Meta officially launched Meta AI and AI Studio in Indonesia this week, offering artificial intelligence solutions integrated into the company’s popular social platforms. “We first announced the availability of Meta AI in 2023. Now, more and more people can interact with Meta AI across our apps in more diverse ways. With more than 700 million active users worldwide, Meta AI is designed to make everyday activities easier for everyone,” said Revie Sylviana, Director of Global Partnerships, Southeast Asia, Meta.
Launch of Meta AI in Indonesia
Meta AI, built using Meta Llama 3.2 technology, is now available in Indonesia with Indonesian language support. Users can access this AI assistant through WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram, as well as through the meta.ai website. “The latest version of Meta AI powered by Llama 3.2 is now available to more people around the world, including Indonesia. This update makes Meta AI smarter, faster, and more convenient to use,” Revie added.
One of Meta AI’s flagship features is ‘Imagine’, which allows users to create images instantly by simply entering a text prompt. In addition to Meta AI, the company also launched AI Studio in Indonesia, a platform that allows anyone to create and discover AI characters. Several local AI characters are already available for interaction, including Om Gustiono created by @aldogiustino and FitBite created by culinary creator Andre Sarwono.
Impact on marketers and advertisers
This launch coincides with the introduction of various AI-based marketing tools. Meta has developed AI tools that can help brands find the right Instagram creators. “Creators are very influential figures. They have an authentic point of view that people want and are talented in their field. Finding the best creators to tell your brand’s story is the foundation of a successful campaign and 53% of people surveyed agree that they are more likely to purchase an item if it is promoted by a creator on Reels,” Meta said in its official announcement.
Karin Tracy, head of retail, fashion and luxury at Meta, stated, “Because of all these AI advancements, our ad system can now predict who will be interested in an ad better than advertisers can predict themselves.” Meta also launched a new keyword search feature on the Instagram creator marketplace. “Previously, brands needed to utilize various filters to find their ideal set of creators. Now, businesses can search using terms such as ‘soccer moms with dogs,’ ‘gluten free desserts’ or ‘gadget unboxing. Businesses will also be able to filter by 20 verticals such as ‘Fashion’, ‘Beauty’, ‘Home and Garden’ and more,” Meta explained.
New features for creator marketing
To help businesses find and evaluate matches with creators, Meta has added various new features to the Instagram creator marketplace. The Creator Card feature with live Reels allows businesses to see examples of relevant content from creators without the need to visit their profiles. For willing creators, businesses can now contact them directly via email, making initial communication easier. Meta has also added a special badge for experienced creators, which helps businesses identify creators who have run collaborative ads before. In addition, creator profiles now also display active collaboration ads, so businesses can better understand the creator’s content approach and the types of brands they support on Instagram.
Partnership ads for advertisers
Meta also expanded Marketing API support for partnership ads. “Partnership ads allow advertisers to run ads with creators, brands and other businesses. Advertiser and partner accounts are displayed in the ad header and ads utilize signals from both accounts for better rankings and additional performance,” Meta explained. “Advertisers can now use existing Instagram posts for partnership ads in placement asset customization and Advantage+ Creative when creating ads through the API. Additionally, partnership ads can now be used for click-to-message purposes,” as mentioned in Meta’s announcement.
Opportunities and challenges
Meta’s analysis of more than one million campaigns in the US found that when brands used Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, they achieved ROAS of $4.52, a 22% increase on average for first-time users. “We’ve seen that running partnership ads outperform campaigns with business-as-usual creative in driving incremental purchases with 96% confidence,” Meta said.
However, the shift to AI-based automation also poses challenges. Danny Weisman, head of planning at Noble People, stated, “In terms of acquisition cost, AI-enabled media buying is effective. But the shortcoming right now is on the creative side.” Weisman explained that Meta still requires companies to prepare various assets with different sizes, images, and text. “This puts a huge burden on creative agencies to produce various assets that can be mixed and matched in the algorithm,” he said.
The decision to automate much of the ad creation process at Meta has been criticized in light of “discussions about giving up control over ad placements and creative assets.” In the quarterly financial report in July 2024, CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed a vision that AI would help with all aspects of advertising, including creative development. Zuckerberg stated, “In the long run, advertisers will basically just be able to tell us business goals and budgets, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
Industry outlook
Derya Matras, Meta’s vice president for UK, Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, stated that AI will create a “greater need for agencies”. “There will be more need for agencies and because I also hear some anxiety in the industry about whether AI will take our jobs, I think definitely marketing is increasingly becoming a science. Now, even creativity is becoming a science,” he said, responding to Martin Sorrell’s comments about AI reducing the need for agencies.
Matras added that human and creative skills will become increasingly important as time-consuming “boring tasks” are replaced by technology. “It’s because of these tedious tasks that we don’t have time to prioritize brainstorming, strategic conversations, ideation and so on,” he said. “So those skills will definitely become very important because we will have more time to differentiate ourselves through the utilization of those skills.”
Nicola Mendelsohn, head of global business at Meta, stated that the tech company does not plan to take clients away from agencies. Instead, she said that AI capabilities can give smaller brands, which cannot afford to use large agencies, the ability to use the platform more effectively.
Meta’s move to launch AI in Indonesia is part of the company’s global strategy to increase user engagement and ad effectiveness. Mendelsohn stated, “Almost all of our advertisers are using one of our AI-powered tools and adoption of Advantage+ shopping campaigns continues to increase, revenue grew 70% YOY in Q4.”
With the launch of Meta AI and AI Studio, the company further strengthens its position in the Indonesian market, while offering solutions that can help local marketers and advertisers optimize their digital strategies in the age of artificial intelligence.
