Facebook Reels: Competition for TikTok comes to Germany

Facebook parent company Meta is attacking market leader TikTok with its short video format Facebook Reels. The service launches immediately in around 175 countries worldwide and offers content creators a unique monetization opportunity.

Facebook Reels launching in 175 countries

Meta announced in a press release that the Facebook Reels short video format is launching immediately in 175 countries. With this, the meta corporation publishes a strong competitor for market leader TikTok, which could only exceed the magic limit of one billion users at the end of 2021.

According to the company’s own statement, this is “Meta’s fastest growing content format”which has previously been tested in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Reels are integrated directly into the social network Facebook’s mobile apps and can be easily selected and published as a new post.

Previously recorded videos can be selected or new clips can be recorded. With a single click, audio, text, effects, subtitles or a timer can also be added to spice up the reels. After adding a description and selecting the audience (by default, Facebook Reels are shared publicly), the short videos can be published by clicking “Share Reel”.

Facebook Reels with monetization for content creators

Content creators are looking to Facebook Reels to open up new opportunities in terms of monetization, i.e. the ability to make financial gains. This includes, for example, the Reels Play bonus program. Participating creators will receive up to $35,000 per month, measured by the views of their reels. The program will be expanded to other countries and currencies in the coming months.

Using an overlay ad, content creators in the U.S., Canada and Mexico can already display ads in the form of banners, stickers and semi-transparent overlays at the bottom of a Facebook reel. Testing of the monetization features is expected to expand to nearly all participating countries by mid-March, according to the release.

Via advertising overlays (in-stream ads) and the Meta for Creators program, which is also available in Germany, the monetization functions for Facebook Reels are to be expanded even further in the future. In the coming weeks, the test of Facebook stars in Reels will also start.

Facebook Reels Features – The New Features

• Remix: Here, creators create their own video alongside an existing, publicly shared video on Facebook. The remix can thereby contain the entire video or only a part of the video of other Creators.
• 60-Second Reels: Reels that are up to 60 seconds long.
• Drafts: Created reels should soon be able to be saved as drafts so that they can be released at a later time.
• Video Clipping: A video clipping tool will also be launched in the coming months.

Creating and discovering reels in new places

In the coming weeks, Meta is also rolling out updates to make it easier to create and discover reels in new places:

• Reels in Stories: Reels can be shared in Stories on Facebook to maximize content reach. Additionally, Reels can be created from existing public Stories.
• Reels in Watch: Reels can be created and viewed directly through Facebook Watch.
• Top of Feed: A new label “Reels” is added to the top of the feed. This allows reels to be created and viewed with just a few clicks.
• Recommendations in Feed: We suggest reels from young and upcoming creators* that communities might enjoy.