If you are looking for a bright and effective non-time-consuming means of using Instagram for building brand recognition, using Reels in your marketing strategy can work wonders. Reels are great for catching user attention because they are short, fun, and entertaining. Moreover, unlike IG Stories, which have a user feed only on one’s existing followers’ IG interface, Reels have a separate tab of their own and are discoverable by anyone as long as your account settings are public. (A business account on Instagram usually has its settings on the public by default, and this is the kind of account you should be using for the optimum benefits of using Instagram for brand building.) In other words, publishing high-quality, engaging Reels can have a significant impact on Instagram’s algorithms and increase your audience reach manifold. If you find your Reels not having the outreach you would like them to have, you can always engage the services like FollowersId to improve commenting, main engagement metrics, and audience traction you receive on them. But that comes after you have created your Reels. If you don’t already know how to do it, let us first understand how everything works.
Getting the Basics Down on Creating an Instagram Reel. Here’s What You Need to Do to Make an Instagram Reel
When you open your IG interface and log in to your account, you can create a Reel using any of the following options:
- “Your Story”
- “New Post”
- Reels tab
All you have to do is upload a video or create a new one and follow the Instagram interface from their guides through you.
Now, as can be seen from above, creating an IG Reel is relatively easy, but making a great one that has the potential to go viral and trigger brand awareness can be slightly intimidating. With the popularity of this feature, all your competitors are likely also using Reels to gain the attention and trust of the exact audience you are targeting. Therefore, the question remains, what can you do with the Reels that will help you build your business up effectively?
- Pay attention to the technical details
While content is, of course, always king, when it comes to creating videos, how you have completed your content also matters. The right kind of video has the proper format, resolution, brightness, clarity, and overall “feel,” which makes watching the video a pleasure regardless of how long or short it is. For instance, when you shoot a Reel, using a vertical video always works way better than a horizontal one, and it fits the screen dynamics of the IG Reel. Likewise, keeping it fun and mixing your intended story with what is already trending can get you more audience views than posting a regular short video.
- Experiment with the inbuilt effects and features that can help create a fantastic Reel
Instagram gives you several add-ons to choose from when you create a Reel. Click on the wand icon to use a touch-up on your face, for instance, or add a special effect from the star icon. If you are live recording your Reel, consider using the inbuilt timer feature that gives you visual cues that enable when to start/ stop your recording. You can stitch together videos or use parallel frames to run several videos side by side. You can also choose how long or short you like it to be. The shortest length you can have for your Reel is 15 seconds, and you can create longer ones with a maximum size of a minute. You can even choose the speed from the range 3x to 4x. So, as you can see, you have endless options to tailor your micro-videos, and you get to decide how you would like your Reel to be ultimate!
- Pay attention to what story you want your Reel to tell
You want your viewers to watch the entire Reel and not just stop at that. You want them to like, comment and share it. After all, every view counts towards your active engagement rate, and a skipped view can bring this engagement rate down. A reasonable engagement rate is necessary for building brand recognition on any social media site. Having a clear story arc is very important for creating an excellent Reel. It will not only increase your organic engagement ratio, but it will also push up your ranking on the explore tab of Instagram, thus bringing in more audience reach. Here’s what you need to do for this:
Conceptualize what you want to show. Your Reel can be:
- A before and after looking for a makeup tutorial, fitness workout testimony, room makeovers, or whatever your business is all about
- An educational and informative micro-video
- Tips and ideas about a specific topic
- Fun humane Reels show your workers having a blast dancing to trending songs, mimicking people, or just doing what they like
Have a leading hook: Give your Reel an incredible start. It can be a particular sound effect, a sense of anticipation, or even an exciting image. Think about what will make your viewers pay all their attention to your Reel as they scroll up and down their feed, and get them to pause to watch the entire thing.
End with a bang: Ensure your Reel doesn’t fizzle out. Make sure the anticipation built is justified so your viewer has fun enough to feel like hitting the like or share button spontaneously.
