As the holiday shopping rush looms, Meta has unveiled new features for its Reels ads, aiming to empower brands to better utilize this rapidly growing content platform.
- Collections Ads on Facebook Reels: After testing on both Instagram and Facebook since last year, Meta has now expanded Collections ads to Facebook Reels. Although not all brands will have immediate access, a broader rollout is anticipated soon. Notably, TikTok has a similar feature, positioning Meta in alignment with prevailing short-form video ad trends.
- Multi-Destination Reels Carousel Ads: Meta is experimenting with this feature, allowing brands to direct viewers to various product pages corresponding to each image in the ad display. This feature mirrors the Carousel Ads functionality on Instagram.
- “Swipe Left” Functionality: Added to both Facebook and Instagram Reels ads, this allows viewers to easily navigate and delve deeper into the products showcased in the ads. While this may necessitate some user behavior modification, it offers brands a seamless way to provide more information.
- Advantage+ Automation Solutions for Reels Ads: Several innovative solutions have been introduced:
- Creative Optimization: Brands will benefit from automated templates for Reels promotions, streamlining the creation of top-performing Reels content.
- Music Selection Tool: Now available to all iOS advertisers, this feature enables the automatic incorporation of free music tracks from Meta’s Sound Collection library, tailored to your ad.
These updates can be found in Meta’s evolving Advantage+ toolkit in Ads Manager, presenting novel ways to automate Reels promotional endeavors.
- Brand Suitability Controls & Verification: In collaboration with Zefr, Meta extends its brand suitability Inventory Filter control and third-party brand verification to Facebook and Instagram Reels. Initiated in March, this partnership enhances ad placement across Meta’s platforms.
To clarify, the Inventory filter ensures ads appear alongside suitable content, while third-party verification via Zefr offers transparency regarding content proximity to ads. This guarantees brands that their ads won’t appear adjacent to inappropriate content, now encompassing Reels placements.
Meta unveils new ad options for Facebook Reels for the upcoming holidays on 10 October 2023.
Implication for Marketers:
With Reels emerging as Meta’s most rapidly expanding content segment, brands should evaluate its potential for their promotional strategies. Recent data indicates users are spending more time on Facebook and Instagram. However, traditional posts are diminishing, with users increasingly drawn to Reels clips tailored to their preferences. To align with this behavioral evolution, brands should prioritize their Reels strategies.
