Meta has announced a raft of updates to lure creative talent, by better enabling them to maximize the reach and resonance of their content on Facebook, including new Reels templates, updated Reels editing options, a daily checklist to help build your presence, new performance insights, and more.

First off, on Reels, which is Meta’s fastest-growing content format. In order to help Facebook creators maximize their Reels creation efforts, Meta’s launching a new ‘Inspiration Hub’ in the Facebook Professional Dashboard which will highlight top Reels trends, with data on the most popular hashtags, topics, and music at any given time.

The new insights are similar to TikTok’s trend notes in its Creative Center, providing more info on the top trends and shifts that you may want to consider tapping into to maximize your Reels performance.

In addition to this, Meta’s also making it easier to access popular Reels templates, with a new Templates Hub in the Reels composer flow.

That will give you exact, carbon copy formatting tips to create better Reels – though I would suggest that direct copies may not always be as standout as original ideas. In this sense, I would probably prefer to use templates as a guide, rather than a prescriptive script – but either way, having access to more effective templates can only help in your creation process.

Meta’s also integrating its Reels text, audio, and music options into a single editing window on the Facebook mobile app, which will make it easier to place your creative elements exactly where you like in the clip.

As you can see in this example, now, the various content tracks will be displayed in a stacked format, so you can more easily shift each around to better suit your needs.

Meta’s also updating its Professional Account prompts to help more creators maximize their Facebook presence, while it’s also added a daily checklist for Professional Mode users, which will provide direct actions to help grow your following.

The prompts are similar to the alerts that Meta sends out to business Pages, noting that you need to complete your profile with all relevant details. Essentially, this will ensure that creators have included all relevant discovery info, while also giving you extra nudges to boost engagement and interaction.

On another front, Meta’s also giving creators more opportunities for exposure via a new ‘Creators to Follow’ unit in user News Feeds, which will highlight rising stars in the app to potentially interested users. Professional Mode creators will also now have a follow button appear alongside their name in comments, so they can attract new followers through conversations.

In terms of insights, Meta’s adding more Reels performance insights to the Professional Dashboard, including reach numbers, engagement data, new followers attributed to specific Reels, and retention graphs showing how long viewers watched.

“In the coming weeks, we’ll also roll out new metrics on Professional Dashboard that will show creators how their accounts are performing at a more granular level, including levels of interaction and consumption by format, as well as by followers and non-followers across all of their content. In addition to net followers, creators will see how many followers they gained and lost in a specific time frame.”

These could be a big help in understanding content performance, which will help creators double down on what works, in order to improve their Facebook performance.

Finally, Meta’s also updating its monetization options for Facebook creators.

First, it’s now testing the ability for creators to cross-post Instagram-branded content Reels and Stories to Facebook, providing more capacity to increase reach and engagement.

“Cross-posted content on Facebook will show the linked Facebook handles of the creator and tagged business partner, along with the Paid Partnership label. On Facebook, we’ve also reduced partnership ads eligibility requirements, so that creators on Pages can give their brand partners permission to run ads from their Facebook page. These ads also tag the brand partner, bringing more reach and scale to their collaborations.”

That’ll facilitate more opportunities for affiliate income, which could be a big lure for top creators in both apps.

Meta’s also expanding its Performance Bonus Program, with more creators set to be invited to participate in the Reels revenue share offering.

The Performance Bonus Program enables creators to earn revenue based on interactions with public Facebook posts, excluding Reels and Stories. The program is currently invite-only, and more creators will now be invited into the scheme, as Meta looks to drive more incentive for engagement.

Worth noting, too, that this is separate from Meta’s Reels Play Bonus program, which it paused back in March.  

Meta’s also lowered its monetization eligibility requirements for Stars, with the requirements reduced to 500 followers (down from 1,000) over the past 30 days (down from 60). That’ll enable more creators to make money from their content, especially those just starting out, while it’s also launching a limited test that will enable select creators to monetize Reels that include licensed music from the Facebook Audio Library.

There’s a heap for creators to consider here, as Meta looks to sweeten its deal to get more popular stars on its side, by luring them away from other platforms that may offer lesser revenue generation options.

YouTube has also launched a similar push this week, in lowering its thresholds for creators to monetize their content, which may have been sparked by recent rumblings among TikTok and Twitch creators sparked by changes to their creator monetization policies.

Maybe, then, now is the best time for Meta and YouTube to strike, in an effort to highlight just how much greener the grass is on their side of the fence.

Will that work? I mean, Meta has huge reach, and thus, huge appeal to many creators, while YouTube remains the best pathway to maximizing revenue potential for video creators.

Getting more of them to more specifically focus on their apps could be a big step in swaying more creative talent, as well as their audiences, across.

You can read more about Meta’s latest creator updates here.