Instagram is really favoring reels right now in terms of pushing you in front of the algorithm. And that can explode your reach, can benefit your engagement, as you get more likes and comments, and also can help increase your number of followers.
IG reels give more visibility to your profile, people who don’t follow you get to see your 15-90 seconds video, engage with it, check your profile, and even follow you.
Before going deep,
let’s start with the basics. I have a lot of people asking me what exactly are reels, why are they different than stories? How do they work?
First of all, reels are different from stories. Stories are only for people who are following you. They only last 24h and it’s a great way to communicate with your followers, to show them some behind the scene stuff.
Reels are shown on your follower’s feed, but not only, as Instagram is pushing reels now more than any other content available on its platform. IG reels are the best way to get in front of new people on IG right now. Reels give you more visibility to your profile because people who don’t follow you can see your reels, engage with you and follow your account. Also, reels won’t disappear after 24h, they will be on your page forever, just like usual posts.
Tips for creating amazing reels:
1) Search and use viral Tik-Tok content as your key inspiration: when you are looking at content that’s viral on Tik-Tok it increases the chances that this content will do just as well on IG.
That doesn’t mean just copying the Tik-Tok video! There was a time when people just uploaded Tik-Tok videos, with Tik-Tok logo. Of course, IG got real upset and you can’t do that anymore. But you can use audio that is viral on Tik- Tok and create your own video (crypto tips using viral rap music; use a viral dance from Tik-Tok and create a dance with your team and make a post about working in your business with your team). You can actually save the sound from one video and use it to make your own Tik-Tok. But why we are talking about Tik-Tok when I’ve just said that IG doesn’t want Tik-Tok videos transformed into reels? Because you can use all viral things from Tik-Tok, create the video itself on Tik-Tok, and then upload it on IG WITHOUT Tik-Tok logo. Some people say Tik-Tok inspiration for IG Reels doesn’t work anymore and some make great videos after finding some nice ideas on Tik-Tok.
When it comes to making reels using existing content, you have 2 options: recreate for yourself using viral audio or repost what goes well in your niche - show appreciation, give credit for quality content, share to your community and grow your community.
Search for people in your niche and get inspired. Don’t copy them, just see what kind of content works better for them and see if it could work around for you if you adjust it.
Disclaimer: not every viral thing from Tik-Tok is going to explode your IG reach, but if you tailor them well to suit your content, they will maximize your results.
2) Post regularly - consistency is the key in reels too.
Post twice per week, once every 2 days, every day, twice or more a day.
The more you post, the more chances you get that the algorithm is going to pick up your content. Establish a rule and, just like you schedule your posting, schedule your reels as well. It can be pretty scary in the beginning, to make that 15 - 90 sec video, but after the first one, you’ll gonna see it’s not that hard. Also, you can prepare the script in advance for more videos (music, context, lines) and save it to your archive. You can pick up one later and edit it and post it.
3) Don’t forget to write attractive captions, with useful tips & tricks for your audience - that will increase the chances of someone engaging and saving your reel - and this counts big for the IG algorithm. A good video will make people look, and then walk away but not necessarily engage, share it or save it for later. A good video and a great caption will help you get that and IG will see your content as one that a lot of people like and push it into explore page - where you can reach a great number of likes or comments.
4) Cover text is really important - choose the right cover text for your reel, so you caption the attention of your audience. For example, you’re in the fitness/weight loss industry and you make a reel about low-calorie coffee drinks. Put a cover text that sounds like “coffee to go under 100 calories” and you’ll get more reach than not putting any text or putting any other random text.
Also, have you heard the saying “the first impression is very important”? This goes for IG reels as well. Choose the image that you want to appear before your video actually starts. How to do that? When you upload your IG reels there’s an option to choose a cover: choose one from your video or upload one from your camera. I would go for the second one because you can create great, original ones that suit better with the reel.
5)Analyze how your reel worked and double on that. If your reel worked better than your average posts, don’t go back to posting. Create a similar reel and post it in the near future. With reels, is not only your followers that will see your content and get tired of it. In fact, new people are going to see that and engage with you.
6)Use broad trends on IG - all you have to do is scroll on the reels feed and you’re going to see the same post type or audio over and over again. These are the broad trends, these are the things you should hop on them! Change it into your niche or hop on them and not making specific to your niche at all, if your account type allows you to do that (for ex, a personal account or a beauty influencer account can make a reel with a viral dance).
