Grabyo

Cloud-based video production, editing and distribution.

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Grabyo launches custom fonts for social video editing and sharing

The latest version of Grabyo Studio now supports the use of custom fonts for our partners. This is a key update and ensures users can create on-brand ‘thumb-stopping’ moments shared directly through the Grabyo platform. Branded fonts are regularly used for video captions, allowing clips to stand out in social feeds, driving higher levels of engagement.

Custom fonts represent the next enhancement to the video editing capability of the Grabyo platform, building on the recent release adding text and graphics overlays for cropped and padded videos. The addition of custom fonts allows Grabyo partners to create on-brand social video content in seconds.

With Facebook nearing two billion monthly users and the growth in video on social platforms accelerating, the need to create engaging and stand out content is now more important than ever. GWI data has shown that the average Facebook user needs to be engaged within the first 2.3 secs of a video of a news feed – videos that contain branded graphics and text break the ‘scroll-first’ mentality of mobile users on social platforms.

Combining custom fonts with square and vertical video editing means that Grabyo partners stay ahead of the curve with social video publishing. Accessed via the ‘Grab Live’ feature, select the 1:1 aspect ratio and hit the ‘Pad’ feature and then select the ‘Artwork overlay mode’ to begin adding branded text and graphics. Uploading custom templated graphics to each clip creates a strong visual brand association with the content.

This release in another improvement in video workflow efficiency for partners who use Grabyo as an end to end video production, editing and distribution platform for their digital and social video needs. At a time when being able to deliver real-time content is vital to distribution, engagement and consumption, removing the need to export video into third-party software means users can publish real-time branded clips with text overlays in seconds.

To add a custom font to your account for immediate use, please email ops@grabyo.com.

Grabyo adds crop and pad!

Grabyo is delighted to announce the addition of crop and pad to our video editing and live clipping capabilities.

Our latest release means Grabyo partners have the functionality to maximize video engagement in social feeds – by adding graphics and text overlays to a horizontal video in square format.

With Facebook nearing two billion monthly users and the growth in video on social platforms accelerating, the need to create engaging and stand out content is now more important than ever. Videos that utilize crop and pad have the ability to break the ‘scroll-first’ mentality of mobile users across social platforms – adding vivid text and graphics alongside video content disrupts viewers’ news feeds – creating the thumb-stopping moments needed to drive maximum engagement.

The new feature works by taking a regular 16:9 (horizontal) video and “padding” at the top and bottom of the video with black space. Crop and pad allows users to add custom overlays and text to create engaging ‘on brand’ video optimized for social, with strong visual calls-to-action which stand out in social feeds.

This feature is integrated into Grabyo Studio within the live editing suite – accessed via ‘Grab Live’ feature. Select the 1:1 aspect ratio and hit the ‘Pad’ feature and then select the ‘Artwork overlay mode’ to begin adding text and custom graphics. Grabyo partners can upload custom templated graphics to each clip.

This feature is great for rights holders and broadcasters who are looking to stay ahead of social video trends and increase discoverability and engagement of video content. Our crop and pad functionality will soon evolve to support custom fonts, branding, customer-defined templates and the ability to create graphics and make copy changes in real-time.

The Grabyo platform continues to help Grabyo today.

Grabyo partner Formula E makes eSport history

Grabyo partner Formula E combined sports and live eSport to make history this weekend in Las Vegas.

The innovative motorsport company headed to Nevada for the inaugural Las Vegas eRace, bringing together 20 professional Formula E drivers to race against 10 eSports fanatics for a chance to win a share of the staggering $1 million prize pot.

Formula E used Grabyo during the weekend to distribute real-time highlights and clips from the breathtaking eRace to multiple social pages and channels, complementing its live stream to Twitch. Formula E is able to increase the awareness and profile of its races through social video distribution, continuing to grow an engaged audience for the emerging sport.

This unique event combining professional drivers with the best digital racers combined with the prize on offer is a testament to the growth of eSports and Formula E. The lowest placed finisher was guaranteed $20,000 with the winner picking up the $200,000 eRace record-breaking prize.

eSports continue to grow in popularity, recently selling out the iconic Madison Square Garden venue in New York for the League of Legends World Championship Semifinals. The global eSports business is now worth $892 million and should exceed $1 billion later this year.

Gamer Bono Huis eventually came out on top to secure the $200k prize for first place, after on-the-road winner Olli Pahkala was handed a 12-second penalty for a technical glitch which had given him an unfair FanBoost advantage.

