There always seems to be a new tool, platform, or trend we are seeing here related to the social media field. This is a constant challenge (and wonderful thing in many cases!) for social media professors.
As I am preparing for two social media classes in the spring, there are some trends that I have to note and adapt my lessons for class, and add on to the readings. Lots of things have to be taken out, but many elements have to be added in. One of these new trends is the new Facebook Creator App.
Formerly of Facebook Mention fame for celebrities, athletes, and high profile figures, this app allowed these individuals to create, share, and analyze specific elements of their FB page with new tools and features. However, in November, Facebook opened this up to everyone to use. The purpose? To engage influencers, advocates, and other users to use their platform and play around with this new tool.
The question you all have is – how can this be used? There are a lot of different ways and ones that I am sure my students in #FrebergSM and #Freberg18 will discuss with their clients this upcoming semester. Again, like all tools, you do not HAVE to implement this tool unless it is 1) relevant and appropriate for the audience, and 2) you have a specific goal in mind for how to accomplish this.
Peg Fitzpatrick wrote a great blog post for Social Media Examiner on how to get this started, so this is my go-to- resource. This is a great walkthrough, but how could educators use this for their own page, classes, and consulting projects?
Here are a few ideas to consider I came up with:
- Personal branding for live and regular videos. If you are managing your own personal brand and page, this would be a good way to engage your audiences through video and brand it accordingly. As Peg mentioned in her post, you can create your own logo with your name on it for your videos along with live stickers. Personally, I think having your name and a logo is appropriate.
Another reason this app is good not just for influencers, but for those who have shows. We have seen a lot of uses here for FB Watch shows and I think especially for my friends in the sports field, this would be something to look at heavily here as a way to brand, manage, and effectively execute your video content on FB.
- Create a range of content to sponsor and showcase. Video is not the only thing you can do here for Facebook Creator, and the possibilities are endless. It all comes down to 1) what is your overall strategy and purpose for this platform, 2) what are some of the pieces of content your audience wants to see, and 3) what are the resources you will need to create these for your client or for yourself?
Ultimately, the Live Creator Kit is a must have when you go and have live video sessions .These could be interviews, exclusive pieces of content for your audience on FB, behind the scene’s features at events, giveaways and announcements, etc. The possibilities are endless. There are other pieces of content you can use here for the FB Creator app as well like the Q+A feature (might be good to have here if you want to do an AMA with a key professional, spokesperson/athlete, or if you want to do one yourself with your audience), and 360 video (always good to embrace experiential media in many ways).
What is great here is the fact there are a TON of ways these can be bridged and used in and out of the classroom. Events, conferences, games, competitions, and even classes could have their own sponsored content here (ex. if you were to do a virtual guest lecture and invited people to be part of the virtual class, you could add in a class logo with your hashtag – that’s what I will be doing for the spring).
- More opportunities for students and professionals to think strategically. Every person, brand, and agency has a FB page nowadays, and students are always looking for ways to showcase their skills and expertise in the area of social media. By allowing them to get some practice with this new tool, they could help others tell their stories more effectively. Depending on the scope of the project, you could have them create a strategic brief for a company, nonprofit, or local business to see how they could potentially use this for their community. The other way in which you could task this assignment is for the students themselves. Having them create their public profile page (which Dennis Yu and Logan Young have advocated for in the industry) for class and have them go through the process of not only setting up the Creator App, but have them walk through the FB Live Creator Kit, promote and market their new profile, announce a time to do a live video session, conduct the live video session w/ the branded content, and analyze the results and come up with some best practices. This is still somewhat in the experimental stages of course, but it does give the students to be creative and think outside of the box not only for businesses, but for their personal brand as well.
- Sponsorship Opportunities. Thinking about doing a live video on your page and perhaps using this as a paid opportunity (if it is appropriate)? This may be one way to do this. What is great is you can create multiple frames here for your videos, and this could change across time and events.
I was thinking this could be a great opportunity for my class clients to integrate as part of their FB strategy here and use this as a way to encourage new and innovative sponsorships. What will be needed though is sound metrics to validate the rationale for this new sponsorship strategy. Again, these have to be appropriate and relevant for all parties.
- Validation for Analytics. Everyone wants to be an influencer or someone with a large following, but what is great about the FB Creator App is the ability to see the numbers and how your community is responding to these videos and content. This is good to have here not only for your own record, but also for the chances you are looking for professional opportunities. This, along with other components, can be included in your own digital portfolio and brand kit to share with brands, conferences, and other professionals. It’s one way to say you are an expert in the field with a large following, but it’s another when you can show it with the numbers.
In summary, like all things in social media, Facebook Creator is a new “toy” and tool for creators, influencers, students, professionals, and even educators to use. The more we share ideas and how we go about in using this tool, the better. We can all learn from each other, and I imagine with the various events coming up next year, there will be a lot of cases we can look at for inspiration, and learn from what works and what doesn’t. Working in social media is a constant learning process, and this is one of the many things I love about working and teaching in this field!
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
