How Facebook May Be Pushing for a More Live-Streamed World

Social Media Illustrations
Social media apps including WhattsApp, LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, SnapChat and Periscope are displayed in a social media folder on the screen of an Apple Inc. iPhone 6 in this arranged photograph taken in London, U.K., on Friday, May, 15, 2015. Facebook Inc. reached a deal with New York Times Co. and eight other media outlets to post stories directly to the social network's mobile news feeds, as publishers strive for new ways to expand their reach. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

An aggressive ad campaign is in the works at Facebook’s in-house ad studio, The Factory, according to a report.

The social media giant is hoping to encourage more people to start using its Facebook Live feature by launching a promotional blitz that will make its way to billboards and television commercials, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter.

The ads are said to be targeting ordinary users who might not turn to the feature as much as, say, media publishers do. At least some of the spots will curate clips from actual users’ recorded live videos to help “show people what’s possible” with Facebook Live, according to one of the people who spoke to the Journal.

See also: How Facebook’s Most Hated Feature Became the Future of the Company

It is not clear when or where the ads will run, or how much is being spent on the campaign.

But the announcement is relatively unsurprising given Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s intention of evolving the platform into a “video-first” network one day, as well as emphasis from other top executives that a grander plan is underway.

“If I was having a bet, it’d be video, video, video,” Facebook’s vice president in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Nicola Mendelsohn said at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women International summit in June.

See also: Here’s Why Facebook Is So Desperate to Buy, Copy or Kill Snapchat

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg this week said the company was still in the “really early stages” of monetizing video, according to Adweek. GE’s series of videos at the Rio Olympics showing the tech behind the event was one example of Facebook Live being tested for marketing purposes, said Carolyn Everson, the company’s vice president of global marketing solutions.

Facebook declined to comment on the campaign.

This story has been updated.

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