Tips to Make Reels on Instagram for Your Business

Social media has played a major role in changing the buying funnel into a platform your customers use to search out products and services. Instagram is among the fastest-growing social platforms. It has one billion monthly active users and 500 million daily users. That means plenty of potential customers!

As a business, you need to always stay ahead of your customers. But you need to see where your customers are, not where you want them to be. If you have thousands of active monthly users, you can be sure that a significant portion of your customers is on Instagram. Integrate this with the mere fact that video content fosters more engagement, connection, and trust. And so, you will see why Instagram Reels have become a marketing tool for businesses.

Instagram Reel sizes

Like Stories, Reels are a mobile-first format, designed to require up to a full vertical screen. The recommended ratio for Reels is 9:16 and therefore the recommended size is 1080 x 1920 pixels. If you’re creating Reels on the go and recording your video footage using the Reels camera, you can stop worrying about your file size. Double-check that your files are in the proper size and dimension. Because if your Reels include uploaded images, they might be cropped or blurry.

You can create/edit your videos using the Reel app or any other video editing app that you prefer. It all depends on what type of videos you are creating for your content. Here are some tips and guides to help you create the most outstanding Reels for your business. 

Use closed captions and music 

Every time you use music in your Reel, your video gets discovered more by that specific song’s tag. It is the same concept as hashtags but with more discoverability and outreach. And since there are lots of users that don’t keep their sound on, it’s good to place your closed captions. This way even if they are just scrolling through the Reels, they can still engage with it. 

Tag relevant accounts

In the Instagram world tagging other accounts is very encouraged. By putting your content on someone else’s account, you ensure that you get more outreach. Because there's a high likelihood for them to share your content with their followers. You can do this not only with your Reels but rather with any Instagram content. 

Push Reels to your feed

You can use the Reel platform to post your Reels organically. That being said, it will automatically show up in your Reels tab. Alternatively, you can publish your Reel directly on your own feed. To make sure that your audience is engaging with your Reel, you better publish it to your feed. This will also allow you to create and promote more content on your account. 

In addition, when you want to use words and phrases in your video, try to place them in the center of your video as much as you can. But always keep in mind to do so without hiding out the most important parts of your video. Once you share your Reel to your feed, it'll naturally get cropped because the ratios for posts and Reels are different.

Share behind-the-scenes content

Behind-the-scenes content helps your Instagram followers understand what your brand is about and why you are selling whatever that you’re selling. It’s pleasant, it builds both trust and relationships.

Some behind-the-scenes ideas you'll be able to try:

• Share how you decide on materials for your product
• Share the method of constructing your products
• Share the day-to-day activities of  your team
• Share your brand story—how you came up with your business idea and what you’ve been through to make it work. 

Repost old Stories and posts and recreate them into Reels

To keep high engagement on your content, most content creators re-share their old posts and stories.  With Reels, you can basically take your older posts and share them in a 15-30 second video for Instagram reels. For instance, if you simply recently traveled somewhere as a business or have some pictures from a task or freelance job you simply completed. You'll combine all of these photos into one video and post them on your feed.  

Use Instagram Reels ads

Starting in 2021, Instagram allowed its advertisers the option to choose Reels as a placement for their Instagram ads. These ads support advertising objectives like brand awareness, reach, traffic, app installs, video views, and conversions. Reels ads offer brands a replacement thanks to reaching targeted audiences after they are scrolling through Reels with the mindset of engaging with the content. So it’s no wonder that several brands are already experimenting with ad placement. Add titles to your Reel cover photos Titling your Reels also gives your Instagram followers a sense of what types of content you post. When someone navigates to your Reels tab, make it easy for them to pick which Reel they require to look at. You can use titles such as Useful tips? Inspiring landscapes? Company culture? Etc…

Add titles to your Reel cover photos

Titling your Reels also gives your Instagram followers a sense of what types of content you post. When someone navigates to your Reels tab, make it easy for them to pick which Reel they require to look at. You can use titles such as Useful tips? Inspiring landscapes? Company culture? Etc…

Film yourself giving tips

You can provide three short tips, one extensive tip, or a preview of an extended video that you will post soon. Look at the keywords you target in blog posts and FAQs from customers and prospects. Also, look at other videos that have performed well in your social media marketing endeavors. You won’t believe what amount of content you'll come up with just by answering questions your customers ask you on an everyday basis.

Share customer testimonials or success stories

You can ask a number of your most loyal customers to make 15 to 30 seconds videos explaining why they love working with you. Reviews are among the most well-performing content on social media. Especially when they are in video formats like Instagram Reels. Your followers can always go back and watch your Reel to make sure they’re getting the best out of your business. 

Upload your TikTok videos to Reels

Did you simply post a video to TikTok? you'll be able to literally post that very same video to your Instagram Reels as well! Just confirm it’s your original 30-second version of these videos (TikTok allows 60 seconds), otherwise you can cut the 60-second video into two Reels—only if it is smart to chop it. By doing so you can cross-pollinate both platforms and gain more user engagement. 

Track Instagram Reels analytics

To understand if your Reels are hitting the mark and fascinating your audience, you ought to keep track of their performance. Instagram makes this easy for Businesses and Creators accounts to access Reels analytics in Instagram Insights.

Reels-specific performance metrics include:

• Accounts Reached: This metric tells you the way many unique Instagram users viewed your Reel at least one time.
• Plays: this is often the number of times your Reel has been played. It can be over the number of accounts reached, since some users may watch your Reel more than one time. 
• Likes: This metric shows you the number of users who liked your Reel.
• Comments:  the number of comments on each Ree you have on your feed. And this is also a good measure to test your user engagement. Because people comment when they really like or dislike your content.
• Saves: This shows you the number of times your Reel was bookmarked. Saving something increases your content outreach in the long run. Because users who might not have the time to watch your Reel will save it and watch it later.
• Shares: This shows how many times Instagram users shared your Reel to their story or sent it directly to a different user.

In Insights, you'll research the performance of individual Reels also you will see how the format is contributing to the general performance of your account.

Conclusion

Successful Reels are likely to be featured on the Explore page—a place where 50% of Instagram accounts use for monthly discovery. If your Reel is shown on this page, you've got a great chance to show your brand to new followers. So if big brand names are using Reels from day one, and if you’re already using Instagram for your business, then why not give Reels a try?

Think this way: many brands are successful on TikTok because they show their human side and withhold from being perfect all the time, which is precisely what TikTok users want to see on their feed. 

So, attempt to maintain the identical level of authenticity in your Reels. target originality and fun, instead of the standard for your videos. It may well be highlighting staff individuality or bringing a normal aspect of your brand to life through music and motion. Doing this can result in high engagement for your Reels videos.

The button line is, stay genuine, and don’t make your content too explicitly salesy!