DO YOU REEL-Y LIKE IT?
Reels, the hows and whys to their success on Instagram.
MAY 2022
Reels, the hows and whys to their success on Instagram.
In August 2020, Instagram launched its reel feature as an attempt to compete against our market leading video sharing platform, TikTok.
Instagram has been giving a lot of organic boosts to their users through Reels, which eventually leads to the growth of these Instagram accounts. Using the right strategies and capturing the algorithm, you can substantially increase your engagement through the use of video.
We’ve taken the liberty to map out some helpful methods to get more views on your reels and become present on your social platforms.
Four Ways To Improve Engagement Using Instagram Reels
01. Post Valuable Content & Post It Regularly
Obviously, content is key when it comes to any social media platform and that is no different for reels. However it is a good idea to offer your viewers some sort of value to your content, like “how to’s” or “hints/tips” often perform well on video content. Depending on your niche, find out what other people in your industry/area of expertise are posting and replicate those reels with your own points to keep it fresh and appropriate to your audience. Avoid overflowing your users with information, keep it short and sweet!
Consistency is equally as important in the “reel world”. When you are posting more and more content, you have better chances to show up on the reels feed as it tells the algorithm that you are actively using the feature ~ but always make sure to maintain consistency with the content you post!
02. Use Trending Sounds
While the algorithm for Reels is still up for debate, it looks like the Explore Feed curates a mix of trending content as selected by their content creators and content based on who you follow, the content you like and where you’re located. Using the sounds that are on this Explore Feed for your own content will automatically provide the reel with more exposure meaning it is more likely to catch onto the algorithm and increase your views.
Look for the upward arrow symbol next to the sound
There’s now a handy icon that shows up on trending music if you’re watching Reels on mobile. If it’s a song on the rise, you’ll see a little arrow pointing up and to the right, next to the song name.
Snoop for sounds on TikTok
With the effortlessly cool Gen Z kids using TikTok more than any other platform, this is often where trending songs can be found! Songs will quite often go viral on TikTok before trickling over to Reels. TikTok also has a trending page that will sometimes pop up in your notifications if you have a business account. If you don’t have a TikTok account already it is worth getting one even if it is just to jump on trends.
Trending reel/TikTok playlists on Spotify
Another hack for finding trending music on Reels is Spotify! They have playlists put together for songs that are trending on Reels and TikTok. These aren’t always THE most up to date, but can be a good source of inspo if you’re feeling particularly stuck.
03. Caption Your Content
Like a killer headline can make clicking irresistible, captions can make watching inevitable. For example, your captions are another chance at a headline and it’s likely the first thing your audience will see.
No matter how talented you are as a visual marketer, it’s harder to inspire curiosity with an image than it is with text.
With captions, Instagram videos become searchable. Users can search for keywords that appear in the reel captions rather than being restricted to searching for hashtags. This searchability will inevitably drive more people to your business profile, leading to organic growth.
Need I say more?
04. Hashtags
Now, people are saying hashtags are not as effective as they once were. However, as a social media content creator, I highly disagree.
Hashtags might not work for a page with a big following, but adding some trending hashtags is always a good idea if you are a beginner, it also ensures you are showing up in the right places (they are particularly useful for smaller businesses, I even found my eyelash technician via an instagram hashtag “#cheltenhamlashes”!
So, always make sure to add only relevant hashtags to your reels that really correspond to your content. Also, remember to use a few of the most popular hashtags that have over a million followers, and you are good to go.
You can even use online Instagram hashtag generator tools to generate the best-suited and trending hashtags, I would recommend the queen of hashtag tools ~ www.best-hashtags.com.
To conclude this REEL-Y insightful blog, we hope you are feeling confident enough to go away and start to create your own reels whilst hopefully catching onto that algorithm!
Check out our reels HERE
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