Why ‘REELS’ is the Hottest new Social Media Tool today and beyond into 2021...
Early in August 2020, Instagram launched its newest feature called ‘Instagram REELS’. REELS is already taking over the platform and easily competing with TikTok which offers a similar service.
The biggest difference is that while TikTok generally appeals to a younger, tween/young adult audience, Instagram Reels has the already captured attention of your target audience.
Using this new feature, you can now create your very own longer form videos sharing tips, inspiration and laughter throughout your entire Instagram network. REELS offers the ability to make multi clip videos with audio, effects and other new creative tools. These videos allow you to get super creative with your messaging.
The learning curve for creating Reels is a bit steeper than some other parts of the well known social media platform – it takes some practice! The best way to get familiar is to play around with it and try out all the different features.
**We created a online video tutorial that is FREE, so you can become savvy fast!
Treat your REEL videos like a commercial for your brand – come up with a strategy, create a storyboard and be sure to practice a few times before you publish your REEL.
REELS are shared in your regular feed but also can be found in a newer space called ‘Explore’. When you share your REELS to the Explore field they are showcased to a larger audience, depending on your hashtags and therefore have a higher rate of being discovered.
REELS also will suggest your content to new users depending on the amount of engagement you have, so as always, staying involved with your audience is super important. Sharing tips and tricks to your industry (think hair styling tutorials or creative ways to organize your closet) will help you garner interest and develop more followers, which can in turn lead to more sales.
The content that seems to perform the best in REELS is educational. Even if what you’re showcasing does not tie directly back to what you’re selling, providing some sort of educational content creates value for your would-be clients and shows them that you are willing to give more than what they bargained for.
This creates strong brand loyalty and trust!
Just like when posting regular content, your hashtag strategy with REELS needs to be strong. Hashtags can be used in either your caption or as the first comment on your post. It doesn’t seem to matter which way you choose, just pick one method and stick to it. When users search for a specific hashtags, Instagram shows any REELS using that hashtag as a much bigger space than your traditional posts. This means your Reel is more likely to be discovered and clicked on. Think of it like a billboard versus a flyer!
So how do you come up with effective hashtags to use?
Here are some prompts to help you:
What is your product or service? #weddingvenues #customsigns
What’s the subject of the Reel? #fallingleaves #handpainting
Who are you looking for on IG? #brides #momandpop
