Facebook Audio Rooms: The New Social Audio To Watch Out For

Have You Heard About Facebook Audio Rooms?

TikTok popularized short-form video, and it looks like Facebook’s trying to do something similar with audio.

If you’re curious about what this new Facebook feature is all about, then keep reading.

Because in this post, we’re going to talk about what Facebook Audio Rooms are.

As well as some tips on how you can utilize it for your business marketing.

Let’s get started!

What Are Facebook Audio Rooms? 

In April, Facebook announced that they would be bringing social audio experiences to the platform.

They’re stressing accessibility in each of their announcements and chats about the new direction. 

Audio has been a notoriously difficult thing, with really good audio being reserved for professionals…

…or creators with a larger social media budget for production. 

Why Audio? 

In their announcement in April, Facebook touted (good) audio as feeling:

“immersive and intimate at the same time.

They make you feel like you’re right there in the room with your friends and family, sitting around at the dining table, even if you’re miles apart.”

Also, Facebook notes that there’s been an increased use of audio messaging in Facebook Messenger and on WhatsApp.

So, they’re looking to enhance and broaden the audio experience for the app’s billions of users. 

Facebook says they’ve invested in audio technologies to solve the problem of quality audio inaccessibility for most users. Specifically: 

• Audio quality enhancements
• Captions
• Speech translations (even working on Live translations)
• Superhuman hearing

Who Can Use Facebook Audio Rooms? 

According to Facebook:

“select Facebook Groups in the US can create Live Audio Rooms on iOS, and select podcasts will be available to listeners in the US.

In the coming weeks, we’ll expand the ability for more public figures and Groups to host a Live Audio Room and introduce new features for both experiences in the coming months.”

Features Of Facebook Audio Rooms That Will Be Available To You

Even though Facebook hasn’t opened this up to everyone yet…

…let’s look at all of the features that will be available to you, so that you can start planning and implementing audio in your marketing campaigns. 

1. Sound Studio
2. Soundbites
3. Podcasts
4. Live Audio Rooms

1. Sound Studio

Just like they did with video and photo, Facebook has created a set of audio tools “powerful enough for the pros, but intuitive and fun.”

This tool will be available in the app directly.

Sound Studio will use AI to clean up audio quality, even if you’ve recorded in a loud or busy place (like a busy street).

You’ll be able to enhance your audio with: 

• Audio cleanup
• Background music (from Facebook’s Sound Collection)
• Sound effects
• Voice filters
• Audio track mixing

2. Soundbites

Soundbites on Facebook are short-form audio content.

Just like in traditional news media, some ideas that Facebook shares for how to use Soundbites are: 

• jokes,
• moments of inspiration,
• poems,

…and many other things we haven’t yet imagined.

Facebook stressed that they want creators to experiment with “different concepts”…

…then shared some examples of the first Soundbites that they’ve created in collaboration with approved creators. 

• A comedian sharing short rants and food reviews ASMR style.
• An accessibility advocate reciting her favorite inspirational quotes and daily affirmations.
• An entrepreneur talking about fatherhood and being a first-generation Nigerian American. 

We’re excited to see what else creators think of with short-form audio.

We’ve seen so much innovation and creativity on TikTok because of the change in format.

It sounds like Facebook is really encouraging their creators not to repurpose the audio from their TikToks…

…which would honestly make Soundbites a big failure in our opinion.

And speaking of TikToks, if you want to learn how to create TikTok ads for beginners, we have just the perfect tutorial for that. 

Monetizing Soundbites

To give Soundbites a boost, Facebook has set up an Audio Creator Fund to support audio creators, encourage use, and get feedback on the process. 

3. Podcasts

Podcasts you’re probably familiar with; they’re long-form audio content covering all sorts of topics from news to entertainment. 

Facebook’s big problem (as far as social media goes) is that you have to leave the platform to actually engage with your:

• favorite brands,
• businesses, or
• creators.

That’s why they’re working so hard to make it easy to buy in-app, to watch video in-app, and to listen to audio in-app.

They want to keep you there. 

With 170 million people connected to Podcast pages on Facebook, and another 35 million folks who like podcast fan pages…

…Facebook realized they were sending tons and tons of traffic off-site.

That’s why they’re making it possible to listen to podcasts directly in the app (even when the app is running in the background).

And, they also say Podcast creators will be able to engage easily with fans in the app as well. 

Here’s a look at what the Podcast experience looks like. 

Facebook also plans to roll out captions and the ability to create and share short clips of your podcast.

They promise to create more “unique social experiences” around Podcasts that use Facebook’s most interactive and personalized features. 

4. Live Audio Rooms 

In case you haven’t noticed the trend, live is the priority for content on almost every platform now, but particularly on Facebook.

Live video and live audio are going to be important for your small business to practice and master. 

The idea behind live audio rooms is so creators can invite:

• experts,
• fans,
• other creators, or
• guests

…to join in a discussion or chat without the pressure of being on-camera. 

