Facebook's new monetisation feature gives creators choice in video ad placement

Facebook is giving creators more choices in their ad placement by enabling them to show non-interruptive ad formats like pre-roll or image ads in a video. The move aims to support videos that may not have a natural break for ads and is among the series of new features Facebook recently rolled out for content creators to monetise content and receive payments from users directly.Currently, ad breaks come in three formats: mid-roll, pre-roll, and a non-interruptive image ad that shows below the video without stopping it. Pages using ad breaks have increased by more than three times over the past year, according to Facebook.To enable creators to see and manage all of their monetisation products in one place, including monthly earnings and monetisation product eligibility, Facebook has rolled out a dedicated monetisation overview section in the Creator Studio. It is also integrating Instagram insights, content management, and publishing tools for both Instagram feed posts and IGTV into Creator Studio. This gives creators a one-stop shop to manage their presence and content across both Facebook and Instagram.Additionally, it has added new audience and retention insights to help video creators better understand the demographics, viewing behaviours, and interests of their audience, as well as how long people are watching their videos.Strengthening brand collaborations and earning fan supportThe two other new features introduced by Facebook hope to enable creators to garner support from brands and fans, enabling them to engage fans, manage their presence and build a business. Content creators can now also share their audience with advertisers for ads targeting on Brand Collabs Manager, a marketplace announced last year that helps brands and creators find, learn more about and connect with each other.The feature enables the advertiser to target ads featuring that particular post to the creator’s followers, in addition to boosting it to broad relevant audiences. It is a more secure way for creators to share their audience with business partners.Since its launch two years ago, Facebook has also brought performance insights into the Brand Collabs Manager so that creators and brands can now see exactly how their branded content posts are performing and the engagement they are getting directly within the platform.On the fan subscription front, creators can now add supporter-only Groups as a benefit so that supporters can interact with them and each other in a private space. Fan subscriptions allow fans support their favourite creators with a monthly recurring payment, in exchange for special rewards such as exclusive content, merchandise discount codes and closer access to the creator through tools."In testing, we’re encouraged at the potential of this feature to help fans form deeper communities and stronger bonds with creators on Facebook. Creators also now have access to more insights, including a view of their supporters’ status—new, active, and churned—over time," said Facebook in a blog post.Additionally, the platform is testing more ways for creators to earn revenue directly from fans. For example, it is adapting Facebook Stars functionality for video creators, allowing viewers to send Stars during live and on demand videos as a way of providing one-time support. Facebook Stars is originally a feature for gaming creators to allow viewers to send Stars while watching live gaming streams on Facebook."We believe this feature can complement a creator’s subscription offering, and we’re testing with a small set of creators to understand how people respond," it added.(Photo courtesy: 123RF)