Facebook ‘Reels’ goes global as it tries to keep up with TikTok and attract creatives
Facebook has announced that it will be expanding the availability of its Reels for iOS and Android to more than 150 countries, widening the reach of its copycat TikTok feature.
The Reels feature was first introduced at the end of last year and the tech firm’s new strategy hopes to help creators earn money from their Reels through a direct monetisation option.
The announcement comes at a time where Facebook fights for market share as more and more young users are turning to Snapchat and TikTok.
The idea seems to be that the more appealing Facebook makes it for creators to create content, the more users the platform is likely to attract.
The company said that it will be testing Facebook Reels Overlay Ads to all creators in the US, Canada and Mexico, as well as more countries in the coming weeks.
“We’re 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. These non-interruptive ads enable creators to earn a portion of the ad revenue”, Meta-owned Facebook said.
The Reels Play bonus program is part of a $1bn creator investment scheme, which pays eligible creators up to $35,000 a month based on the views of their qualifying reels. The plan is to role this out to more countries in the coming months, encouraging users to post content.
As Facebook said in its announcement, video now accounts for almost half of the time people spend on Facebook and Instagram, and Reels is its fastest growing content format.
As part of the launch, it will be introducing new features such as 60-second Reels, and a new Remix tool – allowing creators to create new videos alongside existing reels on the platform.