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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, recently underwent a series of layoffs that affected various business and operating units. This downsizing has left employees with low morale, painting a bleak picture of the company.

Furthermore, there are reports indicating that Meta is scaling back its metaverse ambitions and toning down its advertising pitch for the metaverse.

Are you curious to learn about the latest developments at this tech giant and its future plans to maintain its leadership position in the realm of social media?

In this blog article, we will unravel:

• The recent setbacks faced by Meta.
• The strategies implemented by management to reverse the situation.
• The company’s latest qualitative & quantitative analysis.

During the tech downturn, Meta’s announcement of job cuts painted a bleak picture. Three rounds of layoffs in November 2022, March 2023, and May 2023 affected 21,000 jobs, primarily non-engineering roles.

This, combined with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shift away from metaverse ambitions towards artificial intelligence (AI), has created a negative perception of the company.

Reports indicated that Meta has transitioned from emphasizing metaverse promotion to advertisers and has shifted its focus towards prioritizing AI tools.

For that reason, Wall Street has responded positively, as Meta’s share price has been rising on the promise of AI.

The chart below illustrates the performance of various tech companies’ share prices since October 2022 (all values rebased to 100).

In the upcoming segment, we will delve into Meta’s future plans and strategies to navigate a new course using AI.

Upon Zuckerberg’s initial announcement in 2021, he expressed great enthusiasm for the metaverse‘s future, so much so that he rebranded the company from Facebook to Meta.

However, after two years have passed, news surrounding the metaverse has gradually lost momentum and deviated from its original vision. Despite this, Zuckerberg remains steadfast in asserting the company’s dedication to the metaverse.

Meta now emphasizes a dual focus on both AI and the metaverse, with Zuckerberg emphasizing that constructing the metaverse is a long-term undertaking requiring the assistance of AI to become a reality.

As such, Meta announced their latest virtual reality headset, named Meta Quest 3 in June 2023. Users can now use the headset to play games and connect with friends in the virtual world.

Meta has redirected its focus towards launching generative AI advertising tools, notably Meta Advantage+, to harness the power of artificial intelligence.

Meta Advantage+ is an innovative product ad solution that leverages AI to personalize ad templates for each user based on customer data. This streamlined approach accelerates the ad production process, enabling businesses to effectively target specific customer segments and drive sales using Meta’s data.

By utilizing AI-generated ads, manual tasks are eliminated, freeing business owners from the need to create individual ads for every item. Here’s an overview of the process flow:

To initiate the process, business owners will begin by setting up their catalog and subsequently categorizing their target audience as either Broad Audiences or Retargeting.

• Broad Audiences – Target customers not yet purchased from the business but have shown similar interest in brands similar to the products & services offered.
• Retargeting – Customer who have expressed interest in specific products on your website to encourage purchase.

The company presents augmented reality as an enticing option to advertisers, showcasing new AR Reels Ads and Facebook Stories. Users can effortlessly experience the products through augmented reality on their phones, enhancing their shopping experience.