Meta has made clear it’s prioritizing its short-form TikTok competitor, Reels. So far, however, advertisers are not committing with much vigor.
In Meta’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Reels is one of the company’s investment priorities, emphasizing that the short videos will transform Facebook and Instagram and help the company grow.
But, according to six social marketers Adweek spoke with, advertisers aren’t making the same kind of investment. The majority are not devoting a significant portion of time and money to Reels, partly since it has failed to drive performance objectives, especially lower-funnel goals like sales and conversions.
“If someone has a limited budget, Reels would be one of the first things we remove from it,” said Tom Olivieri, group director of creative services at performance marketing agency Within.
That doesn’t mean Reels is useless. Marketers can drive significant levels of audience interaction, sometimes more than with other Instagram formats. Plus, the format has use cases in content marketing, brand awareness and building audiences for retargeting, sources said.
In Meta’s February earnings call, COO Sheryl Sandberg acknowledged that Reels monetized at a lower rate than in-feeds and Stories. Executives on the call emphasized that Meta has previously weathered big changes, like the introduction of Stories. Yet the company continues to double down on Reels. In late February, Instagram announced it would no longer support in-stream video ads and that it was shutting down its standalone IGTV app.
“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made and continue to build and improve the experience,” a Meta company spokesperson said. “As with all new ads products that we launch, gathering feedback is an important way to know that we are building the right experience for advertisers and users.”
