Staying up-to-date with digital can often be a challenge – but being in the know can really pay off – literally!
In 2020, businesses needed to adapt more than ever before. With shop front closures being enforced, building an online presence has never been more important.
One new, defining moment in digital marketing this year has been Instagram Reels. It is a feature where you can watch and create short, snappy videos about anything you like.
Sound familiar? Reels is essentially Instagram’s take on TikTok, but there are still a lot of innovative, inspiring ways you can use Reels for business.
Throughout this blog, we will show you how to use Reels on Instagram for your business. Covering everything from the features available to content creation ideas!
The Benefits of Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels was rolled out to over 50 countries by Instagram in August 2020. The feature focuses on short-form video content, being anything from 15-30 seconds in length. Instagram Reels can be filmed as one full take or in a series of takes, and can serve a variety of content types.
For a deeper dive into what Instagram Reels are, check out our introduction to Instagram’s latest feature.
Mainly, Instagram Reels were introduced to mirror current digital marketing trends. According to Oberlo, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand they support, with shorter-form video taking preference. What’s more, is that 84% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video – it’s a win, win really!
The beauty of Instagram Reels is that they meant to be short and snappy. Making them easy to consume, and easy to make. Therefore, Reels open up a huge opportunity for businesses to take advantage of.
Not only this, Instagram is prioritising Reels content. As this new feature came as part of a big app revamp, Instagram Reels now has its own dedicated feed to specifically house this type of content for anyone on Instagram to see. What’s more, is that Instagram Reels sit in the Explore page, a place that more than 50% of Instagram users view every month.
For businesses, this exposure is a huge benefit. As Instagram’s aim is to provide users with more original, inspiring content – the more a business fits this brief, the more chance it has to be seen by a wider audience.
5 Ways to Use Instagram Reels for Business
Even in its infancy, Reels has been very well-received by everyday users, influencers and brands.
This presents a prime opportunity for businesses to position themselves as core Reels creators. By making consistent, reliable, valuable content through this format – you will not only become an expert, but new audiences will see you as one, too.
The main way to engage a new audience is by experimenting with different content types, finding out what works best, then perfecting it. But where do you start?
Businesses can use Instagram Reels in so many different ways. To get you started, we’ve rounded up our top five ways you can incorporate Reels into your social media strategy.
Reuse TikTok Videos
If you have invested time and money into making TikTok videos this year – good news! You can make the most of them by posting as Reels on Instagram, if they are up to 30 seconds in length.
This means you can get good ROI from both platforms, plus you can compare where your video performed better. This can help inform any future decisions you make on where to invest your video efforts.
By doing this, you can ease yourself into the Instagram Reels trend by uploading one video a day to make your content stretch while you think of new ideas.
Share Valuable Content
Video content, while it may be short, should be as valuable as possible. This will not just help with sustaining engagement, but promoting memorability.
This may seem very obvious, but ask yourself: ‘What easy ways can I show the value of my products/services?’ Using Reels is a great chance to inspire the public, which is important to Instagram, too.
Valuable content can be anything, as long as it teaches someone something. From top five ways to style shoes to 5-minute meals – there are so many ways to share with your followers!
Product Demonstrations
When it comes to how to do a Reel on Instagram, using Reels to demo products is another great way to utilise the platform. While you may only have 30 seconds max – you can condense this process into a couple of short clips, especially if there are different stages to showcase.
For example, if you have collaborated with an influencer to demonstrate a skincare product, this could be done in the form of a relaxing night in – or a before and after.
What’s important is that the product is in shot and does not need further explanation. The simpler the content is to digest, the better. You will also have the chance to describe this in the caption – so save all your product’s written USPs for there.
How To Do A Reel On Instagram: Do ‘A Day in the Life’
A day in the life content is a brilliant way to allow your followers to get to know you more. This helps personify your business, enabling people to relate to you more. This not only builds trust, but solidifies consumer-brand relationships.
While it can be difficult to strike a good balance between maintaining a certain public image and providing an insight – there are a number of behind-the-scenes ideas you can do to show just the right amount.
Some ideas can include sharing how you make your products, the day-to-day life of your team, or your brand story.
Use Shoppable Reels
Instagram is a great platform as it makes life easy for business owners. With the recent Reels update, came Shoppable Reels for businesses to market their products and maximise accessibility to users.
When a Reel includes a product, users can tap ‘View Products’ to learn more about the product, save it for later, or go ahead and purchase.
Businesses should definitely make the most of this lead generation opportunity. Not only does it save your DMs blowing up with enquiries, it will help increase traffic to your site and boost sales.
