With Instagram rolling out its new feature ‘Reels’ in mid-2020, following the ban of TikTok in India, the Instagram community began to use this feature extensively. With its short span of 15 – 30 seconds, reels was a new medium of entertainment, encapsulating the idea of instant gratification that social media has been famous for propagating. With reels doing incredibly well, along with Instagram’s constant effort to promote it, creators began to look to it as a huge platform for organic growth.
This new medium of entertainment proved to be incredibly beneficial to content creators, who were able to adapt to the new time limit well, setting trends and creating entertaining short content. Reels has established itself as a strong choice for any individual who would like to gain followers by an organic approach.
If you use the reels feature wisely, you will increase the engagement on your page, gain Instagram views, get Instagram followers, and get more Instagram likes. You could even have your reel chosen as one of the featured on Instagram’s reels section, which will further boost your page. Here, we list five ultimate tips for you to use in order to get the most out of Instagram’s reels feature.
Follow the Instagram Reels trends
The Instagram community follows certain specific trends. These are visible in the number of similar reels posted by well known content creators. By following this template of sorts, you can ensure that your reel will be viewed as audiences know what the trend is and thus will wait to see the complete reel.
Every topic of content has its niche on this social media platform, and in order for you to identify yourself as one of the members of this niche on the site, you need to post identifiable content that audiences can view and instantly connect you with. Thus, using these template trend video formats, you will be able to be easily be identified as a specific kind of page.
Use trending music
Just as in TikTok, the music features a major part of a video. If you choose a catchy song, there is a vaster probability that your content will do well. The viewer will remember the song, and keep playing it if they like, often viewing your reel to the end and not swiping to the next because the song that is playing is enjoyable for them. By using trending songs you also increase the chance that your reel may be featured.
Try using original audios of well-known pages, as these are trends that will be followed by a lot of other pages. People can discover your page then if they choose to click on the original audio, as all the videos using that audio comes up. This is a great way to increase your organic growth on your page and will help you be discovered by new pages who otherwise may not have clicked on your page.
Cross-Promote your reel
By promoting your reel on your story, you will gain views on it, as well as reach all your followers who could potentially re-story it. Additionally make sue your tag the individual whose trend the reel is in order for them to see it. By doing this, they will get a notification that you have storied it.
This may lead to them checking out your content and then putting up a story about the same, enabling you to reach out to all their followers. Reels has created anew sentiment of support amongst the Instagram community and in order to capitalise on it, you should try and reach out to more members of the community by following their trends, tagging them on your posts that are inspired by them and their work.
Add related hashtags
Use hashtags that will help get your reel featured. Using words in your hashtag that include Instagram Featured will give your reel more credibility.
By posting consistently and using hashtags that are relevant, while simultaneously tagging brands and individuals who have inspired your reel, it will help you get more views.
Don’t forget the medium
The form of entertainment that you are creating is a very short one. This means that it must be complete within the span of 15 to 30 seconds. You will only have to show your audience the most important details. For example, a recipe video should quickly glance across ingredients and the main important points. You can then list the actual detailed recipe in the caption and add the relevant hashtags.
Thus, keep your reels relevant and interesting while additionally being informative in a short period of time. It is imperative to not violate this medium and try to add too much or try to have no content at all, as it is easy to go both ways when it comes to this medium. Thus, try and strike a balance, where it isn’t invaluable to the viewer, but at the same time is not an informational overload.
Thus, you can use Instagram reels to your advantage, and promote your page in doing so. As Instagram itself is heavily promoting this medium of entertainment as it challenges TikTok, it has been featuring reels prominently on its site. It is helping creators bank on reels as a chief source of content creation, by giving them thousands of views on their reels by featuring them on other user’s pages.
Reels has emerged as the smartest and fastest way of organic growth on your Instagram page to increase your engagement and followers.
