Earlier this year, Facebook successfully launched personalized videos that showcased users’ biggest moments on the site as a way to ‘look back.’ Facebook has demonstrated that as usual, it is up on the zeitgeist by releasing a new incarnation of its personalized video tool two weeks ago.
The holiday season is fast approaching, and Facebook is encouraging its users to build and share personalized video cards that celebrate friendship and give thanks between friends, all over the site. Using pre-built themes, Facebook’s tool allows users to drag and drop their own photos to tell one another how thankful they are to have each other in their lives, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The user experience of a drag-and-drop method from a photo collection is so simple and accessible, any user can do it. (Doesn’t this method of story creation remind you of a scene library capability?)
The largest social platform releasing personalized videos yet again this year shows how the popularity of this medium is gaining momentum in a huge way. The first time around, 200 million videos were created and 350 million videos were viewed. Clearly, Facebook has an in-depth understanding of the fact that video is the most engaging medium and is looking for a repeat performance, plus encore.
At SundaySky, we enjoy watching the most popular social network on earth integrate video more and more. Recently, Facebook launched an app in the spirit of Snapchat, called Slingshot, which allows users to share pictures and video along with texts to friends. During Q3, Facebook said it averaged more than one billion video views a day.
Facebook can improve their personalized videos to make them more relevant. For instance, Facebook could recognize relationship statuses (spouses, fiances) to make the videos more personalized, instead of referring to everyone as either a “friend” or an “old friend.” The ability to customize and edit the pictures with captions and artistic touches for further personalization would be a great touch, as well.
We’re excited to see that companies are continuing to leverage personalized video, more and more, to engage with their customers and users. This data-driven marketing shift shows that brands recognize how to use data for more engaging and higher quality experiences. Additionally, features such as this will help to drive an increased comfort level for consumers as they continue to receive more personalized content.
Did you build a ‘Say Thanks’ video? What other personalized tools would you like Facebook to provide?
