At Advertising Week 2024, Meta unveiled a significant expansion of its advertising toolkit, focusing on video-driven engagement and generative AI solutions. With video content now accounting for 60% of user time on Facebook and Instagram, these updates provide a robust pathway for brands to elevate their campaigns and capture consumer attention more effectively.

The New Video Tab: A Gateway for Greater Engagement

Meta’s new dedicated Video Tab on Facebook is designed to enhance user experience by centralising Reels, long-form videos, and live streams in one convenient location. This change supports Meta’s commitment to providing advertisers with tools that harness AI-enabled ad delivery and ranking models. By curating an environment where users can easily discover a variety of video content, advertisers benefit from increased exposure and more targeted ad placements. This centralised approach enables brands to maximise user engagement through an assortment of ad formats, such as standalone video ads, carousel, in-stream, and overlay ads. This variety allows marketers to craft tailored content that aligns with user behaviour, boosting the potential for interactions that drive results.

Leveraging Generative AI for Better Ad Creation

Meta’s investment in generative AI is showing tangible success, with over 1 million advertisers using these tools and producing 15 million ads in a single month. Campaigns that integrate these AI-driven features report a 7.6% increase in conversion rates, showcasing how AI is reshaping advertising efficiency. Meta is now adding video-specific generative AI tools, including Video Expansion, which uses AI to extend video content by generating unseen pixels and adapting videos to various aspect ratios. This feature is a game-changer for businesses that need to adjust creative assets to fit the different viewing preferences of Facebook and Instagram users, offering an immersive experience without the need for extensive re-editing.

Transforming Static Content with Image Animation

A standout feature in Meta’s new suite is Image Animation, which converts static images into animated video content. This tool works based on text prompts, allowing brands to infuse movement and life into their existing image assets. The ability to animate still images gives marketers a cost-effective method to repurpose previously successful content and increase its engagement potential. Early adopters of this feature have reported positive outcomes, noting that animated ads maintain viewer interest for longer and provide a fresh twist on familiar campaigns. This functionality particularly benefits smaller businesses or advertisers with limited video production budgets, making dynamic video advertising accessible to a wider range of users.

Tapping Into the Power of Creators with Enhanced Partnership Ads

Creators are essential for modern advertising, bringing an authentic voice and trusted perspective that can significantly influence consumer behaviour. To leverage this, Meta has improved Partnership Ads to incorporate creator content more seamlessly into various ad formats. Advertisers can now use creator images or videos as “hero” assets in Collections Ads, showcasing products in a dual-header format that includes both the brand’s and creator’s handles. This combination has proven effective, as campaigns using creator-partnered content see a 19% decrease in Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) and an 11.8% boost in conversion rates.

The effectiveness of these new tools is evident in Lenovo’s recent campaign, which aimed to engage a broader gaming audience. By collaborating with creators like @astronuggie and @dailyalissa and incorporating Partnership Ads, Lenovo achieved outstanding results. The campaign resulted in a 22.4-point increase in brand awareness and an 8.3-point improvement in favourability, illustrating the significant impact creator-led content can have when integrated into Meta’s enhanced advertising framework. These results underline the potential for brands to amplify their campaigns by tapping into the authenticity and reach of trusted creators.

Streamlining Creator Collaborations with the Partnership Ads Hub

To support advertisers further, Meta introduced the Partnership Ads Hub within Ads Manager. This centralised resource simplifies the process of managing creator partnerships by consolidating tools for ad setup, performance tracking, and eligibility management. By streamlining these processes, brands can scale their influencer strategies without the administrative burden, enabling more seamless collaboration and better outcomes. This hub provides advertisers with a comprehensive overview of partner content, facilitating smoother workflows and ensuring campaigns run efficiently.

Preparing for a Video-First Future

Meta’s video-centric updates reinforce the platform’s recognition of current social media trends, where video remains the most engaging format. As video consumption continues to grow, tools like Video Expansion, Image Animation, and enhanced Partnership Ads empower brands to build immersive, authentic advertising experiences that capture audience attention. These tools, once fully rolled out, will offer businesses of all sizes new opportunities to craft engaging, visually appealing content that maximises the reach and impact of their campaigns. This shift signals a crucial opportunity for advertisers to harness the combined power of video and AI, staying ahead in a fast-evolving digital landscape.