Instagram ran an initial test with Reels ads and has now announced they are launching them worldwide.
There’s a lot of information to get into with this that we want you to be prepped on…
…so we’re covering everything there is to know right now about the new ad placement.
And today, we are talking about the long-awaited ads for Instagram Reels.
But if you’re unfamiliar with Reels or don’t understand how to use them yet, here’s a more complete guide on Instagram Reels that you can read next.
Let’s go ahead and jump right into Reels ads.
Takeaways
- As with regular Reels content, these ads will loop and can be up to 30 seconds.
- If we’ve said it once, we’ll say it a hundred times – any new feature that a social media app puts out usually gets you the best reach.
- Essentially, you’ll run into them in any place where you normally watch Reels content.
What Instagram Reels Ads Look Like
These are some screenshots that we’ve gotten so far. This one looks like an app install campaign.
The sound was muted on this one (since it’s a gif), but they did have a song playing in the background, in addition to everything you’re seeing here.
And when we tapped on Shop Now, it took us to their website.
So, just like all of the unsponsored Reels we’ve all been posting to date:
“Reels ads will be full screen and vertical, similar to ads in Stories, and will appear in between individual Reels.
As with regular Reels content, these ads will loop and can be up to 30 seconds. People can comment, like, view, save and share Reels ads.”
Where Can You Find These Type Of Ads?
All of the times that we have ran into Reels ads so far have happened when we’re scrolling through the Reels that we initially accessed from the explore page.
But Instagram says:
“Reels ads will appear in the most popular places to access Reels content. This includes the Reels tab, Reels in Stories, Reels in Explore and Reels in your feed.
Once a user taps into a reel from Stories, Feed, the Reels Tab or Explore, they will enter a viewer that exclusively shows reels that scroll vertically.”
So essentially, you’ll run into them in any place where you normally watch Reels content. And from our experience so far, it’s pretty seamless!
If you don’t notice the Sponsored text, you may not realize you’re watching an ad at first.
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In fact, according to the Instagram Chief Operating Officer:
“We see Reels as a great way for people to discover new content on Instagram, and so ads are a natural fit.
Brands of all sizes can take advantage of this new creative format in an environment where people are already being entertained.” – Justin Osofsky.
How To Create Instagram Reels Ads
So as of now, they’re having you promote Reels through Facebook Ads Manager.
So if you’re not familiar with Facebook Ads Manager, here’s our tutorial on how to use Facebook ads for beginners that you can read next.
But essentially, you should be able to:
- Go to placements in the ad set level.
- Select manual placements.
- Select the Instagram Stories dropdown,
- Select Instagram Reels.
You’ll have to choose from one of these campaigns in order to select the Instagram Reels placement.
And speaking of IG Stories, if you want to learn more about using how to use Instagram Stories to promote your business, then check out this post later.
Now at the time that we’re writing this post, we, at LYFE Marketing, do not currently have the IG Reels placement as an option yet!
Even though Instagram has said it’s available to all of these countries, including the United States.
So we’re hoping it shows up soon, as it seems like they’re still in the process of rolling this out.
We might now have access to it by the time you’re reading this post.
How Can Reels Ads Benefit Your Business?
Now the last thing we want to talk about is why or how Reels ads could be beneficial for you as a business.
Like we said earlier, the integration of it right now is seamless.
It doesn’t terribly disrupt the users’ experience, as it kind of fits right in with other Reels as you’re scrolling.
And if you read any of our posts on Instagram marketing or Reels in the past…
…then you know that Reels have been a huge driver of reach for us and many other businesses.
We mean, look at the screenshot below. In the last 30 days, Reels have been responsible for driving up our IG reach by over 45K.
And the majority of those are not even existing followers!
So that’s awesome for helping you spread more awareness for your brand.
If we’ve said it once, we’ll say it a hundred times – any new feature that a social media app puts out usually gets you the best reach.
That’s because the app wants people to use it, and the algorithm hasn’t usually had enough time to work it into the fold yet.
So we say all that because we predict that Reels ads will have a similar impact.
We think we’re going to see lower costs per result with this ad placement.
And the lower the cost, the cheaper you can move someone along through your marketing funnel – be it top or bottom of the funnel.
Final Takeaways
And that’s all we have for you today. If you want to be ahead of the competition, we can help you out!
We offer affordable short video advertising services, as well as social media management services for small businesses like yours.
Book a meeting here. Take advantage of it today!
