Reels: Goal on the offensive

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Meta says reel views and engagement are growing steadily on both Facebook and Instagram.

Reels views across Facebook and Instagram have doubled in 2022, while “ the social component of people resharing Reels has grown even faster and has more than doubled across both apps in just the last six months ,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors during a call to discuss the company’s full-year results.

At the heart of the company’s Reels strategy are Meta’s massive investments in AI, designed to improve the user experience by boosting the recommendation system’s ability to serve users more relevant content. Analysts are confident that Reels engagement will continue to grow, and the product is likely to become a category leader.

Less exciting as a platform than it once was, Instagram nonetheless still has a loyal user base, even among Gen Z users and millennials. Notably, 80% of TikTok users also use Instagram, 77% YouTube and 82.5% Facebook.

Instagram's slightly larger audience also makes it the preferred platform for high-end and luxury brands due to its proven ability to engage audiences with higher purchasing power.

The challenge for Instagram is to integrate Reels and recommended content from accounts users don’t follow in a way that doesn’t devalue traditional content formats like photos and posts that users know and love.

Competing for the best creators
One thing all platforms have in common is that the algorithm needs to be fed. KOLs and creators who aspire to make a living from their social media activities must post content consistently or risk losing eyeballs. This applies to all platforms they maintain accounts on.

“ The biggest challenge has been staying consistent. If you take a break from content, the algorithm may not show your work to as many people when you decide to get back into a regular cadence ,” says American content creator @foodiesnitch .

To entice successful creators to stay on their platforms and continue posting regularly, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and others have developed creator funds or payment programs worth billions of dollars.

The most lucrative of these is the YouTube Partner Program , which gives creators a share of the advertising revenue featured on videos and has seen the platform pay creators $50 billion over the past three years. In 2021, for example, YouTube’s top creator Mr Beast earned $54 million from YouTube.

In a move that many experts believe could be decisive in the fight to attract short-form video content, YouTube has replicated the revenue-sharing program specifically for Shorts. Starting February 1, Shorts creators will receive a 45% cut of revenue from ads that appear alongside their videos.

In contrast, TikTok’s $1 billion creator fund has been heavily criticized by creators, as has its TikTok Pulse revenue-sharing model . TikTok creators with 100,000 followers recently reported receiving just $5 from the program.

Social rules
Instagram’s wide product offering – text posts, photos, shopping, video, etc. – develo vp safety email database ped over its years on the market gives it a natural advantage in the need to develop social interaction and engagement around content.

Along with YouTube, which is known for offering strong engagement rates , the two platforms have spent years developing sophisticated data analysis capabilities with which to woo advertisers. Both platforms offer a range of opportunities to develop and analyse influence, and the influence of advertising campaigns.

TikTok’s ability to deliver a massive audience gives it an edge in awareness campaigns . Its problem, however, is conversion; TikTok’s ability to prompt users to take action beyond viewing, liking, and commenting remains disappointing.

To address this shortfall, TikTok is betting on TikTok Shop to boost affiliate revenue and in-app conversion, and is busy introducing a number of features designed to introduce more sociality to the platform and offer sellers more opportunities.