Getting started with tools
For creators, it always starts the same way - with an idea. The challenge then, is to
turn that idea into something real, and importantly, relatable for others.
This doesn't need to be as arduous as you think! Facebook offers tools designed to help you bring your ideas to life, study how they're performing, and continually develop them to best fit your audience. Let's take a closer look.
In-stream ads
Now let's talk about ROI. You're going to put a lot of effort and time into your content, and ultimately you want it to be worth it! Inserting an in-stream ad into your videos is a quick and easy way to help build out a solid strategy for monetizing your videos. You'll get rev share on these ads, so a well-placed in-stream ad can have a positive impact on payouts. Let's dig a little deeper.
There are two ways to insert an in-stream ad into a new or existing video:
Automatic placement (recommended): Save time and give your viewers the best possible experience by leveraging automatic placements for in-stream ads, where our algorithm determines the best placements for ads in your content. You can turn this feature on at the video level (when uploading and enabling in-stream ads for a given video), or, set as the default feature at a Page level. This feature works best when your content is editorially set up to accommodate an in-stream ad.
Choose placement: This method lets you decide exactly where you'd like to add in an in-stream ad. Try inserting an in-stream ad right after a cliffhanger to keep the audience on the edge of their seat to keep watching. If you choose multiple placements, viewers will see ads in different places, depending on when they last watched an ad. Be intentional about how you do this, so it's a positive viewer experience.
That's nice... but how do they work?
We're glad you asked! Essentially, you control where and when a (up to) 15-second ad will be placed in your video. And because different advertisers target different types of people, each of your viewers may see a different ad during the same in-stream ad. We know that flexibility and control is important. Use block lists and category controls to ensure the ads delivered in your videos match your brand and voice. Create block lists to prevent advertisers from appearing in your content, and use category controls to limit categories of ads.
Tip: In order to place an in-stream ad into your video, your video must be at least 3 minutes in length. Ensure that in-stream ads fit naturally within your content and are placed within your content at the 1 minute mark and at the 5-6 minute mark.
For more information on in-stream ads and monetizing your video content, check out our best practices and updates on video and monetization and Content Monetization Policies* articles.
Make sure to avoid things like engagement bait (asking people to inauthentically interact with a post with likes, shares, comments, and other actions) and manufactured sharing (when a Page repeatedly shares videos or other content in an inauthentic manner, often for money or distribution). You can find out more about engagement bait vs. truly engaging content in our blog post here.
The monetization experience with a Facebook has been simple, easy and effortless. The tool is great to use and has a very clear process. Building a meaningful community has been the most purposeful and filling achievement of my life. To have a truly global audience that is growing daily is a blessing that I feel humbled to have. It is the result of a sincere intention to transform people’s lives and make a difference in the world. I feel grateful to have Facebook as a platform to help me share my message to billions of people who view my videos.
Jay Shetty
Creator Studio
One of the most useful tools at your disposal that will help you craft and manage your videos will be Creator Studio. It'll be your best friend in creating and managing content across Facebook.
Creator Studio is a surface that provides a singular, hyper-focused place for creators and publishers to:
1
Publish content easily across Facebook. You can switch between your accounts, and manage or compare content across all of your Pages. Publish content, organize posts and respond to your audience all in one place.
2
Understand insights about your audience and content performance. See how your posts are performing, understand your returning viewers, and target your audience based on these patterns.
3
Manage monetization products such as in-stream ads. You can add and manage the in-stream ads you have inserted into your videos to help you monetize your content. View insights as it relates to these products to better understand your audience and earnings.
Insights
You want to know exactly how and if your videos are reaching your audience and, ultimately, generating income! Insights breaks your content's performance into four tabs:
Performance: This section will give you a quick overview of your videos' overall performance, including minutes watched, engagement, and view count across selected time periods. You can also compare your top videos and top pages in more detail.
Funnel: This tab shows the audience reached, the audience that actually consumed the content, and the audience that engaged with your content, as well as your repeat viewers.
Loyalty: See how many viewers from the previous week are returning this week to view your videos.
Earnings: Eligible pages can check estimated earnings from in-stream ads, aggregated across eligible pages and dive into the details.
Monetization: This tab shows you estimated earnings from in-stream ads for your selected pages over a given time period. Understand how your content is monetizing and how your earnings are trending over time, including on a video-by-video basis. Pay special attention to one-minute video views, as this metric helps provides insight on ensuring viewers want to stick around to watch your content and that you'll be able to monetize these longer views with ads.
With Insights you'll be able to zero in on successful videos and make more informed decisions on what content to produce next.
Rights Manager for Creators
Finally, as you put the finishing touches on creating your videos, take the extra step of making sure they're protected. Rights Manager is a set of tools that helps you manage and protect your copyrighted content on Facebook and Instagram at scale. You can apply here.
Steps on setting up Rights Manager
Once you import the videos you want to protect, Rights Manager can automatically get to finding matches across Facebook and Instagram, notify you, and give you credit. You can still manually search for your videos too, but with Rights Manager at the helm you can spend less time scrolling and more time creating!
Learn more about how to best keep your content safe in our Protect Your Videos article.
Important points to remember
Rights Manager isn’t the only way to help monitor and protect content on Facebook: Rights Manager allows rights owners to manage content from one place at scale but there are other steps you can take to manage intellectual property without Rights Manager.
Rights Manager is only accessed through Publishing Tools on an individual Facebook Page.
It isn’t retroactive. Rights Manager may not detect videos that were posted before reference files were uploaded. You should update reference files regularly as you produce and distribute new content.
You need to exclude reference files for content that you don't have exclusive rights to use: don’t claim rights to content that you don’t exclusively own.
Connecting the dots
As you start your journey of creating content you care about, be empowered to think big. Impact can be measured with Insights, but authenticity in your videos is priceless. We want you to be free as possible to share your vision with the world, and hope these tools set you up for success.
*Our Content Guidelines for Monetization are now called Content Monetization Policies. This Page explains our content used to earn money on Facebook. Learn more here.
