Apple’s ATT data privacy update had some pretty serious implications for Meta’s ad revenue. Estimates put the total loss at a whopping $10 billion of revenue, so it’s no surprise that the geeks have been working harder than ever on new ad products and new ways to keep advertisers interested.

New ad features

The latest raft of announcements includes several new updates, such as a new way to advertise on Reels, Meta Advantage Suite updates, an AI-power up for messaging and lead generation and some fresh ways to reach your audience on Instagram. Plus, there are some brand safety updates.

New audio makes for Reel-y good ads

Let’s kick off with the Reels update. Short-form video has become an incredibly important part of Meta’s ecosystem – in Q2 there was a 30% increase in the time people spent engaging with them on Insta and Facebook.

To make it easier for marketers to create Reels ads, Meta has rolled out the Meta Sound Collection – a library of free songs that can be added to Carousel Ads on Reels. 

Meta

“Businesses can select a song from our library or allow the app to automatically choose the best music for an ad based on its content.”

Post-loop ads to grab attention

Post-loop ads are designed to help “businesses better connect with customers through Reels on Facebook”. These are standalone, skippable ads that run four to 10 seconds after a Reel ends. 

Once the ad has finished, the original Reel plays again on a loop. These ads could be a great way to grab a customer’s attention while they’re already in the mood for engaging with videos.

Meta

“We’re also testing image carousel ads for Reels starting today. These horizontally-scrollable ads can include anywhere from two to 10 image ads and will be shown at the bottom of Facebook Reels content.”

Meta Advantage Suite suits us all

Meta Advantage Suite is quickly becoming an essential tool for marketers. Meta ran a test of 31 advertisers that showed the Advantage+ Shopping Campaign led to a 17% improvement in cost per acquisition and a 32% increase in return on ad spend.

Because of this success, Meta has suped-up Meta Advantage Suite to include something called Advantage custom audience. Advantage custom audience is an automated product that uses your Custom Audience to reach new and existing customers.

Meta

“This is similar to Lookalike audiences that find people who are likely to be interested in your business, except that Advantage custom audience goes beyond the 1%, 5% or 10% similarity ranges you are used to, while also prioritizing delivery of ads to people in your Custom Audience.”

Powered by AI

AI powers the whole shebang so helps improve the performance of campaigns with less manual input from marketers. Expanding the matching depth of Custom Audiences, especially now that personalised tracking information is harder to come by, could result in some exciting wins for marketers – especially around reach and response.

Click to Messenger ads beefed up

Talking about response, Meta has improved its Click to Messenger ads by leveraging the power of AI.

Meta says that it typically shows Click to Messenger ads to people who are likely to initiate a conversation with a business on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct.

“With this update, we’re introducing the ability for advertisers to run Click to Messenger ads which will reach the people who are most likely to make a purchase in a thread.”

The update also includes a new ad format for lead generation. Customers will be funnelled to Messenger or a form, depending on which one the customer is most likely to interact with. Meta claims that personalisation “is a great way to help lead generation advertisers acquire more leads, save time and, ultimately, reduce costs.”

To give Meta its due, the format could help brands reach people who are more likely to buy in-stream.

More brand safety… and a small Insta update

Meta is always working on ways to improve brand safety and has started testing an inventory filter for Facebook and Instagram Feed as well as a third-party verification solution for Facebook Feed with a company called Zefr.

And finally, Instagram has ramped up its ad offering ahead of the Christmas push with display ads in Explore feed, multi-advertiser ads and AR ads for Feed and Stories. That’s been covered in more detail in this SMK story.