Reels & Deals: How Meta is Luring TikTok Creators 🎣

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Meta’s Moves to Win Over TikTok Creators

A lot has happened since last week. TikTok briefly went ‘dark’ before coming back online hours later. With an executive order now in place, there’s a 75-day deadline to find a buyer. The future of TikTok is anyone’s guess.

While speculation continues, one thing is clear: Meta isn’t waiting around. It’s seizing the opportunity to court TikTok creators.

Let’s break down what Meta has been up to and what it means for creators who are thinking beyond TikTok.

Throwing Dollars at Creators

Breakthrough Bonus Program

One of the notable initiatives is the new Breakthrough Bonus Program, which allows TikTok creators to earn up to $5,000 over three months by posting Reels on Instagram and Facebook. This also gives them access to Facebook’s invite-only Content Monetization program.

Exclusive Content Deals

Meta also has has been targeting larger TikTok-native creators, those with followings in the millions. In exchange for posting exclusive Reels, creators can earn monthly cash incentives ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

It’s unclear exactly which creators are being offered these deals, but high-profile TikTok creators like Charli D’Amelio, Alix Earle, Bella Poarch, and Quenlin Blackwell have shared posts with the @instagram account as collaborators. Partnering with some of TikTok’s biggest homegrown talent is a strategic move to build trust with TikTok creators and bridge their audiences with Instagram.

Improved Affiliate Links

There’s also a new experience for affiliate links on Facebook. This was quietly announced at the end of last year but is now being packaged as part of how Meta supports creators. With support for affiliate programs from Amazon, Walmart, LTK, Rakuten, Impact, and others, creators can add affiliate links and codes on Reels, videos, photos, and text posts that are more prominent.

Meta still has a way to go when compared to TikTok Shop, which has become a revenue stream for creators of all sizes. But, for creators seeing success pitching products to audiences in exchange for commissions, this improved experience is notable.

Making Reels a Bigger Priority

Longer Reels

Reels can now be up to three minutes long and are eligible for recommendations. Over the years, TikTok videos have gotten longer due to a combination of deeper storytelling from creators and a push by the platform itself. 

This additional space is helpful not only for existing creators on Instagram but also for TikTokers who want to repurpose their longer short-form videos on the platform.

More Prominent Reels

In addition to getting longer, Reels will be more prominent across Facebook and Instagram. For example, users may see Reels higher up on their homepage and more Reels in search results. More Reels in more places mean more opportunities for creators’ videos to get discovered.

Social media platforms have evolved into today’s search engines for younger audiences. TikTok is often the first platform they turn to, making Reels a bigger part of the Meta search experience could increase mentions for Instagram and Facebook. This shift would also benefit creators, who produce content users are often searching for like recipes, travel recommendations, routines, tutorials, and more, as well as users who want to take action based on what they discover on social media. 

Optimizing Rankings for New Creators

Lastly, Meta says it’s optimizing its recommendation system to help newer creators break through to new audiences. One thing creators often praise TikTok for is how it allows essentially anyone to join the app, go viral, and become stars. With these optimizations, Meta aims to replicate a similar effect for newer creators.

Trial Reels

These updates follow one of Meta’s best features to date, Trial Reels, which will also appeal to newer creators, as they can share posts with non-followers and see how they perform without risk.

Updated Profiles

Refreshed Instagram Profiles

Instagram has a bunch of updates coming to profiles as part of a refresh. Grids are getting taller, with photos and videos transitioning from squares to vertical rectangles to align with the type of content that’s being shared on Instagram. Highlights are also getting their own dedicated tab.

Creators will also get new options like the ability to customize thumbnails, reorder the entire grid, and bypass the feed to post content directly to it. While some updates, like the taller grid mirroring TikTok’s profile grid, have been met with mixed reactions, others, like the ability to rearrange posts to highlight specific content, should be net positives.

Support of Third-Party Platforms Links on Facebook Profiles

Profiles on Facebook also received updates, albeit on a smaller scale. Meta is enabling creators to add links to third-party platforms, including TikTok and YouTube, and display follower and subscriber counts. Given the focus on diversification for creators and the need to be multi-platform, this update is valuable for creators who want to funnel audiences to other platforms or showcase credibility through larger followings elsewhere.

Launching a CapCut Rival

A New Video Editing App in Edits

Meta also announced Edits, a video editing app designed to rival CapCut. Tailored for creators, Edits will offer a high-quality camera, tools to record videos up to 10 minutes long, an Inspiration tab, a space for tracking ideas and drafts, and insights when videos are shared on Instagram.

On paper, Edits is a CapCut copycat, but could differentiate itself by focusing on creators and short-form videos on mobile, an area where CapCut has expanded beyond. Over the last year, CapCut has increasingly targeted brands, agencies, and marketers while investing in desktop experiences, although it remains a favorite among creators.

Meta needs to deliver with Edits, as it has put pressure on itself due to the timing of the announcement. That said, one of Instagram's big priorities this year is creativity and providing creators with best-in-class creative tools. While editing tools on Instagram and Facebook have improved over the years, they are still considered basic compared to TikTok. Edits looks like it will address this gap and, over time, serve as a testing ground for features that may be integrated into Instagram and Facebook.

Expect to see more social media platforms launch new, standalone alone platforms to support their broader initiatives.

More Education & Support

Over the past year, Meta has ramped up education and support for creators through posts by Adam Mosseri, the @creators account, guides, and more. It plans to continue this, along with more dedicated support for creators.

How Rankings Work

One of Meta’s recent helpful education initiatives was a breakdown by Mosseri on the ranking system, which is always a touchy subject for creators due to its role in discovery. Mosseri explained how rankings work across Connected Reach (accounts that follow you) versus Unconnected Reach (accounts that don’t follow you yet). Watch time, likes, and sends are the three signals for both. But, for Connected Reach, likes are slightly more important, while for Unconnected Reach, sends carry more weight.

For creators, understanding these factors can help them adjust strategies or simply better understand why some content works and some doesn’t.

How Creators Should Respond to Meta’s Opportunities

This week also saw notable moves from platforms trying to court creators, like X, Bluesky, Surf, and Tumblr launching short-form video experiences, and Substack introducing a $20 million Creator Accelerator program. Meta’s efforts are the most comprehensive, covering monetization, audience growth, tools, support, and more to attract TikTok creators.

With TikTok in limbo for at least the next few months, Meta is enticing. Diversification from social media platforms to owned channels will remain a focus for creators, but now is probably the best time for TikTok creators to jump on Meta. These could lead to increased revenue (from the programs, but also from brand partnerships, as brands too may lean more into Meta), the expansion of audiences across other channels, and growth for creators who have heavily relied on TikTok.

Meta’s aggressive moves highlight its desire for more creators and market share. Historically, these opportunities don’t last forever, so creators should act quickly. For those considering exclusive deals, it’s important to crunch the numbers.

Some creators will temporarily shift toward Meta platforms and return to TikTok as their primary channel once things stabilize. However, I believe there will be a group of TikTok-native creators who have viewed Meta as an afterthought but will end up staying long-term.

WHAT I’M READING

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2025 Creator Marketing Trends Report (LTK)

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