Instagram is moving forward with expanding Reels ads, with the new format becoming available in all regions. According to Instagram: “After testing in selected countries, today we’re launching Reels ads worldwide. The Reels format is the best ad placement on Instagram, allowing you to reach people who don’t follow you, and an increasingly strong opportunity for brands and creators to build awareness. The ads will help businesses reach a larger audience, while giving people inspiring new content.” I mean, “the best place” probably sounds a bit like PR hype, but the key point is that this is an opportunity to reach your audience with Instagram ads, which offers significant potential, as Instagram continues to make Reels an increasingly important element of the social network. As you can see in the example above, the ads will appear in full-screen format and will play between individual Reels. “As with regular Reels, these ads will rotate and can be up to 30 seconds long. People can comment on them, like them, view them, save them and share them.”

Instagram Reels ads

It’s hard to say how effective the format will be, since it largely depends on the ad content you offer. For example, TikTok ads perform better when they look natural (organic), so users engage with them instead of skipping past them. Monetizing short-form videos is definitely difficult. Vine found that the hard way, no other platform has managed to integrate ads effectively into short-form video streams, because users can skip promotional messages extremely easily without the ability for them to be inserted in the middle of the stream or before playback.

Instagram probably hopes that this format will deliver positive results.

Instagram first launched Reels ads in India, Brazil, Germany, and Australia back in April, before expanding them to brands in Canada, France, the UK, and the US at the end of last month. The expansion is part of a broader push to monetize Reels, with a view to building a more sustainable ecosystem that will ideally ensure that Reels creators can be paid for their efforts.

It will take time to determine the true value of the new format

Instagram has not shared official usage data, but the company’s head Adam Mosseri noted that the option is growing “both in terms of how many people share and how many people consume.” There is a notable push in India, where TikTok was banned last June (and Reels launched just a few days later). This is a blow to TikTok after a recent report showed that users spend more time on TikTok than on Facebook or Instagram. Facebook will undoubtedly remain focused on encouraging Reels usage, as it needs to stop users from migrating to other platforms. With this ongoing pressure, Reels could make a good ad option, but the results themselves will vary and the format will likely evolve to some extent over time.

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