Facebook Watch: A Solution in Need of a Problem
Watch, Facebook’s new destination video viewing service, is now open for business, and it aims to upend how people view Facebook’s role in their content consumption lives. Facebook’s become known for short videos serendipitously showing up in user news feeds, and content creators hope to get their attention for just a few seconds. Watch’s ambitions go much further.
Watch aims to distribute content to Facebook users that they’ll want to seek out, sit back and watch for much more than just a few seconds. Facebook wants Watch to be somewhere between what users expect from YouTube and what they get from Netflix. It wants to be a video content destination thanks to partnerships with Vox, BuzzFeed and other content publishers.
Facebook Needs This
Watch is one of Facebook’s most ambitious projects yet, and it’s betting big on making Watch work. It has to because Facebook has an inventory problem. It’s running out of places to put ads, and video with commercial breaks is one place Facebook can create premium inventory for advertisers to reach users.
User growth for Facebook is slowing down, which was bound to happen when you have a few billion users. Now, Facebook needs to figure out how to squeeze more dollars out of each user, which means placing more ads on the platform without overloading any single part of Facebook. The news feed, for example, is maxed out on the ads it can carry.
Watch is a big bet for Facebook. It needs it.
And That’s the Problem
Facebook needs Watch more than its users do. Facebook’s always been at its best when it delivered on user need. We’ve seen it with successful examples like Messenger. Watch simply has no compelling reason for users to tune in. It lives in this world between YouTube and Netflix or Amazon.
Watch is a solution in need of a problem, and Facebook hasn’t articulated the value it provides for its users. People have more options than they need when it comes to entertainment, and Watch as it currently stands isn’t worth anyone’s time.
It took Netflix awhile to find its footing, but it had to. Netflix had to dig to find content that would draw people in—House of Cards. Netflix had to make it work. It had to go all in. Facebook has stepped into content creation halfway, but it needs to make itself irresistible to users. Until then, Watch will be a failure.