How to Create Instagram Reels
When creating your own Reel, you can film clips on the spot, or upload from your camera roll and add effects, music and speed up or slow down your clip. To access the feature, you just need to head to your stories and you’ll find Reels as a new shooting option, between ‘Normal’ and ‘Create’ mode. To record, you just need to hold down the central reels icon, or swipe up to browse your camera roll to upload a previously filmed clip.
Then, you can choose your audio by tapping the music icon, amending the speed with the Play sign and capture clips on self-timer too using the stopwatch.
Much like on TikTok, you can start and stop recording multiple times during your 15-second video by pressing and holding the record button. Then, once you’re happy with your clips you can edit them and add text, stickers and anything else you like to make it your own.
Finally, choose your cover photo and post to your stories or Reels feed!
How To Use Instagram Reels for Business
1. Create Authentic Content that Your Audience will Engage With
When Instagram stories launched in 2016, they offered a new way for businesses to share content that was a little more authentic - shot and posted within seconds so followers got to see what was going on behind the scenes. Reels offers a chance to take that a step further. Maybe you can share the process of how you create or source your products, or compile a how-to for your followers to see how you go about using your products or offering your services. The possibilities are endless - share sneak peeks of products or make it all about the personality of you and your business.
2. Share Educational Content
As mentioned, Reels allows you to give your followers an insight into your knowledge. If your business revolves around food, share recipes and cooking tutorials, if interior design is your niche then share how you go about designing a room. You can apply this to everything but try and make your content entice people to come back. Think more about creating a series rather than a one-off Reel that will perform well but won’t get people looking at you more than once.
3. Showcase Your Products and Services
Reels is a great place to drive customers to your website to hopefully convert. With the introduction of the Explore page, you’ll be reaching brand new audiences too! If your business is fashion focused then share a sleek video of some of your picks being modelled to add some movement to your advertising - rather than just expecting static images on your feed to work over and over for you.
Do you think you’ll be giving Instagram Reels a go? We can’t wait to see how businesses begin to build Reels into their marketing strategy and to help some of our clients do the same! If you’d like our help planning your Reels debut then please get in touch!