Instagram has given businesses a great chance to market themselves in a new, innovative way that consumers want to see. It is an exciting time for businesses in the digital world, so we should invest in educating ourselves to reap the full rewards.
And most importantly – make time for it! Reels is a fantastic, free opportunity to reach new audiences. While making Reels for business requires dedication – the more effort you put into it, the more you will get out of it.
How to Create Effective Instagram Reels Content
When developing your content for Instagram Reels, it’s not only important to ensure that you are posting Reels to increase your reach, but also that the content is engaging for your target audience.
Identifying Your Target Audience
A key element to the success of Instagram Reels is identifying your target audience. This is because your content needs to resonate with your target audience in order to encourage them to engage with your content and drive sales and conversions. So, how can you ensure that you have identified your target audience effectively?
Consider the following questions when identifying your target audience:
- What age range am I trying to reach?
- Where is my audience based?
- What challenges and pain points does my audience face?
- How can my business offer solutions to my audience’s challenges?
Once you have identified the answers to the questions above, you can then create a buyer persona. This is a representation of your ideal customer based on their lifestyle, background, challenges and pain points.
Buyer personas are a fantastic resource for businesses and marketers to use as a reference when developing content for their Instagram Reels. When creating Instagram Reels, return to your buyer personas and ask yourself, “Would this customer find my content useful?”. Therefore, buyer personas enable you to ensure that your content resonates with your target audience and increases reach and engagement.
Surveying Your Audience
One of the best ways to identify your target audience and outline exactly what they want to see in your Instagram Reels is by asking them! Social media has made communication between businesses and customers easier and more effective as starting a conversation is only a click away.
When conducting your consumer research, ensure to utilise Instagram Stories and engagement stickers to encourage responses from your customers. We recommend using the Question Box sticker and Poll sticker to encourage your audience to leave feedback about what content they want to see and receive information about who they are.
You can also produce online surveys that you can share through Instagram Stories and email marketing. This is a great way to collect market research and data about your customers that can then be used to develop your social media strategy.
Researching Instagram Reels
Social media provides businesses with the opportunity to gain insight into their target audience’s behaviours and interests. When developing your Instagram Reels, ensure to utilise the Explore tab on Instagram to evaluate what competitors are posting. In this case, search for keywords related to your products, services, or industry, and discover competitor pages.
When viewing content posted by competitors, identify which content achieved the most reach and engagement. From here, evaluate why this Instagram Reel was the most popular. For example, was the content educational or entertaining? Was the Reel a short form of content? Did the competitor deliver a useful product demonstration? Dissecting the components of the Instagram Reel will help you determine what content is currently resonating with your target audience and inform your content strategy.
Ensure to also review users’ comments published on Instagram Reels. Comments are a great way to understand how your customers react to different types of content and can help you understand what type of content encourages users to interact with Instagram Reels.
Utilise Instagram Insights
Instagram Insights provides incredibly useful data about the performance of your Instagram Reels, including the number of users they reached, engagement, and watch time. When reviewing your current posting strategy, identify which Reel reached the largest number of users and generated the most engagement. This engagement includes metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and saves.
From here, you can also receive details about the users that your Instagram Reels reached, including their age, gender, and location. We recommend using Instagram Insights to understand who your content is currently reaching and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Watch time is also critical when it comes to Instagram Reels for business as this indicates the length of time that users are spending consuming your content. Therefore, the more time users spend watching your Instagram Reels, the more engaging your content is which will drive sales and conversions.
How To Do an Instagram Reel For Business: Creating Professional Content
When creating Instagram Reels, it’s important to create high-quality content to capture your audience’s attention and hold their attention for the entire duration of your Reels. Here are some recommendations to ensure that your content is professional and engaging:
- Record Videos In Good Lighting: When filming Instagram Reels, ensure to record your clips in good lighting as this affects the quality of your content. We recommend filming clips in natural lighting or using studio lighting to film your content in the best lighting possible.
- Ensure Audio is Clear: It’s important that any audio included in your Instagram Reel, including voiceovers and music, should be clear for the user to hear. If you have multiple audio files such as your camera audio, music, and a voiceover, ensure to utilise the Controls tab in your music settings when creating your Reel. This will allow you to control the volume levels of each audio and control what you want the user to hear the most.
- Utilise Editing Tools: There are plenty of useful editing tools to utilise on Instagram to create professional content. When editing your Instagram Reel for business, ensure to experiment with text, transitions, and trimming tools to create engaging content that will hold user attention for longer.
If you would like to speak to our content team about ideas, or want help creating eye-catching videos, simply get in touch today.
