Publishers are using content to sell products

Tia Mowry’s Facebook Watch
show
Facebook

• Publishers are increasingly making money from including
  commerce links in their editorial posts — and taking a cut of
  any resulting purchases.
• But there’s not an easy way to do this right now with
  Facebook Watch shows.
• Facebook recently forced one of its Watch partners to
  label an editorial video as branded content because it featured
  a product link.

Loads of digital publishers have recently found a
lucrative revenue stream by placing e-commerce links
alongside their editorial content. But they better be careful on
Facebook Watch.

In fact, Facebook recently smacked down one of its Watch partners
for trying to make an extra few bucks. 

Specifically, the lifestyle web video company Kin was including
e-commerce links to products below some of its Watch videos.
These videos were editorial in nature — they weren’t paid for by
an advertiser. But people could click on the links and buy
products featured in the clips. And Kin would see a cut if this
were to happen. 

While it’s OK to include affiliate links with Facebook Watch
videos, Facebook wants publishers to label said clips as branded
content, which in this case, Kin wasn’t doing. So Facebook told
Kin it needed to give the video a specific label.

This was but a minor skirmish, and if Facebook Watch proves to be
a killer new revenue source for media companies, this sort of
thing won’t matter much. But that’s no guarantee.

Meanwhile, commerce has supplied a reliable source of revenue to
many digital publishers. And it’s easy to see that model working
well in Facebook Watch videos.

“Right now, Facebook does not distinguish between
affiliate and branded videos,” said one publishing
executive. 

Publishers are trying every which way to make money on Facebook

As media companies invest more in original programming for
Facebook’s fledgling video hub, they are looking to make money
any way they can. Some are
hoping for Facebook’s own video ad products to start kicking in
cash in a meaningful way. Others are producing video
content
on behalf of brands.

Another option would seem to be
affiliate links. This is
increasingly common among publishers on their own sites.
Companies ranging from
BuzzFeed to the
New York Times to Business
Insider often produce content that features consumer products
(think a guide to the cheapest
PCs or
most comfortable mattresses).

Often publishers will include links to buy these featured
products at the bottom of these articles or videos.

But there seems to be no easy way to do that on Facebook Watch.

Publishers need to make it clear upfront when they are getting a
cut from affiliate deals on Facebook Watch

Take Tia
Mowry’s Quick Fix, a lifestyle show produced by the
web video firm Kin featuring the former “Sister Sister” star.

A recent video featured Mowry making a recipe using a
Mealthy Multipot. The video was editorial – Mealthy didn’t
pay for it — but it did include a link below the video player
where viewers could click and purchase the product with Kin
getting a cut of each buy.

When Business Insider asked Facebook about this arrangement, the
company quickly told Kin it needed to label the video as branded
content, using the With Mealthy Recipes designation.

“Our Branded Content tag is intended to indicate whether a Page
or Profile received any sort of compensation in exchange for
featuring products in a post,” a spokesperson for Facebook
said. “We do consider these videos to be branded content, so we
reached out to the creators.”

Facebook
told Kin it needed to label this video as being paid for by a
brand
Facebook

While branded content videos can perform just fine on Facebook,
it’s likely that some consumers would be less likely to click on
what they assume is a advertiser-paid-for clip. 

A similar issue came up with a Kin video called Adrienne
Houghton’s Beach Bag Essentials from the Facebook Watch
franchise All Things
Adrienne.

That video was accompanied by a link to a product on Amazon.
While Facebook told Business Insider it would be OK for Kin to
label a video as being branded content funded by Amazon, Kin took
the Amazon link down.

This issue is far from a widespread problem in the Facebook
universe at the moment, according to publishers, but it does
represent a thorny challenge for the social network going foward.