Instagram Reels

Are you using Reels yet? If not, you definitely should be! Not only do they have a heap of amazing benefits, but they are super fun to make! This is your chance to let your creative spark shine. 

If you’re still a little new to the Reels game, don’t stress! We’re here to give you the ins and outs of Instagram Reels.

How it Works

Let’s begin with how they actually work. To create a Reel, all you have to do is click the plus button in the top bar of the main feed, click the Reel option, and then get creating! There’s a heap of tools available under the Reels feature to help you create your reel. These tools include audio, AR effects, timer & countdown, align, and speed. 

Audio – Search through the Instagram music library to find a sound that fits your Reel perfectly. You can also add your own audio by simply recording a reel with it. 

AR Effects – IG has a heap of different AR effects that you can add to your Reel to give it a bit of extra flair!

Timer & Countdown – Record your clips hands-free by utilising the timer and countdown feature. Once you press record, you’ll see a countdown timer before the recording begins for the selected time.

Align – To create seamless transitions, you can easily line up objects from previous clips before recording the next clip.

Speed – You can choose to speed up or slow down part of the video or audio you selected. This is great for staying on beat with music or creating slow-mo videos. 

If you’re not sure where to start when creating Reels, check out the tips or the video we’ve included in this blog. 

Why You Should Add Reels to Your Content Strategy

As mentioned earlier, Reels have many great benefits. They are a quick and convenient way to engage with your audience. Some of the really key benefits of Reels are:

Better visibility – Yeah Stories and normal posts are great, but why not add another content option in the mix? This provides you with another way to reach your target audience. 

Better shareability – Unlike Stories, Reels won’t disappear after 24 hours. Users are able to view and share Reels whenever they like. (Side note – you can totally reshare your Reels to your Stories as well!)

Better discoverability – Public Reels appear in the Discovery tab, exposing your content to users outside of your current followers. Alongside this, Reels also appear in the pages dedicated to the songs, hashtags or the effects added to the video (similar to TikTok).

Another reason why you should consider getting on board with Reels is the changing consumer consumption habits. Short-form video content has completely taken over social media platforms in the last couple of years! This is thanks to the rise of TikTok. This means that people are really enjoying video content that is short and easy to consume, e.g. TikTok clips or IG Reels. 

Tips for Creating Reels

Now that we’ve got through all the technical stuff, let’s get to the fun stuff! If you want to give Reels a go, but don’t know where to start, check out the tips below.

1. Showcase products

Reels are great for showing off your products! Use Reels to showcase the benefits of your product or show people how your products work. You can get really creative with this too by using catchy captions and AR overlays. 

2. Find your niche & stick to it

One of the best ways to gain virality on IG Reels is by finding out what your niche is and posting consistently. There’s a heap of people on Instagram, all with different interests and hobbies. Find what works for your business and stick to it. For example, if you’re a skincare brand you might post skincare tips. If your first few Reels don’t gain much traction, don’t stop! Just like anything, it’s all about trial and error!

3. Provide helpful tips

You know we love sharing a heap of tips on our IG account, and that’s because it’s such an engaging type of content! These tips can be about your service/products or addressing problems that your customers are facing. You can make these Reels super fun too by including effects and following trendy video ideas.

4. Use eye-catching covers

When creating Reels you can include a Reel cover. This is what people first see when they look at your Reels in your feed. First impressions are important, right? So make people want to click on your Reel by creating Reel covers that are eye-catching. If you want some inspo for this, head over to our Instagram page to check out our Reels!

5. Check out trending content

Our biggest tip of all, check out other people’s content! There are a lot of creative people out there that come out with some really awesome trends. Some of these trends are easily applicable to showcasing products/services, so we definitely recommend checking out the latest trends for inspo! 

Creating Reels on your phone can be a bit difficult, so we often use Canva. Never heard of Canva before? It’s a graphic design platform with a whole heap of amazing templates to create virtually anything you could think of! We love it because it makes the design process much easier. To help you guys out, we’ve created a super handy guide to show you how creating Reels on Canva works. If you want to check it out, sign up here!