Using Instagram Reels for your business.

Already familiar with Instagram Reels? To grow well as a business on social media, it’s important to keep up with the latest trends. Instagram Reels is a trend that’s been available for a while now, but is still very popular. On top of that, Instagram rewards accounts that use its newest developments. In this blog post, we’ll tell you how you can use Instagram Reels for your business.

What is Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels is a new video format from Instagram that’s very similar to the app TikTok. With Instagram Reels you can post videos between 15 and 30 seconds. With Reels, just like with Stories, you can use gifs, text and stickers. (Well-known) music is also made available to add under your videos. Reels can be found in the feed, but a separate tab has also been created for them where you can scroll non-stop through all the Reels.

Instagram Reels is a bit different from Instagram’s other video features. IGTVs are videos between 1 and 10 minutes and may be either portrait or landscape. Instagram Stories are portrait videos (or photos) of a maximum of 15 seconds that remain visible for a maximum of 24 hours. You can also post a video in the Instagram feed, which may be a maximum of 1 minute long and may be posted either portrait or landscape.

The reason to use Instagram Reels

So what’s the reason to use Instagram Reels? If you haven’t started with Instagram Reels yet, it’s high time! Instagram likes to push its newest developments, and as a result the organic reach of Instagram Reels is proportionally very high. In the algorithm, Instagram regularly shows older Reels, so they’ll also reach far more people than other types of video on Instagram.

Reels can be found under hashtags, on the ‘explore’ page and on the Reels page, where people can scroll non-stop to discover new reels. So there’s a lot of potential to get noticed by strangers. There’s also a way to make the Reels visible in your own feed.

Good to know:

Don’t place text too far towards the bottom

Reels videos are in a 9:16 ratio. It’s good to know that Instagram places elements over the video. Your account name, the caption, the number of comments and more all appear over the video. If you place text in the video, place it as much as possible in the middle so the text remains legible. A reels video is namely also visible in the timeline, where the image format is cropped to a ratio of 4:5. So also don’t place text too high in the Reels, so the text also stays legible in the timeline.

Offer value in your Reels

This isn’t a must of course, but it’s very good for engagement! Offer value by giving a useful tip for your target audience, a fun life hack or something inspiring. People are then more likely to save or share the post with others. Saving or sharing leads to higher engagement, which also means it reaches new people faster.

Create a fitting cover photo

You can choose to make the reels visible in your feed as well. I’d definitely recommend this, since it means the Reels will generate more views. Just make sure you add a cover photo yourself and don’t let Instagram choose. Choose a cover photo with a 9:16 ratio that also looks good in your feed.

Are you already using Instagram Reels?