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In its ongoing effort to leverage AI to drive ad performance across Facebook<\/strong>, Instagram<\/strong> and its messaging platforms, Meta<\/strong> has unveiled a number of new innovations for advertisers.<\/p>\n Among the new capabilities are virtual try-on<\/strong> personalized to a user\u2019s own image; new tools to ramp up creators\u2019 effectiveness<\/strong>, including affiliate and product linking; and persona-based image generation that will allow advertisers to easily create ad variations to appeal to different audience sets<\/strong>. But perhaps the most interesting new tool is what Meta is calling Business AI \u2014 a customized AI agent that brands can use to help guide shoppers and answer questions<\/strong>, both within their Meta ads and on their own websites.<\/p>\n \u201cAI is changing how people engage online, including changing how they shop,\u201d said Clara Shih, Head of Business AI at Meta at a press briefing on Wednesday. \u201cIf you think about the commerce flow that all of us have been used to from the last two<\/strong> decades \u2014 where you see an ad (often on Facebook or Instagram), you click on the ad, you go to the merchant\u2019s website, you look at the product, you consider the product, then maybe you add it to your cart and check out \u2014 that flow hasn\u2019t changed much over the last several years, but it\u2019s about to change dramatically.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing this shopping funnel collapse; [with AI] we\u2019re going from clicks to conversations to relationships<\/strong>,\u201d Shih added. \u201cWhat this means for consumers is a lot less friction, a lot less getting stuck in one of the steps from before and getting distracted by our busy lives. It\u2019s equally compelling for businesses who\u2019ve told us that they feel overwhelmed, especially small businesses, by the number of different tools and technologies that they had to stitch together. But now we want to simplify that.\u201d<\/p>\n Because implementing AI assistants is proving overwhelming for companies, especially small businesses, Meta\u2019s new Business AI tool is presented as a turnkey solution to that problem. Companies can easily embed Meta\u2019s Business AI agent in their Facebook and Instagram ads for free, as well as on their own websites (currently available to U.S. businesses only) for a fee that Shih promised will be a \u201ca fraction of the cost compared to market alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it works: A brand trains Business AI on its offerings via its Meta social posts, ad campaigns<\/strong> (helpful because Meta knows which have been successful), as well as its product catalog<\/strong> and website content<\/strong>. From those inputs Business AI develops a customized AI assistant that companies can then tweak and test.<\/p>\n Once live, the chatbot will be available to answer customer questions and guide shoppers within the company\u2019s Meta ads and on their own website, if they choose. The chatbot will be able to handle everything from size and pricing questions to queries about customer reviews<\/strong>. A performance dashboard also is available for companies to track the results of the agent\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n Business AI\u2019s goal is driving sales growth, according to Shih. As such, Meta has developed it as a targeted, no-code tool for businesses to drive engagement and results from their ads. <\/p>\n \u201cWe also heard from businesses that it\u2019s important for that sales concierge experience to continue on for customers who visit their website, so we\u2019ve extended Business AI so that businesses can also make that concierge experience available on their website,\u201d Shih said.<\/p>\n And for companies that already have a third-party shopping assistant integrated on their site, Meta has partnered with some of the top customer support platforms to ensure a simple handoff from Business AI to these other dedicated chatbots. Among the partners already working with Meta are Salesforce Service Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365, ServiceNow and Zendesk.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best analogy is, if you as a customer ask a salesperson about warranty information or returns, often they\u2019ll walk you over to the customer service desk to handle those more complicated requests. That\u2019s the same approach that we are taking with our [digital CRM] partners to make that handoff seamless,\u201d Shih explained.<\/p>\n In addition to being available for Facebook and Instagram ads, Business AI also will be available in Meta\u2019s messaging apps, WhatsApp<\/strong> and Messenger<\/strong>, which Shih said is \u201ca very natural place for us to provide business AIS [artificial intelligence systems], because this is where hundreds of millions of conversations are already happening every day between businesses and their customers.\u201d Companies will have the choice to turn on Business AI in the messaging apps for specific topics they want to delegate to AI.<\/p>\n Luxury organic beauty brand Ogee<\/strong> has been a long-time Meta customer and was an early tester of the new Business AI experience. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Meta, we would not be where we are today,\u201d said Alex Stark, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Ogee at the press briefing. \u201cMeta has been incredible at driving the right people to our website or driving the brand awareness, but once they get to our website, it\u2019s on us. Creating this cohesive experience between the agent on the ad side and on our website is incredibly exciting, because when you go to a physical store, there are sales agents that help you with a question, and now we have that on our site.<\/strong> So much shopping still takes place in physical retail, and I think that\u2019s one of the big reasons, that hand-holding. Now we can do that on a personalized level [online] with the Business AI agent.\u201d<\/p>\n Other new capabilities Meta is rolling out to improve shopper confidence and ad performance on its platform include:<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that authentic creator partnerships drive trust and engagement; in fact, three out of four<\/strong> people say they prefer creator content over traditional ads,\u201d shared Helen Ma, VP of Product at Meta during the press briefing. \u201cWe also know that creator partnerships drive real business outcomes. We see, on average, 19%<\/strong> lower cost per action and 13%<\/strong> higher click-through rates when brands add partnership ads to their business-as-usual campaigns. So we\u2019re making it easier than ever for brands and agencies to discover, connect and collaborate with creators on both Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201c[Additionally], we\u2019re exploring new ways for creators to monetize their collaborations with brands, testing affiliate marketing on Facebook and the ability to link to products on Instagram Reels,\u201d Ma added. \u201cOn the Facebook side, eligible creators can now discover affiliate partner programs through a new affiliate tool, making it easier to feature shoppable links on their content and allowing people to directly shop from affiliate posts. On the Instagram side, we\u2019re testing whether showcasing links to products in a more visually prominent way improves the experience without needing to see the \u2018Link in Bio,\u2019 which I know a lot of creators will be excited to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nMeta Business AI: A Turnkey, Low-Cost AI Agent for Brands<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Meta AI Agent will Coordinate with Third-Party Agents<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Plus: Increased Ad Personalization, More Ways for Creators to Monetize<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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