- Give your Reels a musical ambiance
Click on the Music note icon to add background music to your Reel. Choose what is trending or create something original. Make sure the theme you choose establishes the mood of your Reel and accentuates the content you are presenting. Adjust the volume of the music accordingly as well. You can choose to mix the original soundtrack of your video with an overlayed musical background. Or, you could have a trademark soundtrack that can be identified with your brand like an auditory logo. Experiment and check what branding services work best for you.
- Turn on the closed captions add-on
While sounds and music add to your Reel, make sure it is as engaging to watch on mute too. Many IG users scroll through their IG feed while commuting in public transport or waiting in queues -basically, in spaces where turning on the volume is not ideal. Aim to create Reels that will attract your target audience without sound, and having the auto-captions turned on is a great way to communicate what your Reel is all about, especially if there is speaking involved in the content.
- Drive sales with subtle brand signatures or product features
Soft selling your brand is the best way to build brand awareness, and you can do this in various ways. For instance, you could feature products in a story arc without appearing to sell them. If you are a clothing brand, consider doing a dance Reel with people wearing your clothing. If needed, add a shoppable tag and further advertise the Reel on your IG Story. Likewise, announce launches or rebates as part of your story rather than making that the main idea of your Reel. Remember that what works for one may not work for another, so don’t blindly follow the trend when soft-selling your brand. Experiment with different consumer tactics to see what works for your best. It is helpful for some brands to add a brand element to their Reels, like a recognizable color scheme or a watermark of your brand in the corner of your video. Observe your Reel analytics to check what gains maximum audience traction for you.
- Focus on a particular call-to-action (CTA) in one Reel
Do not bombard your audience with multiple messages. While you can have many simultaneous ideas running on your Reel, consider what you want to use it for the most. Is it meant for information or entertainment or both? Do you need your audience to visit your website through the Reel? Do you want them to build awareness of a community issue? Consider what you would like your audience to do and make that your primary CTA. You can use several in-app add one like text, stickers, and GIFs, for the purpose. You can use this to effectively direct your audience to your bio or leave a comment or like. You can reinforce the same idea in your caption too.
- Think out of the box while creating transitions
An ever-trending concept on Reels is transitioning between two or more phases of any topic-be it a before-after image, an unexpected makeover, a fun change, a cliffhanger, an if-then-else situation, or a what-following scenario. Think about how you can do something similar yet different enough to catch your audience’s attention. Reels are a great place to quickly and effectively show transitions made possible by your brand or create behind the scene fun videos with your co-workers and employees. Keep it fun and keep it unexpected.
- Be original even when you follow the trend
It follows from the above tip. Whether it’s transitions, presentation, choice of music, or use of trivia, do your research to see what works and find inspiration from others but do not pass others’ work for your own. Create unique content that showcases you and your brand image. As with any other type of IG content, keep in mind this account is for creating your brand voice, and Reels are no different. Ask yourself what sets you apart and makes you worth your audience’s time and trust. Keep this at the back of your mind as you conceptualize and create the content.
- Do not forget to use relevant hashtags & keywords
Include primary and secondary keywords and hashtags in your Instagram Reels as you would while publishing any other kind of IG post. It helps new visitors from your targeted audience stumble on your Reels when they run a search on Instagram.
- Stick to community guidelines
No matter how catchy, memorable and attention-grabbing your Reel is, nothing is worth overstepping the laid-out Instagram Community guidelines. Screen your content carefully several times during conception. Create phases to ensure you are not inadvertently using something insensitive to certain members of society, featuring or advocating for banned products, or engaging in subjects that are off-limits as per rules and regulations of IG as well as your country’s social media laws.
Reels is a hot Instagram feature. The best way to ace making great content is to learn and observe how others are successfully using it while keeping yourself updated on what new features Instagram is adding to its Reels. Keeping yourself educated and using this knowledge in time can help you create ones that will boost brand awareness and increase your potential to generate sales. It can also be the means of growing a loyal and active following.
