REELS FOR BUSINESS

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The Reels ads guide for building creative

that supercharges results
Supercharge your Reels ads by mastering the
creative essentials
Reels ads turn attention into action, supercharging business results. And when you build them the right
way — vertical video (9:16) with audio, in the safe zone — they’re even more powerful.
9:16 video ads with audio, in the safe zone, resulted in on average 34.5% lower CPA than image ads1
and 15% lower CPA than non-9:16 video ads without audio on Reels.2

1 Build in 9:16 video to make

your Reels ads captivating
Reels is a full-screen, immersive video format. To help your creative
feel at home here, consider leading with video and resizing it to 9:16.

Reels

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Learn how to crop your video to

9:16 in Meta Ads Manager
 2
Build for sound-on to
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make your Reels ads
entertaining

Audio — whether that’s music, voiceover or

sound effects — is a key driver of engagement
and entertainment on Reels.

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Reels ads with both music and voice-over achieved a 15-point

higher positive response score versus those without sound.3

Visit Meta’s Sound Collection to download

free audio that you can use in your creative

Or you can let Meta’s Advantage+

Creative tool in Ads Manager
automate your music selection
3 NO added sugar

Build in the safe zone so

your message is clear

To ensure your messaging isn’t overlapped by

the Reels user interface, keep the bottom 35%
of your ads free of key creative elements, text
and logos. Reels

39%
Reels ads that respected the safe zone had a 39% higher
click-through rate, on average, versus those that violated it.4 Organic classic
peanut butter

Learn more about what the safe zone

is and why it matters

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Use our safe zone checker templates on

desktop and mobile to check that your key
elements are within the Reels safe zone.
Desktop:

PPT PSD

Mobile:
Search for @thesafezonechecker on Instagram
to access a page where you check if your
messages are within the safe zone. Scroll to What’s your nut butter?
the effects icon (insert visual), click “Try it” and
upload your 9:16 video.
 Sooooo tasty!

Once you’ve mastered the creative

essentials, take your campaign to the
next level by building Reels ads in the
language of Reels.

There isn’t just one way to Reel.

Reels can be comedic, mesmerizing or But they do have one thing in common
thought provoking. They can surprise — and that’s a style of communicating
us, teach us something we didn’t know, that’s a little bit different. A style that’s
or introduce us to a brand or product we entertaining, digestible and relatable all at
haven’t met yet. once. We call it the “language of Reels.”

Adding creative that is built for Reels improves overall

campaign performance.

Adding 9:16 video creative with audio, in existing creative in direct response
the safe zone, with at least one additional campaigns led to a 16% improvement in
creative element (human presence, text CPA, 23% higher ROAS, 29% higher CVR
stickers, voice over, lo-fi content, or a and 11% higher reach across Reels, Feed,
‘hook’ in the first few seconds) to and Stories.5
CREATIVE ELEMENTS FOR SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF REELS

Make it entertaining Reels

Great Reels ads provoke an emotional response through a mix of music, visual
effects and storytelling. They can entertain us by sharing something useful, by
making us smile or by satisfying our curiosity.

Try this:
Many great Reels have a way of capturing our attention at the outset
and encouraging us to keep watching until the end. Experiment with
using those first few seconds to “nail the hook.”
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Reels creative that featured audio brand cues

showed a statistically significant higher average
positive response by 22 points than ads without
audio brand cues.6

Make it relatable Reels

Great Reels ads are relatable because they tell stories we recognize, feature
people who feel “like us” and use a visual tone and set of codes we know.

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Invite a connection by casting real people in your reel - whether that’s

creators or your own staff or customers.

+25% Based on a sample of 1.2M Reels ads, Reels ads with

a human presence in the creative (such as a face, Koro
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person, or child) had a 27% higher CTR than those

that did not.7

Make it digestible Reels

Great Reels ads respect the limited time their audiences have by being direct,
immediate and easy to understand. Focus on the pace of your reels to ensure
you’re capturing, maintaining and rewarding attention.

Try this:
Show and tell by combining audio and text. To reinforce ideas simply
and clearly, use both text and voice-over to strengthen key brand and
product takeaways. Text stickers are a great way to make sure you
land a strong call to action at the end of your reel. Magal Follow
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+11 pts Reels creative that featured text or text stickers

showed an +11-point statistically significant higher
average positive response score compared to reels
creative without text or text stickers.8
 Shop now

Leverage Meta Business Partners to

efficiently create effective Reels ads
From lightweight templates to full-scale production and working with creators,
Meta Business Partners offer end-to-end solutions for Reels on Instagram and
Facebook, so you can create quality campaigns at speed and scale.

In a recent study, we saw adding partner-enabled native Reels creative —

9:16 video with audio, in the safe zone — to a business-as-usual campaign
setup drove on average a 5% lower cost per acquisition and an 11% higher
conversion rate.9

Find the perfect partner for Reels templates and asset optimization

Sources: 1 Statistical global meta-analysis of 15 split tests of Reels-only campaigns where advertisers used a still image asset in one campaign and 9:16 video with sound on respecting safe
zones in another campaign. Advertiser verticals included eCommerce, Retail, and Consumer Packaged Goods and included small and medium businesses. This approach outperformed with
99.9% confidence. 2 Statistical global meta-analysis of 15 split tests of Reels-only campaigns where advertisers used a business as usual video asset in one campaign and 9:16 video with
sound on respecting safe zones asset in another campaign. Business as usual was defined as any video that was smaller than 9:16 and did not include audio. Advertiser verticals included
eCommerce, Retail, and Consumer Packaged Goods and included small and medium businesses. This approach directionally outperformed, with 70% confidence 3 Consumer Study by
MetrixLab (Meta-Comissioned online study of 10,000 people ages 18+; monthly active users are users who are active Instagram users in Q1 2022). Positive response score includes positive
responses like relevance, likeability, purchase intent, and authenticity. 4 A Meta analysis of placement-level results for ads associated with 58 global Brand Lift studies that were self-
identified as testing the addition of Reels as a placement to a current campaign strategy. Studies ran from June 2021 through March of 2022. An ad was determined to have violated the Reels
safety zone if any portion of overlaid text, brand identity, or product label was obscured by any portion of Reels user interface or persistent Camera icon. 5 Results are based on 10 lift studies
that were run from April 2023 to May 2023 by global advertisers from various verticals including Ecommerce, CPG, Retail, and Tech. Results are in comparison to campaigns with only BAU
creatives. 6 Consumer Study by MetrixLab. (Meta-Commissioned online study of 10,000 people in the US ages 18+; monthly active users who are active Instagram users in Q1 2022). Positive
response score includes positive responses like relevance, likeability, purchase intent, and authenticity. 7 Analysis of approximately 1.2M global Facebook and Instagram Reels Ads. Research
findings do not guarantee future results. 8 Consumer Study by MetrixLab. (Meta-Commissioned online study of 10,000 people in the US ages 18+; monthly active users who are active
Instagram users in Q1 2022). Positive response score includes positive responses like relevance, likeability, purchase intent, and authenticity. 9 Results from the meta-analysis of a series of 15 A/
B tests across verticals and global regions (DE, ES, ID, UK and US); n = 15 studies conducted 05/2022-04/2023. Test cell setup (Partner enabled creative on Reels placement with at least
30% campaign budget and business as usual non-9:16 creative across other placements).