Gary Vaynerchuk: Facebook Reels is 'most underused medium for reach

AI has been the word on everyone’s lips lately, but VaynerX and VaynerMedia founder Gary Vaynerchuk has come out in favour of the OG disruptor medium: Facebook.

Speaking to Campaign, Vaynerchuk said: “I think Facebook Reels right now is one of the most underpriced organic reach creative models in the world.”

He added that “millions and millions” of people are consuming Facebook Reels but “no one is talking about it”.

In fact, he added, the industry has leaned too far away from it because it thinks people are going to other platforms.

However Vaynerchuk has a well known online presence with 10.1 million followers on Instagram, 3.1 million followers on Twitter and 6.2 million followers on Facebook.

As a content creator, Vaynerchuk said he is always testing different media to see where content works well.

Despite his biggest following being on Instagram, Vaynerchuk said his growth on Facebook has been “huge” in comparison to the other two platforms.

He added that he was “stumped” initially, but even more surprised when he realised his largest growing demographic on Facebook was the 18-25 age range.

From Vaynerchuk’s perspective, Reels is perhaps the most exciting medium right now and, although he is looking forward to the “positive change” AI could bring, he is resolute it will also bring “negative change” just like “every piece of technology”.

Campaign spoke with Vaynerchuk before the launch of Threads, Meta's answer to Twitter. Soon though, Meta will also be monetising Facebook Reels. Currently, the platform's Reels are not universally monetised but have been beta tested with limited partners.

Vaynerchuk has not yet approved the use of generative AI in VaynerMedia because he is concerned about copyright and trademark.

For him, the world is only just "realising that brand is being built on social" and, in this case, the tried-and-tested methods are the ones to stick with.