Augmented reality is coming to Reels Ads and Facebook Stories, Meta announced. They’ve started this already with some advertisers, which offer a more immersive experience and AR filters when marketing to Meta’s audience, including its younger Gen Z users. The technology improves ads ranking by learning which ads are working and which are not and to better predict which ads are going to be most relevant.
AI has improved their Reels monetization efficiency, which was up over 30% on Instagram and over 40% on Facebook on a quarter-over-quarter basis.

One of the companies who were part of the beta testing, Sephora, was able to test AR Reels ads ahead of this launch, where it ran an ad that had users press their thumb to the screen to generate an “aura vibe” filter to help them pick the best-fitting fragrance and make a purchase. The company said over half of the ad’s audience was Gen Z users. In addition to the expansion of AR advertising, Meta announced features to make Reels Ads more interactive, including a test of a larger “call to action” button with additional advertiser information on Facebook and Instagram Reels ads. The button includes an ad thumbnail, headline, and additional business details, like the website URL, to help direct interested customers to click. Facebook users can also now pause a video ad and preview where the link would take them, potentially driving an increase in click- through rates for Reels Ads.

These changes are much needed for the Meta platform to reach the Gen Z demographic. With TikTok and Snapchat becoming the go-to platform for those under the age of 25, Meta had to focus on AI and Reels to improve the overall consumer experience.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/04/meta-pitches-augmented-reality-to-advertisers-with-new-ar-reels-ads-and-facebook-stories/