Facebook has announced that it is making major changes to its monetization tools for creators and how ads will be shown within the content.
In this article I’m going to discuss the changes along with the opportunities it brings for advertisers and content creators.
Facebook is now adding ad breaks to the videos of creators and sharing the revenue earned from each view.
Ad breaks are ads that appear in videos before they start or mid-roll, depending on how the video was found. Content creators will also receive ad revenue for static ads that appear above or under the video in the form of static images.
In order for creators to receive revenue, they must meet the following requirements:
Facebook said that the number of pages that use ad breaks has increased by 300% over the past year.
This new feature gives creators more reason to post organic content as they can now be paid if ads are served within their content.
Revenue is split 55/45, with Facebook receiving the lion’s share.
The Brands Collabs Manager was introduced last year to help creators and brands find each other and develop partnerships and sponsorship deals.
Facebook also introduced a new Insights Manager where creators and brands can track the engagement of posts and videos from the creators they are working with.
Soon enough, brands will be able to target only creators’ followers, which isn’t possible using the Ads Manager alone as most creators aren’t allocated their own interest.
Creators will be happy to learn that Facebook is updating its Fan subscription service, which allows fans to send creators money in the form of stars in exchange for exclusive content, vouchers, profile badges, and other features.
A star is worth one cent in value, but has to be bought in packs.
If a user buys 100 stars to send to a creator, the pack will cost $1.40, with 40 cents going to Facebook and the other $1 to the creator.
Fan subscriptions is currently limited to only 10 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and the U.S.
The biggest update has been the introduction of private Facebook groups for paying members, where they can connect with the creator directly and their fans. Creators will be able to see fan subscription metrics such as how many new and active members they gain along with basic subscriber churn metrics.
To be eligible for fan subscriptions you must fill out this online form. Each application is reviewed manually by an actual human.
The typical price of a fan subscription is around $4.99 a month, but prices can range from as little as $0.99 to as much as $99.
From January 1st, 2020, creators will earn 70% of all revenue from their fan subscription, with Apple’s iOS store and Google’s Play store taking the other 30% of revenue. Once a subscription has been active for two or more years, Facebook will begin taking 15% of the revenue, which is taken from the store’s share.
The creators’ share will remain at 70% for now.
Facebook will soon roll out new features that allow fans to send stars during live streaming as a one-time donation and on-demand videos.
These updates are much needed for creators and brands that want to leverage influencer marketing on Facebook.
While the Facebook Ads Manager is leaps and bounds ahead of their competitors, the features and capabilities they use to work with content creators and for the creators themselves is very lackluster.
I expect to see more forward-thinking changes to this part of the Facebook platform as user attention moves toward following creators that entertain and provide value.
As a marketer, I will be keeping a very close eye on any new changes that Facebook makes with their creators as it will become easier to work and reach new audiences.