Instagram Reels is an increasingly popular outlet for creators and brands alike. You can “reel” in more business by expressing your brand’s creativity and personality, expanding your reach within your current audience as well as users outside of your immediate following. Ready to set yourself apart from your competitors with this innovative, fun new way to connect with your customers?
Announced as a new Instagram channel in August of 2020 and available in 50 countries, Reels are Instagram’s answer to other social platforms’ (TikTok™ being the most popular) functionality of letting users create short, original videos for wide audiences. It differs from other, more long-form Instagram channels like Stories and IGTV in a key way—Reels are bite-sized, entertaining and meant for quick consumption. This more digestible format has been eagerly pounced upon by early adopters like influencers, celebrities and professional sports teams, who have been quick to recognize that creating short, original content successfully generates bigger engagement with fans and users.
So, what exactly is a Reel?
Basically, it’s a 3- to 30-second video made for quick consumption that you create within the Instagram app or upload from your phone camera to the app, then post to your feed, along with a short caption. These videos can be filmed in shorter segments to be part of a series, similar to Instagram Stories, or they can be shot in one take. In our Part 2 of this series, we’ll get into more details about how to create your very own Reel, but you can add music/audio, adjust the speed and add filters to your video, as well as create smooth transitions between videos if you’re filming a series for one Reel.
What kind of content is being posted on Reels?
That, of course, differs widely depending on who’s doing the posting. NBA teams like the Memphis Grizzlies might post an impressive on-court play or a player’s enthused reaction to scoring a basket—these kind of Reels cater to rabid fans as well as curious users. Influencer, author, and director of fashion partnerships at Instagram Eva Chen uses Reels to show off her and her kids’ fun fashion moments. Additionally, world-class brands like Apple, Glossier and Nordstrom create simple demos on Reels to showcase how their products are meant to be used.
The average user tends to use Reels in much the same way as TikTok—to post videos of themselves dancing or lip-syncing to popular music tracks. In fact, the brand new split-screen feature, Reels Remix, is similar to TikTok Duets and Snapchat Spotlight, allowing users to more easily collab with each other. They can duet, joke or interact with friends in fun ways or instantly react to another user’s Reel—the goal with Remix is to create a more engaging social networking experience.
What purpose can Reels serve for your brand, company or enterprise?
Are there meaningful ways in which Reels can help strategically raise your profile, attract more clients and, ultimately, market your brand and build bigger business more effectively? The answer is all of the above.
Show off your personality
Because of the unique, bite-sized video format of Reels, it allows personalities to shine through, especially if a business has a unique selling point. You have to get creative in order to curate compelling content in such a small amount of time, which creates the opportunity for a brand to present itself in more authentic ways. Whether it’s using the transitions to create a series of “behind-the-scenes” glimpses of a service, product demos or for a homebuilder to provide virtual walk-throughs of homes and apartments with pertinent details like square footage as accompanying text, the possibilities are endless.
More opportunities for engagement
There are several different ways to increase your followers’ (and potential new followers’) exposure to your business with Reels.
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- Placement – Your Reels will be housed within the film clapboard icon on your home screen under your Stories, of course, for anyone to view. However, you can also have them featured on the Explore tab to expand your reach.
- Adding a unique hashtag can also help get more engagement, since doing a hashtag search with your hashtag will pull up your Reel.
- Frequency – The Instagram algorithm rewards accounts for frequently using their platforms, so the more Reels you post, the better your engagement will likely be.
- Make it a post – Finally, be sure to also make your Reel a post in your feed; that way, it can live in two places on your Instagram page and double its exposure to existing followers and potential new ones.
The fact that there are multiple ways to showcase and promote your Reels should help motivate you to start creating content, because the chances new users will see it become significantly higher. That’s great news for your business!
Be perceived as an early adopter
Brands and companies who have a divining rod for emerging social platforms win—and win big. They’re seen as in-the-know, adaptable, relevant. Just think of Oreo’s buzzworthy Super Bowl Tweet from 2013—back when Twitter was just gaining steam—that remains one of the best examples of an effective, real-time marketing effort and went hugely viral (by most industry pundits, it was considered to have “won” Super Bowl over actual paid-for TV commercials and ads).
Or, when H&M, an official sponsor of the Coachella Music Fest, leveraged Snapchat to showcase their booth’s virtual catwalk, where festivalgoers were styled in Coachella-inspired H&M clothes and accessories, chose a motion graphic background and walked or danced on a treadmill. The result was a creative 6-second, high-def video that appeared to be them walking a runway against a vibrant, colorful background. They were encouraged to post their videos to Snapchat—huge with millennial audiences, which make up a majority of Coachella-goers—and other social platforms. The experience elevated the H&M brand’s perception as cool, trendy and youthful.
Since Reels is starting to gain traction amongst many Instagram users, this is a great time to leverage the channel and connect with potential customers. More and more, users crave unique video content on social platforms, especially with pandemic restrictions hampering in-person experiences like home tours and live events, so giving them the virtual equivalent can position you as an early adopter and expose your brand to all-new audiences.
Stay tuned for our Part 2 on Reels, where we’ll show you how to create your very own Reel. In the meantime, happy exploring!
Ready to put the power of Reels to work for your brand? Let’s talk strategy for getting you there! Connect with Barbara at barbara@wickmarketing.com or (512) 479-9834.
