Sensor Tower data reported by CNBC shows that more than half of Instagram ads ran on Reels in 2025, up from 35% in 2024.
That is not a “format trend.” It is an operating constraint.
If you sell products online—especially fashion, beauty, accessories, home, or gadgets—you are now competing in a feed where:
- The default ad unit is vertical video
- The default consumption behavior is swipe-speed
- The default expectation is “show me, don’t tell me”
This matters most for Shopify brands, Amazon sellers, TikTok Shop operators, and performance teams who already know video works… but can’t produce enough of it to keep up with testing, new SKUs, new hooks, and new placements.
The new advantage is not having one great video.
It is having 50 good videos per product, shipped fast, iterated weekly, and adapted per channel.
That is what AI video creation is actually for.
Why does “Reels is most Instagram ads” matter for commerce teams?
Because it confirms what operators have felt for 18 months:
Instagram is no longer a photo-first shopping surface. It is a video distribution system.
When Reels becomes the majority ad inventory, a few things happen:
-
Your creative fatigue curve steepens
- The same “hero ad” burns out faster in Reels than it did in Feed.
-
Your winners get copied faster
- If you find a hook that prints, competitors will mirror it within days.
-
Your production bottleneck becomes your growth bottleneck
- You can have a great product and a great offer and still lose because you cannot ship enough variations.
This is why “scale video production” is now a revenue lever, not a creative nice-to-have.
What kinds of Reels ads are winning now (and why UGC is still the blueprint)
Reels ads that convert tend to look like content, not commercials.
Even when they are fully paid, the structure is usually UGC-style:
- A fast hook in the first 1-2 seconds
- A clear product demo (not vibes only)
- Proof (before/after, texture, fit, durability, comparison)
- A simple CTA that matches the buying context (“Tap to shop” is not enough)
The problem is that traditional UGC does not scale cleanly:
- Creators are inconsistent
- Turnaround times are slow
- Brand compliance is messy
- You end up with 12 videos when you need 120
This is where UGC video AI becomes practical: not to “fake creators,” but to industrialize the parts of UGC that are repetitive (hooks, structure, editing patterns, variants, localization, aspect ratios).
The real shift: your creative team is now an “inventory team”
When Reels becomes the dominant ad surface, you are effectively managing creative inventory the same way you manage SKU inventory.
You need coverage across:
- Products (top sellers, new drops, bundles)
- Angles (problem-solution, comparison, social proof, unboxing)
- Formats (15s, 20s, 30s, 9:16, 1:1, 4:5)
- Placements (Reels, Stories, Explore, Facebook Reels)
- Funnel stages (cold, warm, retargeting, post-purchase)
Most teams do not fail because they lack ideas.
They fail because they cannot turn ideas into shippable video volume.
AI video generation changes the constraint.
How this applies by channel: Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Meta commerce
Shopify brands: Reels is now your top-of-funnel storefront
If you run Shopify, Reels is often the first touch before:
- A PDP visit
- An email capture
- A retargeting loop
What to do differently now:
- Build Reels-first creative systems, not “cutdowns from YouTube”
- Treat every product launch as a creative launch (10-30 videos, not 1)
- Produce variants for:
- Hook
- First scene
- Demo sequence
- Offer framing
If you want the broader context on why social surfaces are becoming the storefront, pair this with: “The social media shift Shopify brands can’t ignore”
Amazon sellers: Reels is upstream of Amazon demand
Even if the conversion happens on Amazon, Reels influences:
- Branded search lift
- Amazon attribution (if you run it)
- Retargeting pools for Meta ads that push to Amazon
What to do differently now:
-
Make Reels that answer Amazon-style objections:
- Size and fit
- What’s included
- Materials
- How it works in real life
-
Repurpose the same assets into:
- Amazon product video
- Sponsored Brands video
- Amazon Posts-style clips (where relevant)
Your goal is to reduce “uncertainty” before the shopper hits the PDP.
TikTok Shop sellers: Reels is the competitive mirror
TikTok Shop is still the most aggressive social commerce engine, but Reels is where:
- Competitors copy angles
- Brands build familiarity
- Retargeting closes the loop
What to do differently now:
-
Run the same product through two creative languages:
- TikTok-native (raw, fast, chaotic)
- Reels-native (slightly cleaner, still native, more benefit clarity)
-
Build a weekly cadence of:
- 5 new hooks
- 3 new demos
- 2 new proof formats
Instagram/Facebook commerce: Reels is the ad unit, Catalog is the backend
Meta’s system increasingly wants:
- Vertical video to earn attention
- Product catalogs to complete the transaction
What to do differently now:
-
Create video variations that map to catalog groupings:
- Colorways
- Bundles
- Use cases
-
Keep brand tonality consistent across volume (this is where teams break)
The Reels production problem: why “just make more video” fails in practice
Operators run into the same walls:
- You can’t book talent every week
- You can’t keep reshooting for every hook
- You can’t edit 80 variants manually
- You can’t localize fast enough
- You can’t keep performance learnings organized
Reels becoming the majority of Instagram ads means this is no longer optional.
You need a system that turns inputs into outputs.
Inputs you already have:
- Product photos
- PDP copy
- Reviews
- Feature lists
- Brand guidelines
- Past winning ads
Outputs you need:
- Reels-ready vertical videos
- Multiple hooks per concept
- Multiple lengths per placement
- Multiple CTAs per funnel stage
This is the operational case for an AI video creator workflow.
A practical AI video workflow for Reels-first ad production (built for scale)
Here is a workflow that works for lean teams and scales up cleanly.
1) Start with a “Reels brief,” not a creative brief
For each product, define:
- Target buyer and use case
- 3 objections to overcome
- 5 hook angles
- Proof assets (reviews, claims, comparisons)
- Offer constraints (discount, bundle, shipping)
2) Generate video with AI from your existing assets
Use product images and structured copy to generate:
- 10-20 first-pass videos
- Each with different hooks and pacing
- In 9:16 by default
This is where an AI video generator earns its keep: you are not “making one video cheaper,” you are making iteration possible.
3) Build a variation matrix (this is where winners come from)
For each concept, vary one thing at a time:
- Hook line
- First 2 seconds visual
- Demo order
- Proof type (review overlay vs before/after vs comparison)
- CTA (shop now vs see colors vs limited drop)
Aim for 25-60 variants per product per month if you are spending meaningfully on paid social.
4) Deploy by placement, not by “one size fits all”
- Reels: fastest hook, strongest demo
- Stories: clearer CTA, simpler message
- Explore: more visual novelty
- Facebook Reels: slightly slower