The business world needs to be open to content creators and content creators: Arun Srinivas

Meta India's Director & Head of Ads Business, Arun Srinivas, talks about the purpose of #MadeOnReels and how businesses can use Reels to deliver marketing impact.

Arun Srinivas, Director & Head - Ads Business, Meta India, talks about the purpose of introducing #MadeOnReels, and how can businesses use Reels to deliver impact for their marketing efforts. Instagram Reels came at a time when the demand for short-form videos was already high in the country.

According to a recent statement by Meta, India is the most significant country for the brand in terms of all the new things that feature across its platforms -- Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. With 40% of businesses globally present on Reels, Meta recently rolled out their newest program – #MadeOnReels, which is an initiative that will bridge the gap between creators and brands, helping them attract audiences and increase their retention.

Meta also globally announced their expansion of Ads on Reels making it possible for more creators to earn money for their engaging reels. Social Samosa sat down with Arun Srinivas, Director & Head - of Ads Business, Meta India to learn more about their recent model and how brands can make the best use of it and grow their businesses. 

India is the home to the largest Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp user base in the world. Another trend that stands out is the creator economy in India which has grown and today thrives on various social media platforms. Meta as a platform serves businesses and brands as well.

Therefore, the concept of #MadeOnReels fits perfectly into the picture, where the creators are on one side and the businesses are on the other. What are some factors that brands need to keep in mind while creating content for Reels; with creators or otherwise?

Some popular myths that need to be broken when it comes to creating content on Reels: Reels is for every industry as a result of the way that sectors like banking, finance, and automotive industries, etc have taken use of this category and changed their business KPIs. Recommendations for Businesses while creating content on Reels:

To be included in this lot, businesses need to figure out where a certain type of creative works and more importantly not create it at the last minute. Businesses need to give Reels its space and create content that works best there. Also Read:

What should brands keep in mind while creating content for Reels? Do you think to be successful on a platform like Reels, brands need to have a ‘Creator’ mindset?

What I would say is, that businesses need to have an open mindset when it comes to content creation and creators. Brands need to be open to the idea of different geographical aspects and regions when it comes to creators.

They need to figure out a way to fit into the creator’s persona to better connect with their audience. Brands need to understand and keep in mind that not every asset that creators create will have the same appearance and feel as the assets made by them.

What are some of your favorite brand-creator collabs in recent times which are good model use cases?

These brands demonstrate the potential of stories to be told, and as long as creator freedom and expression is allowed, business results will also come. Given that short-form videos are becoming increasingly popular in the country, they need to be part of a brand's identity.

For new-age brands, the challenge they face is how to widen their user base. I am not a creator myself, and I did not expect that this would generate such fantastic business metrics. Stories need to be told in more authentic and new-age ways; shedding the outer covers.

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