7) Length does matter - IG reels have a duration of 15 sec, 30 sec, 60 sec, or even 90 sec. I saw that not all countries have this last one or even not all phone types in the same country. The good news is you might not even need it. Research studies show that
the most viral posts on IG reels are between 7-11 sec long. Now, I don’t say you should make only reels of 7-9 sec. Test different lengths to see what works better for you, test the 10 sec,the 15 sec, the 30 sec, all of it and
see what gets you better reach and engagement. If you have a business account and you want to offer some tips to your potential clients, a video of 7 seconds won’t be enough. Use what works best for you and get the best from those seconds.
8) Create your reels using IG editing options or using 3rd party apps for filming and editing. You can do all the process, creating and editing, within the IG app or 3rd party apps, which will give you more control and customizability, letting you to be more creative with your editing, allowing you to create more professional reels.
How to create reels on IG app?
There are a few ways you can get access: open app, swipe from left to right, you’ll be in IG camera and choose reels from down options; open app, hit + button in the upper right and then select reels from the bottom; open app and select the dedicated reels button down in the middle of the screen.
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After making the video, you have a preview button, watch it an click next, where you find new features: also share on Feed, crop, tag people, rename audio, add location & fundraiser, recommend on FB. If you have a video in your gallery, go to reels, down left you have a + button, that takes you to gallery, where you can import your video. Be sure it’s the right length for reels. Also, you have the same features as when using IG Story, add text, stickers, GIF’s, effects, voiceover, music.
If you want to give
a more professional touch, you can use 3rd party app for creating your reels, like FilMiC Pro, or for editing them, like VN Video Editor, CapCut (free), Kinemaster, Lumafusion, for advanced.
Disclaimer: I’m not affiliate, this is not commercial. These are some of the tools that I’ve discovered and worked for me.
Mistakes to avoid when creating and posting reels:
1.Not using pop-up text - have in mind that when people see your reel first, it’s muted, so pop-up text helps them understand what your video is about with or without audio.
Caption their attention and tell them what they are going to get out of the video, you increase the chances of them watching the entire video and following you.
2.Misplacing the text - that happens mostly when editing outside the IG app because you don’t have the lines that guide your reel dimension, so you don’t know where to add the text. That’s why t
he texts ends cutting off at the top or cutting off at the bottom, is hidden behind the caption, the likes, comm section. And that is very annoying for your viewers. How can you correct that? Use or add the text inside the app. When you are an expert and can approximate the box, you can do it in your editing app, but always check it before posting.
3.Using too much text - this is a mistake I see a lot. Pop-up text should be short and easy to reed.
Give your viewers enough time to read before the texts disappears, don’t chase them, it’s really annoying and they won’t have any patience to watch any of your reels.
4.Too much crop - IG Reels are designed to be viewed as 9:16 ratio, 1080 px (width) and 1920 px (height) dimension, or vertically full screen, which is exact the same format as IG Stories. But when reels appear in the newsfeed, they are dispayed in a 4:5 ratio, known as portrait, with 1080px x 1035px. What does this mean? In the newsfeed, your reel will be cropped 15% the top and 15% the bottom. So you have to be sure any text is in this dimension and also that your head is fully in the video and not cropped, as I've seen. Also, you wanna watch out for Reel thumbnails: the same thumbnail will appear in the gallery of your profile, 1:1 aspect, like a square, and the second one within the IG Reels Gallery, also within your profile, but as a 9:16 ratio. So, always, pay attention to these sizes, making sure your video, with text and all, fits well in all sizes.
People decide in less than 3 sec if they wanna watch your reel or skip, so first impression really matters. The little things, like just enough text or fitting in the video (not cutting half of your face) do matter.
5.Sticking to your niche - make your reels inside your niche: find and establish your niche, search for 2-3 sub-niches around that and make all your reels (posts, as well) in that area. For example, if my niche is IG Marketing, sub-niches available would be IG Growth, Engagement, Business Strategy or Brand Collab - posting in these sub-niches makes it easier for IG to categorize my account and push my content to the right people.
