At the moment, the short-form video space is SO competitive!
Not for creators, but between all the new platforms fighting to capture users. Instagram is doing whatever it can to attract creators to Reels and keep them away from TikTok and to a lesser extent YouTube Short and Snapchat Spotlight.
If you are trying to boot your Instagram, you need to be paying attention, because the levels of engagement right now are insane.
We, Marketing Catalyst, wish to share 3 tips that we’ve picked up growing audiences on the platform over these last two years. Anyone, including you, can use these tips in 2021 to optimise your Instagram Reels for growth and engagement.
The Breakdown on Reel
Instagram Reels lets you share minute-long videos with Instagram’s audience.
Your Followers can see all the Reels you post to your feed. You can also post public Reels that anyone can discover by clicking on Reels which is now the centre of Instagram’s icon navigation dock.
Instagram’s algorithm exists to show people the content they like. Swiping through Reel after Reel might feel completely random, but as users like, comment and dwell the algorithm learns preferences.
This all means that if you’re putting out quality content, and there’s an audience for it, you will find the right people. And because of what we said before about Instagram prioritising Reels, you’ll find your way onto the Explore page more often – one of digital marketing’s last hold out for organic reach, and a sure way to build up an audience.
It’s now possible to measure and track the performance of your larger Reels strategy via Instagram Insights. Remember Reels are here to help your Instagram marketing along, not replace it.
1. Get Attention Immediately
“Hey what’s up guys” is a little overplayed, but when the video starts there should be something going on.
Grab attention! It only takes 3 joules of energy to flick down to the next video.
To tell if your video is engaging, you need to draw from your own human knowledge. It helps when you have a group of clever empathetic people bounce ideas off as we do.
Ask yourself, what do people pay attention to?
Accidents that are about to happen.
Things that deny expectations or seem wrong at first.
Cuteness.
Explosions.
Issues they care about.
According to Instagram, a brand’s Reel should be; entertaining and fun, inspiring and experimental.
2. Sound is Everything
Sounds trend on Reels and TikTok.
A sound that’s trending right now is,“Yo bro, who got you smiling like that”,
After saying “YBWGYSLT” the song drops and the video will cut to something happy, like a life partner, or a satisfying kitchen remodel, or a cute kitten. Do you get it? The good thing got them smiling like that.
{find an example here}
Some sounds like “small business check” “and Reels/TikTok made me buy it” are obvious self-promotion, but as long as they are interesting that’s okay. Instagram’s audience is more tolerant of ads wrapped up as entrepreneurship and self-empowerment than Facebook’s or Reddit’s.
Another tactic is to give advice and create tutorials. As a business, you have expertise. You can share it to create a lot of easy content for Reels like “3 Tips for this”, “5 Tips for this”. Just make sure you are giving away something valuable.
3. How To Find What Sounds Are Trending on Reels?
Trending sounds are easy to create without having to come up with any ideas yourself. Reels is a numbers game the more you publish the more chances your followers have of seeing them. There’s nothing wrong with posting every single day.
To keep up this consistency, you need to follow trends.
Most of these trending sounds start on TikTok, and because the platforms are 99% the same and TikTok, nearly everything that works on one works on the other.
There’s a section in TikTok called Discover, here you can see what sounds are trending and flick through to find one you can bring back to Instagram Reels. You can see who is using them and how they are being used.
Trends are foolproof it’s all about delivery, and you’ll need to experiment a little but once a business find a groove for its non-disruptive ads that are sharable, and fun to watch they spread like dank memes.
Final Thoughts:
Reels are another way to publish video content. As they are still relatively new Instagram is prioritising them, and that’s perfect for engagement. There are simple to follow trends that you need to understand to save time by not having to continually create new content ideas.
Master Reels and your Instagram marketing strategy will surely reach a whole new level. Read more about digital marketing in Adelaide here.