“This first eRace in Las Vegas was a great success,” commented Formula E founder and CEO Alejandro Agag.

“It’s exciting to have brought Formula E into the inner sanctum of CES – the biggest and most influential technology show in the world. I think this can be the first step towards a big future for Formula E in eSports racing.”

“We will continue to pursue new and innovative ways to improve our presence in this fast-growing landscape, whilst maintaining fan engagement at the forefront of all our initiatives.”

Grabyo is delighted to be involved in the growth of Formula E and eSports. Grabyo is designed with simplicity and speed at its core and built for the demands of live sports. The lightweight platform empowers rights holders and publishers to be first to market with content, activate vast digital audiences and generate complementary new revenue streams.

See how Grabyo can transform your digital and social video distribution and production in 2017 – try Grabyo today.

Facebook brings video monetization at scale: the launch of mid-roll ads and revenue share for publishers

The rapid growth of social video in 2016 saw it become the most valuable format for brands, publishers and rights holders to drive engagement, reach and tune in – 2017 will see this content develop into a key revenue stream for publishers.

Facebook is testing the introduction of ‘mid-roll’ adverts with its video content, inserting an advertiser’s clip in the middle of a video instead of up front (pre-roll) or at the end (post-roll). This much-needed step towards monetizing social video will launch soon according to a report from Recode, with the ad revenue split 55:45 in favor of publishers.

Currently, rights holders and publishers have limited options to generate significant income from video shared to Facebook.  The addition of branded content in 2016 was welcomed by many after the challenges of its “Suggested Videos” program, but scalable options for direct monetization have not been available until now.

Facebook mid-roll ads will give video publishers the chance to insert adverts into their videos after people have watched them for at least 20 seconds, presenting a new opportunity for broadcasters, rights holders and publishers to monetize their social video content.

Facebook branded video

Facebook currently serves over 100 million hours of video each day and is actively looking at ways to increase video discovery and engagement within the platform. Last year it was reported Facebook was testing similar mid-roll ads with Facebook Live.

The upcoming changes will favor brands and publishers that can quickly deliver longer, more engaging video content – it will also enhance the value of live programming which drives higher engagement per user and long watch times. As a result, the speed of social video production and distribution will become increasingly important as publishers look to take advantage of these new advertising revenue streams.

Grabyo is the video platform built for live, social and mobile. The cloud-based platform removes the traditional complexities of professional video production and distribution, empowering rights owners to be first to market with content and generate complementary new revenue streams.  Grabyo is proven at scale with the largest rights holders and live TV broadcasters globally including Universal Music, La Liga, The English Premier League and Wimbledon.

As Facebook continue to move towards the commercialization of video on its platform, now is the perfect time to try Grabyo.

Real time ads for Facebook Live

In a bid to extend reach and monetize its rapidly growing live video service, Facebook is now testing the use of real-time ads for Facebook Live, enabling broadcasters to drive more traffic to their live streams.

Since the public launch of Facebook Live in April, Facebook has bet big on the platform’s success and with more publishers and broadcasters using live video to share real-time stories and connect with their audiences, this was an inevitable step towards monetization and guaranteed reach for partners.

Benefit Cosmetics ran boosted posts from September 19 to September 25 for a live video called “Brow Hour” that aired on August 23. The campaign performed much better than other Facebook Live videos from the company, garnering a million reach, 392,000 engagements and 389,000 views.

New steps towards Facebook Live monetization

This update will allow brands and publishers to run adverts directly to users’ newsfeeds to alert them of an ongoing live broadcast with a push for them to join the live stream. Working in a similar way to a boosted post, brands and publishers will now be able to buy distribution on Facebook to have their live stream pushed to a targeted audience.

This is the latest in a string of updates to Facebook Live. Earlier this month the company released the ability for Facebook Pages to schedule the release of a live broadcast. With this new feature, audiences are placed in a pre-broadcast lobby, allowing viewers to interact and leave comments before the broadcast begins.

Facebook has also tested the use of in-stream ads within live video broadcasts. Unlike YouTube which is prominent in the use pre-roll ads, Facebook wants to integrate live ads that appear five minutes into a broadcast and last for 15 seconds, in an attempt to maintain the viewer experience.

Facebook’s current ability to run branded video content across live streams and real-time VOD clips is fully integrated with Grabyo Studio. Rights-holders and broadcasters can upload assets into Grabyo Studio from their sponsors and create stunning visual overlays to be displayed on Facebook and Twitter.

With all signs pointing towards the imminent monetization of Facebook Live, now is the perfect time to Try Grabyo.