Also, have in mind that posting reels that have nothing to do with your niche, might actually be damaging for your growing. Let’s say I post a reel with me relaxing in vacation with a viral audio on it. What happens is that my reel is available for new people and when they see that, they will see a vacation/travel reel, they won’t see me for my expertise in growing IG. What I can do is to keep the audio, the video and write some tips to keep your IG accounts active while in vacation. This way people will appreciate my real for it’s travel vibe, but will also found the info useful and will be more tempted to engage , check my profile and even follow.
6.Trying to go viral - if you focus only on going viral and you forget about your audience, that’s a good recipe to fail. You found a viral video that inspired you for the next reel. Before creating it/posting it, think if it’s relevant to your niche, if it’s somewhere near your constant posting. If you are posting 100 posts about cardiology and then post a reel about banana bread and one about crypto crash, your viewers will be confused. They will look at your profile with posts about cardiology and won’t be able to understand anything. They will not bother to figure out that your constant topic is cardiology and the other ones were just trendy ones. They will leave without engaging, without following.
7.Video quality - As discussed above, IG use its own compressor to fit your video into their dimension. Be sure to remove all logo - and I’m not talking about the one on your shirt. Remove logo from Tik-Tok or from any other app you used to create or edit your video. Use a good quality camera and pay attention to the dimensions we’ve discussed earlier. Before making the reel, test with some short recordings to see if you’re close enough, if the light is good ( you don’t wanna look like a ghost or a Christmas tree, right?), if the sound is good, if there’s any funky stuff behind you while fit you fit right in all IG Reels sizes.
8.Overthinking it -
reels don’t have to be perfect, they don’t have to go viral - save audio heard more than 3 times on reels - it’s ok if you don’t have any idea right away on what to do with it. Don’t think too much, save it and you’ll see later how to do it.
9.Call To Action - not putting CTA like “follow for more IG tips”, “follow me for part 2”, “if you agree with this like and follow”. Your mission with IG reels is to attract new followers, but how do you keep them?
Make a call to action, let them know there’s more useful info on your profile.
Why your reels aren’t getting you new followers?
You post reels as often as almost daily and you still aren’t satisfied with the number of new followers? Here are some things you should pay attention to:
-
your conversion rate. How do you know what is your conversion rate?
Well, there is
a formula for that and I’m about to share it:
(Number of follows - in the last 30 days : number of profile visits - in the last 30 days ) x 100 = conversion rate
Let’s say my number of follows for the last 30 days is 1000 and my profile visits for the same period are 5000:
(1000:5000=0.2) x 100 = 20% - that is my conversion rate.
There’s no rule, but as long as you have
a 10% or greater conversion rate, that is great.
If you have under 10% rate, this is one reason why your reels don’t help you grow. You need to work on increasing that conversing rate.
- are you posting good and consistently? Make a schedule and work on it.
Don’t post 10 reels and expect a miracle. Some people will find you at reel no. 50 and that’s the number your IG growth could explode. Keep posting!
- are you topically consistent? Always be sure to choose a niche for your account, even for personal accounts. Let’s say you like to travel an you have amazing videos from vacations, use them to make reels and research hashtags related to #travelling. People in this niche are more likely to engage with your reels and follow you than people who are in crypto niche, for ex.
But if you post a fashion related reel, let’s say - people go look at your profile, but they see that your bio, content is not fashion related - they won’t follow you.
Variety is good, but
if your goal is growth you will grow quicker if you niched/sub-niched your account - people in the same niche are more likely to engage and follow.
- account audit - Look at your account and ask yourself if, just by looking at it, you can tell what you do, what you wanna be known for, what value you provide? Do you offer meditation tips? You are a nutritionist and fitness coach? Is it obviously, just by looking at your account, why people should follow you? Would you follow yourself?
Least, but not last, don't forget y
ou can make good money with reels using IG Bonuses. This feature is only available for business and creator accounts on Instagram and not in all countries yet. How much can you expect to get paid from Instagram's Reels Play Bonuses? That varies significantly depending on the Play Bonus you've been given. At the end of 2021, some Reels users reported getting
$1,200 for reaching 1 million views — and up to $35,000 for getting 58 million views. Not bad at all if you think about it!
These are some tips I’ve used myself and for my clients that helped us expand our communities and grow the engagement. I really hope you find it useful and try it yourself.
Now that you’ve been patient and read all this, I imagine you’re with your IG app open, to test all we’ve talked about. Remember, IG reel is the best shot for your growth right now, so why not take a good one?
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