Instagram Expands its Test of Reels Ads to More Regions

After testing them out in some regions over the past month, Instagram is now moving to expand Reels ads into more nations, as it looks to quickly build on the potential of the option.

As you can see here, much like TikTok ads, Reels ads appear between other Reels clips within your feed, and include a ‘Sponsored’ tag below the profile icon to denote that they’re part of a paid promotion. 

Instagram first launched Reels ads in India, Brazil, Germany and Australia late last month, and as reported by AdWeek, it’s now expanding them to brands in Canada, France, the UK and the US.

The move is part of the continued push to create a more sustainable Reels eco-system, which will ensure that creators get paid for their Reels efforts, and provide more value for Instagram in supporting and developing the option.

Instagram hasn’t shared any official numbers on Reels usage, but Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has noted that the option is growing “both in terms of how much people are sharing and how much people are consuming”. Instagram has also said that Reels has seen specific usage momentum in India, where TikTok was banned last June (and Reels was launched just days later) 

But it’s still a fair way behind TikTok, and with a recent report suggesting that users are now spending more time in TikTok than they are in either Facebook or Instagram, Facebook will no doubt remain focused on promoting Reels usage, as it looks to stop its users from migrating across, and getting sucked into the never-ending vortex of TikTok’s highly attuned video feed.

That could also see Instagram paying Reels creators to post unique content, similar to Snapchat’s Spotlight program, with this new notification card recently spotted in testing.

That could help Reels gain more momentum, and as it does, that will further incentivize more advertisers to also sign-up, and get their ads shown between Reels clips.

As such this new expansion makes sense, with Instagram essentially playing catch-up with TikTok and looking to make Reels a bigger consideration, in all respects.

Will that make it a relevant option for your brand? Until we have definitive usage stats, it’s hard to say, but with ad access expanding, you can likely expect Instagram to share some more insights on this front in the near future.