Those marketers who are already using reel ads to expand the reach of the audience or are looking for more opportunities in the same, should be aware of some important updates about Reels Ads on Meta.

Let’s get started with a few updates.

Why Reel ads are a better placement for advertisers to explore?

If you aren’t already using Reels ads, you should look forward to using it before it becomes oversaturated. Reels has a potential advertising audience of approximately 1.5 billion people within Facebook and Instagram. However, the Facebook and Instagram Reels are popular among audiences but for marketers reels are underutilized.

For instance, in 2022, Reels accounted for only 3% of Facebook ad impressions.

Lately, Meta has realized new Reels locations, editing tools, and customization possibilities for both Facebook and Instagram ads since 2022. These new tools are beneficial to marketers especially those who wish to optimize their Reels ads, as well as content creators who are looking to monetise their short-form video content.

You have plenty of opportunity to produce high-performing advertising across these short-form video feeds on Facebook and Instagram because you can also utilize Meta’s AI-driven Advantage+ Creative suite to improve Reels ads. Below, we’ll go over all of the new Reels ad capabilities and walk through a workflow for tweaking and optimizing these creatives so you can reach individuals who are scrolling through the Reels tab.

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#1: How to use Reels ads best for App promotion

Whether you want to encourage your target audience to download your app or boost in-app purchases, Reels are a potential format now that supports such advertising goals. To make a Reels ad for your app, visit Ads Manager and create a new campaign with the App Promotion objective.

To utilize Meta’s AI-powered campaign setup completely, select Advantage+ App Campaigns as the type. If you want more control over the process, choose App Ads to set up the campaign manually.

For this example, we’ll look at Advantage+ App Campaigns.

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Select Advantage+ App Campaign Settings

When you choose the AI-powered campaign option, most of the parameters are already in place. In other circumstances, there will be no option to select settings at all.

You can’t choose placements manually because the campaign type uses Advantage+ Placements automatically. This campaign type does not provide audience targeting settings other than geography and language.

However, at the ad set level, you must select the app you wish to promote. You can also change the optimization target to maximize the likelihood that the campaign will produce the desired results.

Optimize the Short-Form Video Creative once uploaded

Click to submit a video or choose one from your account’s creative library at the ad level. Although you can reuse creative across placements, doing so means you’re missing out on a lot of optimization chances. Instead of selecting a single video and risking it not displaying effectively across multiple spots, manually edit the creative here.

You can choose a different aspect ratio or crop the creative manually under each group of placements. I usually replace the creative for each set of placements completely by uploading an adequately sized creative to each group.

After you’ve chosen your creatives, you can make minor changes to each placement. Expand the drop-down menu to see all of the placement options, then modify with the pencil symbol to the right.

If you wish to use alternative creatives for Reels and Stories, or for Instagram and Facebook, you may do so here. For example, you may access the Facebook Reels placement and totally modify the content or make minor modifications like as adding captions or adjusting the thumbnail.

Then, look through the previews to confirm that the creative appears correctly in all placements. When you begin the campaign, you’ll be able to review results from each placement in the Reels feed using Ads Manager’s placement breakdown.

#2: How to Create Ads on Instagram Reels

 on Instagram Reels aren’t new; marketers have had the ability to promote content in the Reels feed since 2022. Ads on Instagram Reels, on the other hand, are brand new as of June 2023. They’re a near-exact duplicate of Facebook’s ad placement, which currently supports ads on Reels.

If you want to recreate your success with Facebook Reels or if you’re seeking for a new way to target Instagram Reels viewers, this new alternative appears intriguing. Let’s go over how to set up this ad structure.

Compatibility of Campaign and Ad Set options must match

Every campaign objective in ads Manager is compatible with Instagram Reel . Certain ad set-level options, however, are incompatible with this placement. It does not, for example, work with phone call conversion locations or on-ad engagement.

You can ensure that your ad will appear on Instagram Reels by first selecting the relevant campaign and ad set parameters. Select Manual Placements at the ad set level to validate that the Ads on Instagram Reels placement is enabled.

Select suitable Ad Creative for Instagram Reels

Upload a creative at the ad level. I recommend following the approach we discussed earlier to select a different creative for each group of placements. You’ll have less individual modifications to do later this way.

If you choose to upload video assets for all placements, the creative will appear correctly everywhere except the Ads on Instagram Reels placement. Because this location does not accept video assets, click the pencil symbol to edit it separately.

Then, select a relevant image to upload and, if necessary, use Ads Manager’s built-in cropping capabilities. Ads appear as a square on Instagram Reels, so clip your creative to this aspect ratio manually.

It’s also worth noting that adverts on Instagram and Facebook Reels are extremely small, typically appearing at the bottom of the screen. Use an eye-catching image to make this placement work for your company, keeping in mind that cluttered graphics and text overlays may not be legible.

Although advertising on Facebook and Instagram Reels appear identical to viewers in the Reels feed, the creative criteria for advertisers are not the same. Instagram Reel must use picture assets, whereas Facebook Reel ads must use video assets.

This is because Ads Manager utilizes the same creative for Facebook Reels and ads on Facebook post-loop Reels. That creative should ideally be a vertical short-form video.

