As Reels continues to grow across Facebook and Instagram (Meta’s Q4 earnings results revealed that Reels plays doubled over the last year), Meta has introduced new ways for businesses to connect with an audience and drive sales.

As it continues to evolve its video ecosystem, Meta has also announced that it will be winding down the In-Stream Reserve program by the end of 2023. It says it’s doing this because it believes it will help more companies take advantage of current best practices and help marketers improve campaign performance.

It’s interesting to note that In-Stream Auction products will remain untouched.

Turn organic content into ads – easily

As one product is retired, another comes into life as Meta makes it easier for advertisers to turn organic content into Reels Ads.

Previously advertisers had the option to boost Reels within Instagram to turn them into ads, but now images and video posts can be turned into ads via Ads Manager on Facebook Reels. Marketers will also have the option to add a call-to-action at the end of them.

But not all content qualifies

Eagle-eyed marketers will know that Meta first started working on this feature in 2022 over on Instagram. To be eligible for boosting on Insta, Reels must be less than 60 seconds long, produced in a 9:16 aspect ratio (vertical), and in full-screen format.

If your video uses any third-party IP such as copyrighted content, GIFs, stickers or even filters in a Reel, they are ineligible for boosting.

The feature provides advertisers with a quick and easy way to turn existing content into an advert but be warned that it does come with a few caveats first.

WhatsApp integration for Reels ads

Marketers looking to scale WhatsApp for business will be pleased to know that Meta is now making WhatsApp Conversion optimisation available on Facebook Reels Ads.

Meta

“Typically, we show Click to Messenger ads to people who are most likely to initiate a conversation with a business on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram.

With this update, advertisers who use the Sales, Engagement or Traffic objectives to add a “Send Message” button to their Facebook Reels ads will now give people an option to start a conversation in WhatsApp right from the ad.”

Click to WhatsApp ads feature a call-to-action button that opens up a thread with your business on WhatsApp when an interested viewer clicks on it. These types of ads can be placed on Facebook and Insta News Feed, Stories and Marketplace.

There are three types of ad groups available to marketers for WhatsApp Ads:

Pre-purchase

• Awareness ads introduce the product or business on Meta.
• Consideration ads drive users to a sales consultation experience.

Purchase

• Ad drivers users to purchase a product via WhatsApp.

Post-purchase

• Care ads drive users to a customer service experience, which can encourage future use.
• Loyalty ads show users special deals in WhatsApp.

To make the most of WhatsApp, you need to download the WhatsApp Business app or integrate with the WhatsApp Business API.

Next, connect your WhatsApp account to your Facebook Page – you’ll need to be the Page admin or connect your Whatsapp number to Business Manager.

You can then easily create ads in Ads Manager.

Other Reels ads innovations

Meta launched overlay ads and post-loop ads for Facebook Reels in 2022.

Overlay ads automatically render at the bottom of Reels content as a single static banner or image carousel. It appears at the start of a Reel.

Post-loop ads are four seconds or longer and are skippable video ads that show up after a Reel has finished.

Building on this, Meta is rolling out support for the Ads on Facebook Reels post engagement objective, which lets you measure interactions, like reactions, comments and likes, and compare them to engagement from other ads or campaigns. This means advertisers who have opted in can extend the reach of their campaigns to new audiences via Overlay and Post-Loop Ads.

Keeping with Meta’s growing messaging focus, Meta is further building out the Reels and Messenger integration.

Meta

“We’re developing products that make it easier for people to discover brands they love and directly connect with them via messaging.

To deepen this connection on Reels, we’re launching Click-to-Messenger Ads on Facebook Reels, enabling advertisers to extend the reach of their campaigns to new audiences with Ads on Reels.”

Meta claims that nearly half of its users have messaged a business after seeing their Reels. As more social interactions move to messaging, businesses would be wise to follow suit with their strategies in 2023 and beyond.