Facebook will let creators test different versions of Reels

Creators on Facebook are getting some new tools on the platform – including the ability to check how different Reels perform against each other.

The most notable new feature is the Reels A/B testing tool. A/B testing is a common marketing and publishing strategy where elements of a piece of content – e.g., a newsletter or article – are changed to see which generates more engagement. For example, on a news article, publishers often test several different headlines to see which one readers respond to most.

On Reels, creators will be able to set up to four different thumbnails and captions for the same video in one test. According to images from the feature, different versions will be shown to different groups of the producer's audience for up to 30 minutes. At the end of the testing period, the version with the most plays will "win" and will appear on the creator's profile until they change it. The feature is available on mobile right now, and Meta says that, in the future, it may also introduce AI tools for generating captions and thumbnails.

Meta also announced some features that will make content management a little easier. On a creator's professional dashboard, they will now be able to see how all their posts are performing and take actions like hiding posts from their profile or moving them to the Trash.

Creators will also get a little more data about how their content is performing on Facebook: The platform will give users a 90-day view versus the last 28 days. Other new data points include how a Reel performed relative to a creator's other videos, a viewer retention metric that shows whether viewership has declined, and the number of views that include replays of a Reel. .