So, we’re a little late to the Reels trend but we’ve finally jumped on the bandwagon and are now really, honestly, truly investing in it as part of our Instagram marketing strategies.
Full disclosure. Being a professional services based business and approaching our 30s, we were a little skeptical of the value of Reels. Isn’t it just TikTok 2.0? Surely our target market and our client’s customers aren’t on Reels? Lucky for us, we have a few creative millennials in our team and network (you know who you are) that opened our eyes to a whole new world.
OK, let’s get into it. Since taking the plunge and exploring/testing Reels, we have discovered it to be a cost-effective (FREE) way to reach new people on Instagram. And, that is a very big deal. Here’s why:
WHY REELS ARE THE REAL DEAL
- Instagram Stories are fantastic engagement pieces, watched by 500m users everyday and are fighting the ‘post’ when it comes to your favourite feature of the platform. BUT, unless you are using viral hashtags OR your stories are shared, it’s only your followers that will see your content. It’s very hard to get new eyeballs watching your story content (that took you 4 hours to put together might we add).
- Instagram posts are more likely to attract new followers over stories; when you have a robust hashtag/tagging strategy paired with relevant and engaging content, but everyone’s feeds are pretty darn saturated these days.
- Sure, brand partnerships and giveaways are a great way to gain further reach and attract new followers, however there is generally a cost to running these types of tactics – both with the giveaway value and the paid spend you put behind it. Not always an option for our SMEs!
- Reels on the other hand, is a free feature that will appear natively in people’s Explore Feed plus has its own TAB in the apps bottom menu, meaning you can reach totally NEW people with your Reels content.
Now we’ve convinced you to try them (surely? did we mention free reach?), let’s cover what Reels are, how to create them and some great content ideas you can use for your business (no dancing or pointing – we promise).
WHAT ARE REELS?
- Video clips, between 15-30s with audio, music, sound effects and other creative tools
- The goal of a Reel is to engage the audience within that time limit
- They are designed to be fun and entertaining and can be as produced as you want them to be
HOW DO YOU CREATE THEM? We use 3 different tactics 👇
- IN APP: to create them in app, hit the + button, select Reel and shoot away. You can change the time, add sound, effects and play with the video speed using the left hand menu.
- ON TIKTOK: we find that TikTok has an easier user experience (plus way better backing tracks) so often create our Reels in TikTok and then upload it to Reels
- DESIGN THEM: this is for those that are camera shy (us!) but still want to give Reels a go. Canva has some pretty great Reels templates that you can use to create cool Reels. Like this one we did the other day.
GREAT REELS CONTENT IDEAS:
- Tips and Tricks. Create Reels that showcase your knowledge in the form of helpful tips and tricks or advice and guidance that are relevant to your target customers. Use that 15-30s to educate your customers and have them consume something of value from you without having to even get in-front of the camera.
- Give people a peek into what your day to day life is like. People crave humanity and authenticity from businesses and brands, especially on social media. Reels is the perfect platform to do this (and hide it from your feed if it won’t work in your grid!). This could be your morning walk, coffee break, office dogs, morning flow – whatever.
- Jump on trends that work for you. We totally appreciate that there is a lot of Reels and TikTok content out there that just won’t work for business content. There are however, the odd viral or trending videos that can work into your business – if you’re smart in how you interpret it. #whatimeanwhenisay is something currently trending, that is being used by brands the world over and involves an intro video that includes “What I mean when I say I (enter something relevant to you like – own a small business.)” and then follow it with a whole bunch of photos that depict what you mean when you say xx. HINT: TikTok typically start the trends and Reels follows so it might be worth downloading that TikTok account you have been avoiding.
- Showcase your products. If you are a product based business, you have an advantage when it comes to creating Reels as there is a physical thing you can touch, use and shoot. Show your customers interesting things about how your product works, calling out the features and USPs or things customers might not know.
- Get your customers, clients or staff to create Reels for you. This could be in the form of testimonials, interviews, behind the scenes previews! If you have a larger or engaged following on Instagram, offering your customers or clients additional exposure – won’t be a hard sell. We are currently implementing Reels as a strategy to diversify a brand’s B2B and B2C Instagram channels (asking their B2B clients to own their Reels channel!), which we haven’t been able to get right before. By having two ‘channels’ on the one Instagram page favours the user’s social experience, doesn’t dilute their followers across two seperate channels and keeps all stakeholders happy. Win, win.
Want to get started using Reels as part of your Instagram strategy, get in touch with us for a quick phone chat or just flick us an email – charlotte@findandseekdigtal.com.au.
Charlotte