These live audio rooms were rolled out to groups and active communities on Facebook so they could test the feature and suggest improvements.

Live Audio Rooms in Groups & Messenger

If you’re a small business and you don’t have a Group, you may be missing out on an excellent way to help your business grow.

We actually published a post on using Facebook Groups for small business, so check that out after you read the rest of this post. 

How Do They Work? 

When you create a live audio room, Facebook creates a post with all of the speakers listed with the host.

If you’ve scheduled your live audio room for a later date, Facebook creates an Event for the date and time you selected.

Here’s what that looks like.

The title of your audio room and your hostnames are all discoverable in:

• news feed,
• notifications, and
• timeline

…for folks who fall within your audience settings for the room. 

When a live audio room is being scheduled:

• We notify a host’s followers when the host schedules a live audio room and when the host starts a room.
• We notify a speaker’s followers when the speaker accepts the invite to be a speaker in the event.
• We notify a speaker’s followers when the speaker joins the scheduled room after it has started and accepts the invitation to be a speaker.

For live audio rooms that are not scheduled:

• We notify a host’s followers when the host starts a room.
• We notify a speaker’s followers when the speaker joins the room and accepts the invitation to be a speaker.

You can have an unlimited number of listeners in your audio rooms. 

Creating a Live Audio Room

Even though this feature isn’t available to everyone yet…

…we’re going to walk you through how to create your live audio room and some tips for monetizing and best practices. 

You’ll be able to go live from two places: 

• Tapping Live from Page Composer
• Tapping Create Room at the top of News Feed under Video and Audio Rooms

When you set up your room you’ll: 

1. Select Audio, then tap Next.
2. Select your Audience.
3. Name your Room.
4. Select your start time. You can go live right away or schedule your audio room in the future.
5. Invite speakers to your Room.
6. (Optional) Select a monetization option.
7. Go live. 

Inviting Speakers to Your Room

You can have up to 50 speakers in a room (including the host) so consider that when making your lists.

You have no limit on the number of listeners who can join your audio room. 

There are some host and speaker requirements you should be aware of: 

• Hosts and speakers must use iOS (guests must b on iOS 13+).
• They must be on New Page Experience or Profiles.
• Hosts must be verified.
• This is only available in the U.S. right now, and only to select creators.
• In public groups, anyone can listen to the live audio; in private groups, only members can.

If you think Audio Rooms will work into your social media marketing strategy…

…start preparing for their full platform launch by converting your page to New Page Experience and working to get verified so you can host rooms. 

Monetizing Your Live Audio Room

You have the opportunity to earn money with your live audio rooms by using either Facebook Stars or earning donations for a nonprofit or a fundraiser.

In the future, you’ll also be able to charge for access to live audio rooms. 

a. Stars 

Let’s start with Facebook Stars. Fans can purchase stars and give them to you during the live stream.

Once you’ve set up the Stars (you can do this in Monetization and during live audio room setup)…

…users who send Stars will be moved to the front row of the audience like this.

Here are some other perks: 

When listeners send you Stars, a notification will appear at the bottom of your room with the name of the listener and the number of Stars that they sent.

To view all Star senders for your live audio room, click Details on the notification. You’ll be able to filter Star senders by Latest and Amount.

b. Nonprofit/Fundraiser Donations

Listeners and speakers can directly donate to nonprofits or fundraisers during your live audio stream. 100% of the money raised goes to the nonprofit.

Live Audio Rooms Best Practices

Facebook shared some best practices for their audio rooms, and we’ve found it best to follow the best practices the platform shares. Why not? 

Here’s what they suggest before your live: 

• Make sure your internal team has the resources to manage your presence on Facebook. 
• Follow fellow speakers and engage with their posts and their audiences.
• Use the scheduling option to give you time to promote the Live and grow an audience.
• Invite at least 1 to 3 speakers to the event. 

Here’s what they suggest for while your Live is in progress:

• Plan to spend at least 20 minutes on your live audio. (The max is 8 hours)
• Moderate your audio room to ensure the conversation goes smoothly. 
  1. Keep the conversation focused.
  2. Prepare discussion points ahead of time.
  3. Develop a rapport with your speakers.
  4. Mute a speaker by turning them into a listener.
  5. Don’t use music (or sing music) you don’t have rights to. Facebook uses AI to detect this and will end your live audio room without a warning. 

Facebook Audio Rooms Takeaways

As a small business, if you’re not using audio and video, you’re going to fall behind, especially if you’re not willing or able to go live.

You can get a head-start on your competition by preparing to use these tools as soon as they’re available to you. 

Do you have any fun ideas for using Facebook Audio Rooms for small businesses? We’d love to hear from you!

And if you really want to step up your Facebook marketing, check out our social media marketing services today.

Or contact us at 404-596-7925.

The post Facebook Audio Rooms: The New Social Audio To Watch Out For appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog.