On Tuesday, Meta announced that it’s testing several new generative AI tools, including one that can animate static images and turn them into full-blown video ads.
Another test involves adjusting the aspect ratio of a video by automatically generating the unseen pixels within every frame. That way, a video made for Facebook can be easily repurposed by advertisers for Instagram and vice versa. (Meta already has a similar expansion-style tool for static images.)
It’s no surprise that Meta’s going big on video and AI: As of Q1, people spend 60% of their time on Instagram and Facebook watching video content, including short-form Reels, longer-form video content and live content.
Meanwhile, according to Meta, advertisers see a 22% increase in ROI when they use AI features in Advantage+, Meta’s AI-powered ad platform for automated shopping campaigns.
Easing the burden
But a lot of advertisers – small businesses in particular – don’t have the time, money or editing skills to feed the video beast.
“Video usage is growing on our platform, and we expect it to continue rapidly growing,” said Tak Yan, VP of product management for monetization AI, at a press event during Advertising Week in NYC on Tuesday.
Yet “brands are telling us that it is much more challenging and resource intensive to produce video creative,” he said.
AI can help ease the burden of asset creation, which is why Meta’s been investing billions to boost its capabilities.
Brands speak
The effort appears to be working.
In September, more than 1 million advertisers using at least one of Meta’s generative AI ad tools to create a total of 15 million ads.
And as more advertisers and agencies tap into Meta’s generative AI ad tools, they share their feedback, which Meta uses to inform new features and product updates.
One big piece of feedback, Yan said, is that advertisers “are keen” for generative AI tools that better incorporate their brand’s particular voice and tone.
It doesn’t matter how easy it is to generate a video or an image if it doesn’t reflect a brand’s identity.
Earlier this year, Meta launched a new tool that lets advertisers generate multiple text and image variations, including through text prompts and automatically creating different image backgrounds based on text inputs. Meta also recently started testing logo uploads so its model can produce more brand-specific images.
“This is very consistent feedback we hear,” Yan said. “That’s why we have a big focus on this, and it’s something we continue to work on.”
Creator collabo
Another big focus for Meta is supporting creators – using AI-powered ad tools, of course.
“I think we’re coming into a new era now of creator and customer engagement, one that is fueled by the very powerful combination of AI and video,” said Nicola Mendelsohn, head of Meta’s global business group, also speaking at Tuesday’s press event.
Meta is testing a handful of new features that will make it easier for brands to collaborate with creators, including an option to add a creator testimonial to partnership ads, which is a format advertisers can use to amplify their content from a creator’s handle.
And advertisers can already start including creator content in their collection ads on Reels while displaying their brand’s handle directly alongside the creator’s handle.
Both formats are powered by Advantage+ catalog, which is a rebranded version of what used to be called dynamic ads.
Using AI to support creator/brand collaboration will help advertisers do more to customize and diversify their ad creative, Mendelsohn said.
“And it’ll help creators be part of an always-on strategy,” she added. “We’re seeing more and more that people are engaging with creators – that they want to hear from creators.”
Meta has already started slowly releasing its new video-focused generative AI features through the Advantage+ creative option within Ads Manager. They’ll roll out more broadly by early next year.
