47 million people log onto Facebook every day (as of June, 2018).
Facebook still remains the medium of choice for many interactions be it memes, dessert recipes, your best friend’s wedding or your godmother’s baby shower. The Facebook newsfeed is peppered with different forms of media; and as marketers the challenge of standing out amongst all the various traditional media types.
It only makes sense that marketers utilise new strategies to stand out from the crowd and the only way to do so would be through utilising new file formats provided by Facebook themselves, before we delve into the how these formats can help disrupt the newsfeed, let us take a look at the importance of ‘touch’ in the human decision-making process. Subliminally the sense of touch primes human behaviour and inherently influences decisions.
The most classic example of this phenomenon was a study conducted by Zachary Estes and his colleagues. The study aimed to understand the influence of touch on consumer buyer behaviour, Estes et.al observed that subjects purchasing a candy bar were more likely to buy a KitKat over a Snickers if they held a smartphone in their hand. This is because the overall shape of a smartphone and a KitKat bar are more or less the same shape and size.
Tactile exploration of objects activate conceptual representations of objects and also influence the processing centres of the brain. The sense of touch resulting in interactions generate a sense of affinity in humans and increases a sense of belonging and ownership therefore triggering the parietal lobe, the mesolimbic pathways (reward system) and the hippocampus (memory centre) of the brain.
Long story short, we build relationships through tactile feedback and interaction resulting in better retention.
Brands have consistently tried to get people to try to build affinities with items in store and with the rise of immersive and interactive marketing. Immersive marketing formats utilise new technologies and mediums to transport users to new worlds and change the way they interact with content. Instead of passive watching or content glazing, viewers can now be part of the experience and move around and interact with new mediums.
Facebook’s latest format of 360-degree posts provide users with a chance to interact with photos and videos either by moving their phones in all directions or moving their cursors around a post, this post type has radically changed the way users consume content on Facebook, also giving marketers the opportunity to disrupt the newsfeed and really ‘turn’ their brand messages around. Facebook 360-degree posts give marketers a lot of ‘real estate’ to tell a story compared to a flat photograph or post. In addition to having potentially positive benefits on marketing and SEO efforts, 360-degree media can also help brands set themselves apart tying together with the concept of ‘tactile’ feedback and build greater interaction.
Additionally, through such UX, 360-degree content and video can send clearer signals to search engines, which could improve brands’ SEO.
Therefore, 360-degree posts on your social media and on your website can aid increase in user-dwell time.
Facebook also released Facebook 3D posts which accepts a new file format called gITF 2.0 for 3D objects, this has brought in a new wave of content consumption as more users will be accustomed to interacting with 3D objects as part of their digital consumption.
Depth and dimension result in an urge to interact with objects, this phenomenon is why humans are subliminally primed to push buttons or interact with buttons. Using 3D objects within the newsfeed triggers users to interact with objects and posts instead of passively scrolling past. ‘Thumbing’ through a 3D model of an object could deepen brand connection and aid affinity due to tactile triggers.
The unique proposition of a gITF 2.0 file format is its responsiveness to scroll and touch, allowing for content to leap off the screen. Brands such as Lego and Wayfair have cashed in on the Facebook 3D format to project rich content and disrupt the Newsfeed. New medium posts have witnessed a surge in engagement numbers from base rate by approximately 150% and increased user dwell time.
This is just the beginning for the future of a seamless digital world where users can share immersive experiences and objects like these across new mediums such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & the Facebook News feed. As the ecosystem of 3D content continues to grow as marketers one must take advantage of early adoption to ensure ‘stickiness’ of their message and brand in a noisy newsfeed.
Utilising the latest technology to achieve reach, engagement and stickiness of content need not be difficult. In fact, creating content for new mediums such as Facebook 360 and Facebook 3D doesn’t require a designer or technical expertise. One such platform to create engaging posts is- Scapic.
Scapic is a platform that allows you to create content for new mediums with templates built for social media such as Facebook 360 and Facebook 3D. The platform also has a simple drag and drop interface which makes creating social media posts as simple as making a PowerPoint slide.
Here’s a step by step video showing you how to make a Facebook 360-degree post:
Here’s a step by step video showing you how to make a Facebook 3D post:
By utilising social-cognitive psychology and the latest technology trends and formats out there, digital and social media marketers can disrupt the newsfeed whilst priming users to interact and engage with content therefore ensuring ‘stickiness’.
Add new dimensions and realms to your content with Facebook 3D and Facebook 360 templates at scapic.com (the best part? It’s free to start creating)
