It’s no surprise that Instagram is trying to capture some of the audience that TikTok has encapsulated this past year. Social media accounts have been thriving on short form video content more than ever. The introduction of IG Reels is a massive play by Adam Mosseri to bring back some of the relevance Instagram has slowly been losing to TikTok over the last 18 months.
Gen Z along with Millennials are eating up video content hovering around the 10-30 second mark more so than ever. If your business doesn’t necessarily want to make the leap to TikTok, there is a solution that you can implement today if your business already has an Instagram page.
What are Instagram Reels?
If you have the most updated version of Instagram, the central button at the bottom of your screen is now home to the Reels Explore Page. The layout is similar to TikTok in being fairly minimalistic, and having the ability to like/comment/share. But most importantly, the viewer only sees a singular piece of content before scrolling and seeing another video.
This is incredibly important because it provides influencers and businesses the ability to give viewers a conscious decision to watch through, or skip over a piece of content. Yes, the amount of content is seemingly endless, but it’s not a fluid scroll similar to your usual feed on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. In other words, if your content is relevant, and entertaining, people are going to watch what you have to put out.
Why Should I Utilize Reels?
The most effective way to build up your follower base is to start posting Reels. Plain and simple. There is just too much potential inventory out there in multitudes of niches for any business to not try and post unique 15 second clips onto their feed. In fact, the same hashtag strategies that we have blogged about previously still work incredibly well when complimented by posting Reels.
TikTok has well over a billion users that are consuming “micro-content” on a daily basis. However, with how new IG Reels are, there aren’t a lot of creators taking advantage of this highly similar format. Which is why you and your business have a phenomenal opportunity right at your fingertips.
How to Post Effective Reels Content
Your Reels need to be able to achieve two separate things with two separate audiences. You must be able to reach both current and potential followers by being relevant and engaging inside your niche/industry. Now this isn’t a guarantee that your posts will suddenly go viral and you will start seeing massive follower growth. This process is much more of a marathon rather than a sprint.
Instagram’s follower loyalty is unparalleled compared to other platforms. TikTok accounts with over 500k followers will sometimes only have 2-5% of their follower base see their content. However, on Instagram your follower reach is going to be closer to 40%. The leverage that you can get with your audience on Instagram is what allows quality reels to truly bring in large amounts of new people to follow, and more importantly, engage with your brand.
here are 7 quick tips for you to get started on posting your first Reel:
- Keep your posts between 11-18 seconds to maximize average watch time without losing your audience.
- Utilize 2-4 broad hashtags and 1-2 niche specific hashtags at the end of every caption.
- Keep your captions under 65 characters. Get the point across sooner rather than later!
- Hook your audience within the first 2 seconds of your video so you can grab their attention immediately.
- ALWAYS post your reels to your feed. This is critical to maximizing your views and reach.
- Don’t stress on view count within the first few days of posting. Some Reels will be recycled by the IG algorithm and provide a “delayed explosion” of new views, likes, and followers!
- Utilize captions, music, and other Reels features with every video. Show off the technology Instagram provides you and they are more than likely going to repay you for it.
