Meta’s looking to expand its incentives for Reels creators, with broader access to Reels monetization via ads coming in the next few months.

Meta’s been working on Reels ads over the past year, with selected creators able to display Reels overlay promotions like the above, on an invite-only basis. But soon, Meta will open up the option to more users. Meta hasn’t provided the full details yet, but this week, in a Creator Conversations session, it encouraged participants to switch on Professional Mode in order to access its coming creator features.

As you can see in these images, shared by social media expert Lia Haberman, Meta’s looking to expand its push on Reels, as a means to keep people in its apps for longer.

Recent internal data from Meta showed that Reels engagement has driven a significant increase in time spent, on both Facebook and Instagram – but at the same time, the creation of original content, in both apps, has declined in recent years, which means that while users are hanging around, and watching more video in each app, they’re not posting as much of their own material, which reduces the overall stickiness of the platforms.

An expanded Reels monetization push could help on this front, while Meta’s also looking to add more tools to help creators build their online communities, including additional insights into your most engaged fans, and templated posts to thank them for their support.

Meta also first launched these elements with selected creators last September, and they’ll now form another part of this bigger creator push, which comes as YouTube and TikTok both also launch expanded programs to provide more monetization opportunities for their most popular stars.

Though none of those programs has been overly effective as yet. TikTok’s still hoping to get in-stream shopping off the ground, as a means of providing supplementary affiliate income, while YouTube’s recently launched ad revenue share program for Shorts isn’t blowing anyone away with its payout amounts.

Short-form video has clearly become the preferred form of online entertainment, but monetizing it isn’t easy, as traditional online models have been structured around longer content, with a captive audience that can be attributed to each specific post.

Meta also has its Reels Play Bonus program (which is seemingly now on the way out), which provides cash incentives for the best-performing clips. But in order to fund creators in a more sustainable way, it needs to be able to allocate funds based on ad performance.

Meta’s also developing new Reels ad types, and in combination, there should be an equitable way to funnel money onto creators. But it’s all a process of development steps, with each new option providing new learnings to help optimize the process.

In other words, don’t expect this new program to make you rich, but when it does become available, it could help a lot of Facebook and Instagram users make at least some money from their Reels content.   

We’ll keep you updated on any progress.