AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Video platform leader uStudio today announced new capabilities for businesses using Facebook to share video, including easier, drag-and-drop distribution to Facebook’s native player, as well as the first toolset for creating and publishing Facebook video embeds with fully custom, interactive experiences -- transforming video from simple viewing to two-way audience engagements.

“Facebook continues to demonstrate leadership in video, offering a wealth of new opportunities for businesses to create unforgettable, interactive video experiences that bring people closer to the brands they love,” said Jen Grogono, CEO of uStudio. “We’re pleased to work with the Facebook video team to provide new capabilities that increase adoption of Facebook video while helping businesses convert attention to action.”

Utilizing Facebook’s new Embedded Video Player API, uStudio’s patented platform and HTML5 interactive player framework allow companies to “wrap” native Facebook players with custom features that travel with the video anywhere it’s embedded. These features can include optional links for e-commerce purchases, access to related content, polls or surveys, authentication, and the ability to annotate and upload videos, as well as share them across custom channels — all of which have proven to increase user engagement and activity around video content and create additional value for businesses.

Examples of interactive Facebook video embeds using uStudio can be seen at https://ustudio.com/blog/interactive-facebook-players/ including an event promotion and registration theme for CES 2016 and an email subscription and ticket commerce theme for Interscope Records featuring the Selena Gomez Victoria’s Secret video for “Hands to Myself.”

“As we’ve demonstrated in recent years at CES, video content is an excellent means of delivering a glimpse of the magic, wonder, energy and promise of consumer technology, and CES itself, to a global audience,” said Jeff Joseph, senior vice president, communications and strategic partnerships, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, the owner and producer of CES. “Publishing our CES 2016 videos directly into Facebook gives us the opportunity to build momentum and excitement even faster – an important tool in the lightning fast world of tech innovation and a way to help us drive registration and exhibit sales. We believe uStudio’s integration with Facebook will bring consumers even closer to the CTA and CES brands, helping us reach a deeper audience of stakeholders throughout the year. The additional interactive features will allow our Facebook fans to be even more engaged than ever with the show, and we’re excited to be among the first organizations to use this new technology.”

In addition to interactivity and customization, uStudio’s Facebook integration ensures customers no longer have to copy and paste video URLs into Facebook pages and posts. Instead, they can publish video directly to Facebook’s native player for easier sharing on Walls, Pages and Groups, taking advantage of the company’s many ad-related and targeting features.