You are the PM for Facebook Live. What are your priorities?
Product Strategy: Meta Product Manager Interview Answer - You are the PM for Facebook Live. What are your priorities?
To answer this, I’ll use a structured product strategy framework covering:
Clarify the Problem
Define Goals & Success Metrics
User Segmentation
Competitive Landscape
Key Priority Areas
Creator Adoption & Retention
Viewer Engagement
Monetization
Content Quality & Safety
Platform Performance
Roadmap & Tradeoffs
Risks & Mitigation
Summary
1. Ask Clarifying Questions
Before diving into solutions, I'd like to ask a few clarifying questions to ensure I'm focusing correctly:
1. Are we focusing on creators, viewers, or both?
Interviewer: Let’s focus on both. Creators are essential for content generation and engagement, while viewers are the primary consumers we want to retain and grow.
2. Are we optimizing for engagement, growth, monetization, or infrastructure?
Interviewer: Our top priority is increasing engagement and retention on Facebook Live. Monetization is important, but only if it supports engagement goals.
3. Are we focused on a particular geography or demographic?
Interviewer: Yes. Let’s focus on young users (18–30) in emerging markets like India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America where Live usage is growing and competition is rising.
4. Are there key constraints to consider? (e.g., privacy, competition, policy, platform parity)
Interviewer: Yes, please keep in mind:
Policy and safety issues around live content moderation.
Competition from TikTok Live and YouTube Live.
A need for feature parity across Android and iOS.
Budget limitations — we need to prioritize high ROI efforts.
5. What is the current baseline usage or engagement with Facebook Live?
Interviewer: Assume it’s a mature but under-leveraged product. Growth has plateaued slightly, especially in mature markets.
2. Define Goals & Success Metrics
Before proposing solutions, it’s critical to define what success looks like. This ensures that any ideas we propose are aligned with our business objectives and user needs.
1. Increase Active Usage of Facebook Live : Drive more people to either create or watch Live streams.
2. Grow Creator Adoption & Retention : Make Facebook Live attractive for creators and ensure creators see value from going live consistently.
3. Maximize Viewer Engagement : Make streams more interactive and “sticky.”
4. Increase Monetization Opportunities : Leverage direct fan-to-creator revenue and improve ad formats (e.g. pre-roll, mid-roll, sponsored Live events).
📊 Key Success Metrics
Here’s how we might measure success against those goals:
Engagement & Usage Metrics
# of Live streams per day/week :
Tracks how many creators are going live.# of Live viewers per day/week :
Total unique viewers watching Live content.Avg watch time per stream :
Measures depth of engagement; higher time = better content or features.
Creator Metrics
Creator retention rate
% : of creators who stream again after 1st or 2nd Live session.Avg number of Live sessions per creator per week :
Measures how frequently creators are using the tool.Net Promoter Score (NPS)
orSatisfaction ratings :
From creators regarding tools, reach, and monetization.
Monetization Metrics
Stars sent per stream
orper DAU :
Direct measure of user-to-creator revenue.Total revenue per stream :
Including ads, Stars, subscriptions.Number of monetized streams :
How many streams earn some revenue.
In this case, the north star metric might be a composite engagement score for Live (e.g., “total minutes watched per day”) along with monetization per active user.
3. List of User Segments
Segmenting users allows us to tailor product decisions based on different motivations, behaviors, and value to the platform. For Facebook Live, the user base can be divided into creators and viewers, with further segmentation under each.
Creators:
Viewers:
Note: Creators and viewers are often the same people. Facebook can encourage creator adoption by converting engaged viewers into first-time streamers.
4. Competitive Landscape
Understanding what competitors are doing helps identify trends, gaps, and differentiators for Facebook Live. Here’s a snapshot of the competitive landscape across key players in the live-streaming space:
Direct Competitors:
YouTube Live : Strong creator ecosystem, monetization (ads, SuperChat, memberships), high video quality.
Instagram Live : Lightweight, built-in audience, mobile-first, strong with Gen Z.
TikTok Live : Highly interactive (gifts, comments), strong for entertainment and influencers.
Vertical Players:
Twitch : Gaming, strong community, subscriptions & Bits.
LinkedIn Live : Professional webinars, thought leadership.
5. Key Priorities
Here's a detailed breakdown of the Key Priority Areas for Facebook Live, organized into five core themes that balance creator needs, viewer engagement, monetization, platform integrity, and technical performance: