Live Video

Since it launched in April last year, Facebook Live has seen huge growth, with (quite frankly, ridiculous) reach and engagement – some videos being viewed by millions and shared hundreds of thousands of times.

From wrapping a watermelon in elastic bands until it explodes (thanks BuzzFeed), to Chewbacca mum going viral and being seen over an incredible 164million times, the opportunities for brands to reach more people than ever before are there for the taking.

We’ve used Facebook Live for a number of campaigns, one example of which can be seen on the BBC News Facebook page, when we held a live Q&A with Britain’s fastest woman, Dina Asher Smith ahead of the Muller Anniversary Games last summer.

Facebook reports that people spend 3x longer watching live video compared to playing back a pre-recorded clip, and with Snapchat and Instagram getting in on the game, we’re excited to carry on this journey into a new era of broadcasting.

Virtual Reality

VR’s already been making waves in the digital world towards the backend of last year, with a host of VR headsets hitting the shelves for Christmas. It’s amazing, yet inevitable, that this is even a thing right now – and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

There’s already a dedicated VR social network, vTime, and Facebook have unveiled plans for live VR chat, with gestural tracking and voice analysis to communicate with our peers online.

Stay tuned…

Chatbots

Everyone seems to be talking about chatbots, and rightly so. A piece of smart software installed on a website that answers customer questions – if ever there was a time to develop a company chatbot – it’s now.

The less distinguishable they are from a human interaction, the better. Tackling the marketing problem of ‘dark social’ head on (the issue in tracking referrals and links from private chats), Facebook has announced plans to introduce ads in Messenger.

So when you click on an ad from your news feed, you’ll be taken to a private message with the brand for a one-on-one conversation, transforming social advertising from wider targeting to more personalised, intelligent communications.

This year will also see the launch of WhatsApp for business, opening even more doors for brands to engage directly with customers.

As we head into Run’s biggest ever year, we’ll be keeping our finger firmly on the digital pulse to bring our clients’ campaigns to life, so stay tuned to see the fruits of our collective labour!