Customize Ad Copy for Instagram Reels

Because Instagram Reel ads have such a restricted amount of space, they work best with short ad wording. The copy you write in the primary text field appears here automatically, but it’s a good idea to adapt it for this placement.

Limit the ad copy to 40 characters. If it continues on for too long, it will be immediately shut off with a See More link. To get your message through more effectively, make sure it appears in its whole on Instagram Reels.

#3: Choose Music for Ads on Instagram Reel

Since 2022, Meta has allowed advertisers to include music in their Instagram and Facebook advertising. This feature, which is part of Ads Manager’s AI-driven Advantage+ suite, allows advertisers to enable an automated selection of royalty-free music from Meta’s Sound Collection. Automatic music selection is no longer your only option as of June 2023. When creating Reel ads, you can now select both the track and the time. The only catch is that this feature is presently only accessible for single image Reel advertising, not video creatives.

Add an Audio Track

Upload creative assets for each placement group and access the Advantage+ Creative tools to use this functionality. Uncheck the Automatically Apply Music option on the Music tab.

Then choose a song and press the Play button. An interactive slider will display above the commercial preview, allowing you to select which part of the track plays with the ad. You can select up to five tracks in total, customizing the timing for each to perfectly fit the ad.

Although the audio tracks you’ve added to your Facebook page or Instagram account favorites aren’t displayed in Ads Manager, you may view the list via the Instagram or Facebook app. Then, under Ads Manager, utilize the search box to identify and apply tracks that you’ve already chosen as appropriate fit for your business.

This music selection, as of June 2023, includes pieces for six placements, including Facebook and Instagram Reels. It also adds your chosen music to your Instagram stories, Facebook video feeds, and Facebook mobile feed. Because you can’t change the music for each placement, choose a Meta Sound Collection track that will likely work for all of them.

Add music and voice over layer

If you intend to utilize a video asset for Reels , you will most likely be unable to add music automatically in Manager. You must instead add audio to the video before publishing it to Ads Manager.

Make sure to optimize the audio mix before adding a video component to a Reels ad. According to a MetrixLab study commissioned by Meta, Reels commercials with both music and a voiceover had a 15-point higher average favorable response score than ads without sound.

#4: How to optimize and make Creatives fit for Reels Ads

It’s a good idea to know your editing and optimization options before you begin, whether you’re aiming to advertise on Instagram Reels, in the Facebook Reels feed, or in all potential Reels placements. You can leverage all available possibilities to increase creative effectiveness using Ads Manager’s manual and AI-powered capabilities. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequent Reels ad alternatives.

You can also use the easy and simple to use boost Instagram Reels feature.

Toggle on Advantage+ Creative

Turning on Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+ Creative package is the simplest method to optimize creatives for Reels . When you upload a video creative, you usually just have one option: normal upgrades. If you turn off this option, you’ll normally see a message saying that campaigns with basic enhancements can achieve a 3% lower cost per result.

Once you enable the standard enhancements, Meta will automatically change the composition of your creative and the positioning of your text to appeal to each viewer. While these automated adjustments have been shown to boost performance, they can alter the design of your ad in unexpected ways.

Enabling standard upgrades, for example, allows Meta to adjust the aspect ratio of your creatives or display relevant labels (for example, “free shipping”) on the ad itself. Before deciding on the best technique, test your adverts with and without conventional upgrades. When you add an image asset to a Reels ad, you’ll usually find standard upgrades along with three or four extra alternatives.

Toggle the All Optimizations option to enable them all at once, or review each one individually. The image brightness and contrast settings might help your ad look better without making drastic adjustments. If you want to make images stand out in the Reels feed without changing the ad, this is a fantastic approach.

When movement is expected to improve outcomes, the 3D animation setting automatically adds it to your creative. Although this setting only works for a few spots, it’s a good way to make photos appear more dynamic in the Reels feed.

Manually Optimize Creatives for Reels

In most circumstances, you’ll want to use a third-party video editing program to create ad-ready creatives. However, if you need to make minor adjustments or want to test them, you can do so directly in Ads Manager.

Click to adjust the Facebook or Instagram Reels placement after submitting a video creative at the ad level. Select Text Overlay to insert a copy on the ad itself. You can add up to five separate text overlays, each with a different start and finish time. You can match the look to your brand by selecting from a limited palette of fonts and colors.

Ads Manager also allows you to use logos in your video creatives. Keep in note that the profile and handle of your account will also display on any Reels placements. However, adding a little extra visual branding can help with awareness, especially if you place the logo at the end of the video.

Edit AdCopy for Reels Placements

We discussed optimizing copy for Instagram Reels advertising earlier. It’s also vital to think about personalizing wording for various ad placements in the Reels feed. Ads Manager suggests limiting Reels ad copy to 125 characters, but your caption will be cut off much sooner. Aim for 75 characters or less for ads in the Instagram Reels feed. The threshold for the Facebook Reels feed is closer to 25 characters.

If you can’t fit the complete message into such a small space, start with a powerful hook. Select each Reels placement individually and enter the Primary Text tab to adjust ad copy. Then, utilize the preview to confirm that the copy displays appropriately.

Conclusion

With Meta’s new placements and creative options, Reels ads are more viable than ever for advertisers. Advertisers can take advantage of these new prospects and successfully use Reels to reach business goals by utilizing this format.