Meta’s NewFronts presentation on Thursday was Reely focused on AI.
(Please forgive me.)
But seriously, folks, Meta has three intertwined obsessions right now: short-form video, the creator economy and artificial intelligence.
The event was a hypefest for AI-powered ad products and creator tools, including several new features designed to bring ad spend more in line with organic engagement.
According to Meta, people reshare Reels on Facebook and Instagram 3.5 billion times every day. But video monetizes at a lower rate than other, more established surfaces, like the feed, where there’s way more ad inventory.
To be fair, there has been some improvement on the monetization front. Although Meta doesn’t break out its Reels revenue, the company told investors during a recent earnings call that, as of late last year, Reels has started to contribute to net revenue across its apps.
But there’s clearly still more runway for growth, which is why Meta is exceedingly keen to make it easier for advertisers to create Reels ads, boost ad performance and partner with creators on its platform.
Taking advantage of AI
One of the main barriers to Reels monetization is simply producing the ad creative itself.
Advertisers don’t need convincing that short-form vertical video is a core format – Snap paved that road a long time ago. But optimizing and iterating ad creative based on performance by format is a time-consuming process, said Alvin Bowles, VP of global business group.
“This is where generative AI can help,” Bowles said.
Meta will now allow advertisers to adjust the aspect ratio of images so they automatically fit within Facebook and Instagram Reels ads.
The feature is available within Advantage+, Meta’s platform for automated shopping campaigns, and is an expansion of existing generative AI capabilities it’s been experimenting with since last year.
On top of that, Meta is also souping up catalog ads, which is just the newish name for dynamic ads.
Catalog ads automatically serve personalized swipeable product recommendations to people based on their actions and interests. The imagery for these ads is pulled from a brand’s product catalog.
Previously, advertisers could only use static images in their catalog ads, but now they’ll be able to include video via Reels so the shopping and product discovery experience is more engaging.
To round out its ad updates, Meta will also now allow advertisers to include external links in Reminder ads for Reels on Instagram. As its name denotes, this format lets users set reminders for themselves about upcoming events or product launches.
Engagement drivers
But Meta is also weaving AI more tightly into the brand/creator relationship so it can act as a matchmaker.
Meta introduced a machine-learning-powered mechanism at NewFronts that recommends relevant creators for brands based on specific factors, such as the audience an advertiser is trying to reach.
Finding the right creator is a recipe for brand engagement, said Albi Pagenstert, head of brand marketing for BMW North America, speaking on stage during Meta’s NewFronts presentation.
BMW has a long-term partnership with a content creator and visual effects editor named Phil Cohen, who has nearly 1 million followers on Instagram and an offbeat, quirky visual style.
Cohen’s videos (like this one) are very different from the traditional glossy footage auto brands produce of sleek cars whipping around curved roads against a backdrop of lush scenery – and that’s a good thing.
“Where we have a real opportunity is with creative, snackable, short-form video content,” Pagenstert said. “That allows us to draw in a brand-new audience that wouldn’t otherwise perhaps even be considering a BMW at that time.”
It’s not enough, though, to produce cool-looking stuff and hope for virality. Brands also need to promote the heck out of their creator partnerships for the best results.
“I urge everyone to treat the short-form video format as one of the pillars of a go-to-market plan – and then put paid media behind it,” Pagenstert said. “The sort of engagement rate that you see from some of this content is quite remarkable, really.”
