We recently did a poll on my Instagram to find out if our audience will be interested in more Social Media and content creation related articles on the blog and to my surprise, more than 80% of the people voted yes! So, today on the blog we have Suhani, who is a social media enthusiast based in India and is behind all that you see on our social media channels. In this article, she’ll be decoding the art of creating that perfect Instagram Reel.
If you’re active on Instagram, I’m sure you’re no stranger to concept of Reels – quick, bite sized video content that has gotten us all hooked! With all those catchy songs, superb aesthetics and quick entertainment, let us accept that it’s hard to just look at one and not keep scrolling. If you’re a business owner or starting out as a content creator and want to increase your visibility beyond your followers – Reels are the way to go. Since it is a fairly new feature, Instagram is pushing reels on more and more peoples’ explore page and this is your chance to shine! So, read on as I give you some quick tips to keep in mind while creating your Reels.
#1 Hop onto Reel Trends/ Use Trending Songs
One of the easiest yet proven way to get more visibility on reels is to hop onto reel trends or use songs that are doing the rounds. The key here is taking the trend and adding your own spin to it or aligning it with your niche. Here’s one example of how it can be done.
#2 Add a hook at the starting of your Reel
As we have established, we all scroll through hundreds of Reels on a day to day basis, but do we watch all? That’s where adding a hook comes into play. A hook is basically a phrase said or text displayed at the start of the video with the intention of sparking the interest of the viewers. This is very crucial as based on this, your viewers decide whether the video is worth watching or is it any other reel which they’ll scroll past. So, the key things to keep in mind while creating a hook are:
- Make it catchy and exciting.
- Keep it short and crisp.
- Some examples could be: “My Top 5 Recommendations for xyz”, “I bet you didn’t know this about xyz” and so on.
#3 Ensure Right Dimensions & Good Content Quality
Whenever you’re taking videos which you know you’ll later use for your Reels, make sure to record them vertically and in 9:16 dimensions. Apart from just shooting vertically, also keep in mind to not compromise on the quality of the video. Enable the video recording settings on your phone to the highest quality possible. To churn out good quality content, you also need to pay attention to which lighting works better, work with backgrounds that are not too cluttered and keep in mind to maintain a nice overall aesthetic in the video. If you want to enhance and edit your videos on your phone, I’d recommend using the inbuilt video editor if you have an iPhone or you can download Inshot – a multi purpose app which is really helpful in editing and enhancing videos.
P.S: For beginners, I understand editing on the Reels feature can be quite confusing, so, I’d recommend you start by editing your videos on Inshot and then posting them on Reels.
#4 Tell a story/ Add Value
Yes, mindless trends are fun to look at and might get views but don’t forget your authentic audience follows you because your content adds value in their lives. So, it’s always a good to idea to incorporate useful insights, tips, recommendations and hacks in the form of reels. Apart from this, you can also share your day to say stories in the form of mini vlogs on the reels – something which your audience will resonate with or might find relatable. Here’s an example of a reel we made which has a perfect mix of story and tips to offer:
#5 Get the basics right
Apart from all the things mentioned above, there are certain basics you need to keep in mind whenever you put up a reel:
- Always share your Reel to your Instagram grid.
- While sharing the Reel to your grid, keep in mind to add a nice and catchy cover, preferably with some sort of crisp text on it – this helps is capturing the attention of people who might visit your profile. Keep in mind, while adding the cover, there’s also an option available to adjust it according to how you want it to look on your grid.
- Do not use watermarks from any other apps on your Reels.
- It’s always a good idea to share your Reel on your Instagram story. That way, you’ll get traction from there as well.
- Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags and add a related caption.
Now that you have everything set in place, let’s #ReelItFeelIt , shall we? 😉
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