Facebook unveiled something new for content today. 360º video. No, this is not a video shot with your phone while you spin in a circle. This is an immersive experience that allows you to “see” everything happening around you in the video. Star Wars is one of the partners Facebook is rolling this out through. Check out this video:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Immersive 360 ExperienceSpeed across the Jakku desert from Star Wars: The Force Awakens with this immersive 360 experience created exclusively for Facebook.

Posted by Star Wars on Wednesday, September 23, 2015

There are three ways this could completely change content marketing in our view.

Video becomes completely interactive
1. Videos done by brands right now ask just one thing of the viewer. To pay attention. 360º video now allows brands to have viewers EXPLORE what they have created. Hiding “easter eggs” throughout, encouraging viewers to watch (and re-watch) their video to find something or experience the video from a new point of view.
360º video unshackles creativity
1. When creators can actually DO more with video than just point the camera at something and roll, the bounds of what can be created expand. Giving creative people more latitude to create something usually results in something #badass. It’s why we move out of Michael’s way when he’s on fire. Both literally and figuratively.
360º video increases quality
1. When you unleash creativity, the quality of what’s created increases. This new tool allows brands to tell a fully immersive story with multiple things happening all around them at once. Imagine a tour of a haunted house with this…the possibilities are limited only by the level of creativity you bring.

What is done with this new tool will be exciting to watch. It won’t be something that takes over the world in the next year because of the cost of the technology associated with it, but it will push the boundaries of what brands are doing. What are your thoughts about 360º video and how it can be used for content marketing? Let us know in the comments.