Meta recently announced that it is expanding Reels Trending Ads (formerly in beta) to a much wider set of advertisers. What makes the announcement significant is not just access, but proof: in early tests, Reels Trending Ads have shown about a 20% lift in unaided brand awareness. For brands, that means more people recognize your name or logo without being prompted, simply because your ad shows up in culturally relevant, highly visible video moments. If your marketing goal includes staying top-of-mind, building brand equity, or tapping into “what people are talking about now,” you should take a closer look at Reels Trending Ads.
Reels Trending Ads Matter
Reels Trending Ads are a placement format on Meta’s platforms (Instagram, Facebook) that let brands place video ads next to or between the Reels that are currently surging in popularity. These are not just high-engagement Reels in general, but those that are among the top 5% of creator-made Reels as determined daily by Meta’s AI.
The content is selected on the basis of factors like viewership, engagement, virality, content quality, and ensuring brand safety. That means your ad is being positioned in very visible, culturally relevant moments. Meta also offers ways to select by category (e.g. fashion & beauty, cars, sports, animals & pets) so you can align with content themes that match your brand’s audience or identity.
This all matters because attention is the currency of brand building, and people are spending more time in short-form video formats. Reels are now central to user behavior on Instagram: more than half of time spent is in Reels, and Reels content is being shared billions of times per day. By inserting your brand ad into trending Reels, you are inserting into moments when your audience is already highly engaged, actively watching what’s new, what’s buzzing. That tends to lead to higher recall, better unaided awareness, and more cultural relevance than simply spreading ads broadly or relying only on interest/demographic targeting.
How Reels Trending Ads Work
From an advertiser’s point of view, here’s how the mechanics work: what you set up, what Meta handles, and what you as the marketer need to provide or monitor.
Access and Eligibility
The format was in limited testing previously, but Meta is now making Reels Trending Ads available to more advertisers globally, particularly those working with a Meta sales rep. Eventually Meta will allow self-serve access through Ads Manager.
Campaign Creation
You initiate your campaign as with other Reels placements: set up your objective (awareness, reach, etc.), define your target audience, budget, schedule. When you get to placement options, you select “Reels Trending Ads” (or relevant trending inventory). If you want, you can specify a category (e.g. sports, beauty) to align where your ad is placed.
Meta’s AI and Content Curation
Meta’s algorithms scan all recent creator-made Reels and identify which ones are “trending,” or those in the top 5% in terms of engagement, views, virality, etc. AI also applies quality controls and brand safety filters. Then it builds “lineups” of these trending Reels content, sometimes by category, and makes them available inventory where your ad can be placed adjacent to or amongst this content.
Creative Specs
As with regular Reels Ads, you need vertical video creative that fits the Reels format. Ensure engaging visuals and compelling hook early because the content your ad sits next to is likely to capture attention. You want creative that stands out but doesn’t clash with what people expect in trending Reels. (Meta doesn’t redesign creative specs radically for trending vs standard placements, but the context magnifies the need for high quality.)
Delivery and Optimization
Once live, Meta delivers your ads into the trending inventory you specified (category or all trending). Because trending content changes all the time, placements may shift: what’s trending today may not be tomorrow, so your ad delivery may mix across multiple trending Reels over the life of the campaign. Meta will track performance and deliver reporting. One of the key metrics to watch is unaided brand awareness, which in tests saw ~20% lift. Also monitor reach, video views, engagement, CPMs.
Advice for Advertisers
If you plan to incorporate Reels Trending Ads into your media mix, here are strategic pointers, including what to prepare for, what to test, how to measure, and how to get best results.
Think about Creative Alignment
Because trending Reels are selected for high engagement and often represent current culture or viral content, your ad should feel like it belongs. That means strong storytelling, strong visuals that capture attention in the first 3 seconds, authenticity, and avoiding overly stiff or disconnected branding. If your creative feels bland next to flashier Reels content, it might be overlooked.
Category Targeting Matters
If your brand fits neatly into one of the content categories Meta provides (fashion & beauty, pets, sports, etc.), use that to help your ad be adjacent to content your audience already wants to consume. If you try to run “all trending” but your creative isn’t relevant to many people, you may see wasted spend.
Budgeting and Frequency Require Careful Planning Because trending inventory is high demand, CPMs may rise. Keep an eye on how expensive these placements are vs standard Reels ads. It may make sense to allocate just a portion of your awareness budget to Reels Trending Ads to see how they perform, then scale. Use frequency caps and monitor ad fatigue. Given the context, viewers may compare real content vs ads closely.
Get a Benchmark to Gauge Awareness Lift and Campaign Impact
Make sure you have a baseline: run standard Reels ads or other video placements in parallel so you can compare lift, awareness, recall. If you can run brand lift studies, that’s ideal. Unaided awareness is the key metric Meta cites, but also gauge engagement, reach, and downstream impact (web traffic, conversions, if relevant).
Keep Pace with Fast-Moving Trends
Trends move fast. What’s trending now may be old news tomorrow. Having creative ready (or modular) that can be turned around quickly, or being able to refresh creative often, will help you stay relevant. If Meta’s ad is next to Reels that are fresh, you want your ad not to feel stale.
Consider How This Format Fits in Your Overall Media Mix
Reels Trending Ads are more about awareness, cultural relevance, and recall; and less about immediate conversions (though there may be downstream effects). So, you’ll still need other placements, creative, and channels optimized for conversion. But the lift in brand recognition and presence during cultural moments can have compounding effects, especially in competitive categories.
True Interactive Can Help
Meta is giving advertisers a chance to ride the current of what people care about now. With a solid creative strategy, thoughtful audience targeting, strong measurement, and agility, Reels Trending Ads offer a (potentially) powerful tool for brand building. True Interactive can help you plan and execute Reels Trending Ads. Contact us to learn more!
