Digital Marketing News Today | Facebook “Watch Party” Communal Viewing for All Profiles and Pages
- June 2, 2019
Facebook’s new Watch Parties feature has been a huge success, allowing users to connect by watching videos together online.
Since Watch Parties was first added to Groups in July, statistics show that 12 million Watch Parties have been held. With both individuals and brands using Watch Parties as a marketing tool, it’s clear that the feature is only becoming more popular as more users see its benefits. Any social media marketing agency owner needs to familiarize themselves with this new feature to make sure they’re using everything Facebook has to offer.
In this article, I’ll be exploring the reasons behind Facebook’s decision to roll out Communal Videos watching and additional features that will be announced in the next few months!
What is a Facebook Watch Party?
There has been a huge rise in popularity of communal video watching among consumers, which is why apps like Houseparty and Facebook message have been such a success, with an increase in engagement with real-time interactions on live stream content.
Facebook has been paying attention to this trend in communal viewing, which is why they decided to roll out their ‘Watch Party’ feature to all people and Pages. With Watch Parties, users and page admins can schedule a time to view any video and invite people along to join in watching and commenting with them.
How Do Watch Parties Increase Engagement?
Watch Party has resulted in a huge uptick in real-time interactions on Livestream content, making it a great tool to help increase video engagement on a brand or business’s page.
Another great feature for engagement with Watch Parties is the comments section. Watch Parties will include comment threads similar to those on Twitter, making it easier to track conversations and start conversations in a Watch Party stream.
By scheduling and promoting Watch Parties on your brand or business’s Page and groups, you will be able to drive participation on your Page, and help users discover other Watch Parties they may be interested in participating in.
The Future of Watch Parties
As the Watch Parties feature is still relatively new, and Facebook continues to analyze data from users’ response, the social network is already planning updates to the feature to make it even better.
In Messenger, they are already testing a communal viewing option to improve the feature. Facebook has already added similar tools like the ‘Premiere’ feature, which allows video creators to broadcast pre-recorded videos at a set time.
The company is also testing a feature called ‘Live Commentating’ that would allow a host to livestream themselves within a Watch Party video to share commentary as the video plays.
These planned updates offer great potential for celebrity insights into programs/movies, and it could also provide a new way for businesses to host product launches or something similar. Businesses can use their team members and experts as hosts or guides of sorts during the communal viewing party, and enabling them to answer questions in real time.
How to Start a Watch Party
