Meta launches Facebook Reels globally
After Reels launched in the US, “creators such as Kurt Tocci (and his cat, Zeus) shared original comedic skits, author and Bulletin writer Andrea Gibson offered a reading of their published poetry, Nigerian-American couple Ling and Lamb tried new foods and dancer and creator Niana Guerrero do trending dances, like the #ZooChallenge,” says a post on the meta newsroom.
According to the post, Reels is their fastest growing content with half of all time on Facebook and Instagram spent on watching videos.
“We’re focused on making Reels the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience and earn money. We also want to make it fun and easy for people to find and share relevant and entertaining content,” says the post.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Reels is now available in this coutnry as well as Malawi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, and Namibia. It is also available in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Burkina Faso as well as Nigeria, Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mali, Cameroon and the Seychelles.
More ways to earn money
The platform has also provided a number of different opportunities for creators to earn money for their reels.
The Reels Play bonus program is part of their $1 billion creator investment, pays eligible creators up to $35,000 a month based on the views of their qualifying reels. In the coming months, it is expected that the bonus program will be expanded to more countries.
Direct monetisation options comes from building on their deep experience in helping creators earn meaningful income from their monetisation products, such as in-stream ads and Stars, the platform is building direct monetisation options for Facebook Reels through ad revenue share and fan support.
Expanding tests of Facebook Reels Overlay Ads to all creators in the US, Canada and Mexico and to more countries in the coming weeks starting with two formats: banner ads that appear as a semi-transparent overlay at the bottom of a Facebook Reel, and sticker ads: a static image ad that can be placed by a creator anywhere within their reel. Any creator in the US, Canada and Mexico who is part of their in-stream ads program is automatically eligible to monetise their publicly-shared reels with ads.
By mid-March, these tests will expand to creators in nearly all countries where in-stream ads are available.
The platform is also launching brand suitability controls, including Publisher Lists, Blocklists, Inventory Filters and Delivery Reports for Banner and Sticker Ads in Facebook Reels in every region they are available, giving advertisers more control over how their ads appear in places they don’t consider suitable for their brand or campaign.
They have been testing full-screen and immersive ads in between Facebook Reels since October of last year, and will roll them out to more places around the world over the coming months. Just like with organic content on Facebook, people can comment, like, view, save, share and skip them.
The platform also announced more editing features
In addition to the features announced last year, creators around the world will be able to access:
- Remix: Create your own reel alongside an existing, publicly-shared reel on Facebook. When you create a Remix, you can create a reel that includes all or part of another creator’s reel.
- 60-second Reels: Make reels up to 60 seconds long.
- Drafts: You will soon be able to create a reel and choose to “Save As Draft” below the Save button.
- Video clipping: In the coming months, we’re planning to roll out video clipping tools that will make it easier for creators who publish live or long-form, recorded videos to test different formats.
Over the coming weeks, the following updates will be rolled out to make it easier to create and discover reels in new places.
- Reels in Stories: You can share public reels to Stories on Facebook, making it easy to share favourite reels with friends and giving creators more visibility and reach. You’ll also be able to create reels from existing public stories.
- Reels in Watch: You’ll be able to watch reels directly within the Watch tab and we’re developing tools to help you create reels in the Watch tab as well.
- Top of Feed: A new Reels label at the top of Feed so you can easily create and watch reels in just a few clicks.
- Suggested Reels in Feed: In select countries, reels that you may like in your Feed from people you do not already follow will be suggested
The platform is also exploring ways to make it easier for creators to share Reels to both their Facebook and Instagram audiences, such as crossposting.