Is Facebook Live the future of TV?

Now that Facebook Live has been opened to everyone, the world of online video content has received a major shakeup. Social video broadcasting is considered to be the next big wave and marketers should pay close attention to this impending shift. The time has never been better for brands to deploy their own live video strategy and some intriguing questions have been raised, so let's discuss.

When it comes to a brand's ability to market itself in the digital age, social media has proven itself to be an indispensable tool so far. And no doubt, live TV has seen its stranglehold on advertising broken in recent years. And today Facebook Live is providing brands with a different way to get their message out to the world.

Brands are now even more likely to become broadcasters. Facebook is also likely to become a platform where people publish videos and consume them at the same time. More and more brands will be setting up studios to film live streams and their marketers will partner with more talent to host their events.

It seems that we will eventually be watching Facebook Live on a flat screen television before too long. Apps are currently being offered to those with LG and Samsung television sets and Facebook's algorithmic approach to curating content lends itself well to the traditional television format. In a way the distribution network is already there.

While Facebook Live may be seen as an attempt to recapture the teen market, in the face of Snapchat and Periscope's emergence, its goals are slightly more grandiose. What Facebook is doing is not new, as many brands have already established Snapchat channels that are regularly taken over by influential industry figures for live events. It might be true that this new strategy is primarily aimed at the teen marketplace, but it will also be useful when it comes to reaching people of all ages. Think about the over one billion reach capability...

Facebook's decision to increase its dedication to the live video platform means that Snapchat, Periscope and YouTube have all been served notice! The difference between Facebook and these other live video streaming services is Facebook’s massive share in the current live content marketplace. Talent and creators are predicted to flock to Facebook Live in record numbers, due to Facebook's ability to reach a much larger portion of the marketplace. Let us not forget, Facebook has managed to successfully build a platform that serves all types of content to over one billion users with a big appetite for content consumption.

This is the key difference between Facebook and its competitors. It is already a clear leader when it comes to the live space and it also has the ability to pay top notch content creators top dollar for the exclusive rights to their live streams. And again, Facebook can also attract over one billion unique users on a daily basis, which gives it a major leg up on competitors.

And one thing is clear, Facebook isn’t stopping at introducing a platform that empowers and enables everyone to be a broadcaster, it is introducing tools as well. The Facebook Surround 360 is an awesome feat of imaging technology, and it looks as if it just landed straight from Mars!

This is a StepFeed Community post, written by a guest contributor. Jad Hindy  originally posted this article on Facebook . If you’re interested in contributing to the StepFeed Community, please contact hello@stepfeed.com.