Meta is officially expanding its short-form video feature
Reels to Facebook, which was originally launched for Instagram. Facebook Reels
will now be available in 150 more regions, with the new Reels icon at the top of
users’ Facebook feed.
With Facebook Reels, Meta intends to reach another 2.9
billion potential subscribers, which would be hugely profitable for the
company. Meta has started to focus on Reels more than any other feature on its
platforms. The functionality is constantly updated with new creative tools and
other options to keep the hype going, especially in competition with rival app
TikTok.
While Facebook Reels will work pretty much like Instagram Reels, they will include additional options of Remix, Drafts, and Video Clipping. The maximum duration of the videos will be 60 seconds, which aligns with Instagram’s Reels extension released last July. Moreover, users will be able to share publicly posted Reels to their Stories.
Even though Meta is more focused on short-form video content
on its platforms, it has not left behind the potential of its long-form video
content. The company recently launched a promo campaign ‘Storytelling Goes Here,’
dedicated to creators on Facebook who contribute to long-form video content.
According to Meta, “the campaign showcases video content
that reflects the diversity of high quality long-form videos on Facebook from
Creators, Publishers and Originals, and shares what a person may watch and
where they might see an in-stream video brand advertisement.”
The reason why the company is giving importance to long-form
video content along with Reels is because it plans to maximize monetization
potential from there. While short-form video content is trendier, it does not
offer monetization opportunities because attributing pre-roll or mid-roll ads
to specific clips is not possible; something that can be done through longer
videos.
The company is continuing to test further monetization options
through Reels as well, such as the expansion of the Reels Play bonus program
for top-performing clips and Stars tipping.
