Meta’s 2025 Ad Updates: Adding Smarter Tools for Creators, Brands & Video Campaigns

Overview

• Meta is testing ad placements alongside the most popular Reels to help brands align with real-time trends and conversations.
•  New tools in Creator Marketplace aim to make it easier for businesses to discover and collaborate with the right influencers.
• Helping advertisers repurpose and optimise assets with tools like Video Expansion
• House of Marketer‘s Insights on what these tips mean for marketers.

Meta’s 2025 Ad Updates: Presents New Solutions for Creators and Brands

Meta introduced a wave of new advertising features designed to meet the evolving needs of brands in 2025. Meta is now leaning into cultural relevance, automation, and scalable creativity like never before.

The updates span four key areas: smarter ad placements next to trending content, advanced creator matchmaking, immersive new formats, and AI-enhanced video production tools.

For marketers, these changes are not just technical upgrades—they are strategic shifts that simplify creative decisions while boosting impact. Let’s break down each move, what it means for your campaigns, and how to make the most of them.

1. Stapling Ads to Trending Reels 

Meta is leaning into trending content with Reels Trending Ads. A new format that places branded ads directly after the most engaging, creator-made Reels on Facebook and Instagram. It is Meta’s answer to TikTok Pulse—high-visibility, high-context ad slots designed to ride the wave of what’s capturing audience attention in real time.

Advertisers can choose to appear after the day’s most viral Reels or within specific topical “lineups” like beauty, sports, or fashion. Built-in brand safety tools like the Inventory Filter ensure quality control, while Meta Business Partners provide added verification.

This move reflects a broader trend: brands no longer need to chase culture—they can insert themselves directly into it.

2. Match with Creators Trending on Reels for Your Ad Campaign

Alongside trend-aligned ad placements, Meta is upgrading its Creator Marketplace with a new Trends hub. Powered by AI, it surfaces emerging Reels topics based on engagement data and categorises them by region, theme, and timeframe (24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days).

Each trend links directly to relevant Reels and suggests matching creators, streamlining the brainstorming process for partnership ads. Need inspiration for your next campaign? Discover “festival vibes,” “spring nails,” or whatever’s catching fire today—and find an Instagram or Facebook creator already speaking that language.

Meta is making it easier to vet collaborators and predict how their content will perform. And for brands operating at scale, the new Creator Marketplace Discovery API will make it easier to connect with creators via agencies and third-party tools.

3. Organic Ad Formats on Threads and Facebook Live

Meta is continuing to grow its advertising presence on Threads. After rolling out static ads globally, it will now test video ads—both 16:9 and 1:1 formats—in between organic Threads posts. These videos will autoplay, expand when tapped, and include CTA buttons to encourage conversions.

Marketers can also expect new flexibility with Partnership Ads across Facebook and Instagram, including the ability to choose whether to display the brand’s handle in the post header. The result: branded content that feels more organic, while still maintaining transparency with a “Sponsored” tag.

4. Video Expansion with AI

Creating platform-native video has long been a resource-heavy process. Meta’s Video Expansion tool for Facebook Reels aims to change that. Using generative AI, the tool extends the aspect ratio of your videos by generating additional pixels in each frame, adapting them for immersive Reels playback without requiring reshoots.

While results may vary depending on content, this tool offers a smart workaround for maximizing ROI on existing footage.

In tandem with these launches, Meta has published a full Measuring Ad Effectiveness guide. The 19-page document walks through how to set creative goals & monitor performance.

For advertisers, this guide acts as a blueprint, pairing creative execution with strategic measurement to close the loop between ideation and results.

House of Marketers Insights

Meta’s 2025 update is not just about new tools—it is about changing the way we think about marketing. From surfacing real-time trends to scaling content through AI and elevating creator partnerships, Meta is building a more dynamic, data-driven ad ecosystem.

But these updates also raise the bar. With easier access to trends and automated formats, brands will need to be even more intentional about how they show up. Strategy, storytelling, and measurement still matter—and the best marketers will use Meta’s tools not just to follow culture, but to shape it.

If you are looking to make sense of these changes and turn them into action, House of Marketers can help. At House of Marketers, we help businesses craft impactful influencer marketing campaigns across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Contact House of Marketers today and future-proof your marketing strategy!