This Week’s Top 3 Articles

1. 18 Genius Facebook Ad Hacks for Winning Campaigns via AdEspresso.com

The amount of options available for Facebook Ads is one of the best, and sometimes overwhelming, things about it. All of those choices mean you can create terrific ads and even though the right solutions are different for every company there are a number of tried and true ways to get good results. Take a look at the excellent ‘hacks’ here and use it as a regular ad success checklist.

2. Complete PPC Guide to Facebook Niche Targeting via Business2Community.com

Did you know? Only 6% of all SMB business Pages advertise on Facebook; that means 94% of ALL business Facebook Pages are NOT tapping into the power of Facebook niche targeting. This post covers Demographics, Connections, Interests, Custom Audiences, and Behaviors, five main categories where you can narrow down the number of people that will see your ad.

3. 7 Types of Blog Posts You Need To Succeed With Content Marketing via SmartInsights.com

Blogging is a great way to promote your business without being sales-y. You can tell the story of your company, and share information that’s helpful to your customers. But a blog needs to have good content added consistently which can be a challenge in busy times. Does your blog include the types of posts mentioned in this article? These suggestions could help spark some creative ideas.

Facebook Q&A “Ask Me Anything” – Live Video

I lead a fun and informative Facebook Live the other day with rapid fire questions and answers!! Thanks to the fabulous BeLive.tv platform, I’m able to put viewers’ comments (made directly on my streaming Facebook Live broadcast) up on the screen in real time. Love that! And the hearts frames are a fun seasonal add-on from BeLive.tv … celebrating recent Valentine’s Day, of course.

I’m really loving BeLive.tv so far — there are two modes: Q&A (demo’d in both my videos below), and Interview mode where you can bring on another person remotely. I had an in-depth discussion with the CEO of BeLive.tv the other day and am certainly impressed and inspired by their vision.

This got me thinking… way back in 2008-2009, I started the ‘Fan Page Friday’ concept which allowed people to promote their business once a week on a Friday on my own Facebook Page. Many Page owners followed suit and continue to do #FacebookFriday’s each week! We also have the #FollowFriday concept on Twitter! So, I thought, what if I use BeLive.tv to host a LIVE ‘Fan Page Friday’ and give a special mention on screen to as many businesses as possible. Take a look!!

That’s all for this week’s issue of The Social Scoop. I hope you have an amazing weekend and week ahead!

Cheers!