At its NewFronts 2025 presentation, Meta unveiled a suite of powerful new advertising tools designed to capture a larger share of the digital ad market. The social media giant announced significant updates across Reels, Threads, and Facebook, aiming to provide brands with more effective ways to connect with users and leverage trending content. These changes signal a major push to compete directly with rivals like TikTok and YouTube.
A Game Changer for Reels with Trending Ads
Instagram is doubling down on its fastest-growing format, Reels. Meta announced the testing of a new feature called Reels Trending Ads, which allows advertisers to place their content alongside the most popular and culturally relevant videos on the platform. This move is similar to TikTok’s Pulse program but with Meta’s unique data integration.
Brands will have the option to position their ads next to:
- The top trending Reels across the entire platform.
- Trending Reels within specific categories like beauty, fitness, or sports.
This placement offers brands a powerful opportunity to associate themselves with viral moments in real time. If this ad format gains traction, it could quickly become one of the most valuable digital advertising spots available, giving businesses a direct line to what consumers are actively watching and engaging with.
Smarter Creator Collaborations with AI and Data
Meta is taking the guesswork out of influencer marketing by upgrading its Creator Marketplace with AI-powered tools and more detailed analytics. A new trends tab now gives advertisers a real-time, ranked list of what’s buzzing on Instagram Reels. This tool helps marketers identify and plan campaigns around emerging trends rather than just reacting to them.
The platform is also giving brands more data to vet potential partners. Creator profiles in the marketplace will now display crucial performance metrics, including hook rate and interaction rate. This allows advertisers to evaluate creators based on actual engagement and content performance, not just follower counts. These insights are designed to reduce wasted ad spend and lead to more successful, data-driven influencer campaigns.
Facebook and Threads Get Key Advertising Updates
While Reels got much of the spotlight, Meta didn’t forget its other platforms. For the first time, Meta is introducing video ads to Threads. This move opens a significant new revenue stream for the growing text-based platform and shows Meta’s commitment to its long-term monetization. The ads are expected to be vertical, muted, and optimized for Threads’ clean, quiet interface.
In another major update, Partnership Ads are finally expanding to Facebook. This feature, which has been highly successful on Instagram, allows brands to amplify organic content from creators who have mentioned their products. The system uses AI to suggest relevant organic posts that can be quickly turned into paid ads, leveraging authentic creator content for better performance.
This expansion helps level the playing field for advertisers across Meta’s core platforms.
| Platform | Partnership Ads Available | AI Content Suggestions |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ✅ | |
| ✅ (New) | ✅ (New) | |
| Threads | ❌ | ❌ |
Meta’s Strategy to Win the Ad War
These updates are part of a broader strategy to make Meta’s ecosystem more appealing to advertisers than ever before. By improving creator discovery, providing stronger analytics, and rolling out new ad formats across its family of apps, Meta is directly addressing the competitive pressure from TikTok and YouTube.
The company is building a more integrated and data-rich environment for brands. While some tools may seem like catch-up moves, Meta’s immense scale and user base give these new features the potential for massive impact. The goal is clear: to provide more ways for brands to advertise effectively, thereby securing a larger piece of the overall digital ad pie.
