Meta has shared some new tips on how brands can maximize the performance of their Reels, based on research conducted by Toluna, which looked at a broad range of brand-originated content.

Based on this analysis, Meta has shared 5 key strategies for brand building via Reels, and 6 strategies for direct response. And given that Reels are now driving virtually all of the engagement gains on Facebook and Instagram, these notes could be very valuable for your planning.

As explained per Meta:

“With over 50% of time spent on Instagram on Reels and video time spent on Instagram up more than 30% since last year, Reels have revolutionized the way we consume content, offering a unique blend of entertainment, education, and inspiration. But as marketers, we need to think beyond the basics of ‘making a good ad’ and instead focus on crafting experiences that resonate with our audiences.”

First up, for brand advertisers, Meta offers these 5 tips:

As you can see in the above overview, Meta’s key tips are:

• State your case early - Showing both the brand and main message early in the creative (within the first 5 seconds) makes it 1.7x more likely to rank in the top 20%3 for purchase intent.
• Dynamic branding - Creatives that display the brand more than once (in different scenes or positions) are 1.8x more likely to rank in the top 20% for purchase intent.
• Leverage speech and music together - Using both speech and music in your creative increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for brand interest by 2.0x.
• Say it out loud - Delivering the message through both audio and visual cues increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for brand interest by 1.8x.
• Slice of life - Featuring scenes of people engaging in everyday activities increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for purchase intent by 1.5x.

So branding, capturing attention with your message, and including people in your content will help to drive better response.

For direct response advertisers, Meta has 6 tips:

• Product is king - Showing the product more than once makes it 2.7x more likely to rank in the top 20% for purchase intent.
• Support your product with brand - Featuring the brand, but not more than 25% of the creative duration, increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for purchase intent by 4.8x.
• Tell your story - Adding additional context, such as USPs or features, to support the main message increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for purchase intent by 5.3x.
• Use a CTA - Including a call to action (CTA) visually and/or through audio increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for purchase intent by 1.9x.
• Leverage speech and music together - Similar to brand creatives, using both speech and music in DR creatives increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for purchase intent by 2.1x
• Experiment with native elements - Using emojis as a native element makes creatives 2.5x more likely to rank in the top 20% for purchase intent.

Some key notes on how to boost your Reels performance, while Meta has also included an extra tip not listed in the above overview:

• Adopting creatives with a hook increases performance - Using both visual elements and sound to deliver your hook can boost purchase intent (increases the likelihood of ranking in the top 20% for purchase intent by 1.5x)

This is some valuable Reels advice, which, again, given that Reels are now such a big part of the Facebook and IG experience, is definitely worth keeping in mind as you map out your 2026 strategy.

And with more ways to create video content than ever before, including AI-generated options, there’s now no reason not to create Reels to align with user shifts.

Worth saving these notes for future reference.