Not everyone will be comfortable describing the year 2020 as ‘awesome’. However, one of the great collaboration technologies that came out of that strange year was Instagram Reels, a mobile-friendly video marketing tool with extensive applications for business users. In this article, we look at how your business can use Reels to engage your market and create exciting new visual content for customers.
What are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels is an innovative feature introduced onto the popular photo-sharing platform, Instagram, in August 2020. It enables users to create and share 15-second multi-clip videos with augmented audio, searchable captions, and other creative effects. With Reels, users can explore different topics across categories such as music, fashion and beauty, cuisine, sports and more. Since it was introduced, social media influencers have used the feature to engage their followers by promoting their sponsorship partners, while regular Instagram users leverage it to showcase their creativity and individuality in their day-to-day lives.
For personal users, Reels is a fun way for connecting with friends and discovering new content from various sources; whether it’s a funny meme or serious advice, Instagram Reels offers something for everyone.
Reels and Stories
Reels are similar to Instagram Stories in that they can be quickly created, edited, and published through a mobile device using an extensive pre-made premade library of images, audio snippets, captions, and interactive backgrounds – but once created, Reels remain on your profile permanently and are highly searchable via the Instagram search algorithm, and, unlike Stories, don’t disappear after 24 hours.
Do businesses use Instagram Reels?
It’s fair to say that Instagram Reels was designed primarily as a tool for private users, but what about business users? Do Reels have any applications for B2B or B2C engagement and can it increase the value of Instagram as a social media marketing tool for small businesses?
In our experience, yes, many small businesses have found that Instagram Reels is a positive and cost-effective new way to publish visual content ‘on the go’.
With Instagram Reels, businesses can create snappy short-form videos that are 15 or 30 seconds long (by combining two 15-second clips) and then share them on the platform to attract more followers and engagement. Reel videos can be used as candid vlogs to showcase products and services, promote discounts, educate customers, and draw attention to real-world F2F events and seasonal campaigns. Reels can also be used to create light-hearted fun and engaging content to encourage feedback and cement brand loyalty, including interactive polls, quizzes, and even tutorials.
How to get the best results from your Reels
To encourage maximum engagement with your customers, it’s important to keep your Reels short, interesting, and relevant. Posting videos aligned to popular search queries about your products or services – and using the right hashtags – is a good way to improve your business profile on Instagram, as well as keeping your customers engaged and informed. Reels can also be used to showcase customer reviews, highlight customer successes, or feature staff interviews – drawing attention to your business without explicitly selling, which is frequently taboo among Instagram users.
How to create an Instagram Reel
Creating an Instagram Reel is easy. All you need is the Instagram app on your phone or tablet and a few minutes (at most) of free time. Start by selecting an appropriate music track for the background of your video, using a stock track from the Instagram music library, or you can upload your own original content. Once you’ve chosen the track, choose an interesting and relevant visual to share in the video – either a selection of still photos or images, one or more gifs, or a video clip. Finally, add written captions, backgrounds, and the appropriate hashtags to help spread the word about your business and engage more customers. Your visual and written content can be fully customised within the app to reflect your brand identity.
Next steps
By utilising Instagram Reels within their digital marketing strategy, small businesses can reach a larger audience, increase their visibility on the platform and gain more customers. It’s free, quick, and easy, so why not give it a try? For advice and support about the best ways to use social media to reach new audiences, improve customer retention, and make sales online, please call one of our social media marketing specialists today on 01332 343281.
Image Source: Pexels
