How To Grow Your Instagram With Reels

Facebook and Instagram released the new feature Instagram Reels as a comeback to the TikTok video content. Still rolling in on every Instagram update, Reels are already available in 50 Countries Globally. Using reels, you can create 15 seconds to 30 Second Video Clips that can be shared on your Instagram Reel Feed, Story, or go viral on the Instagram Explore Page.

The most exciting factor about this new addition on Instagram is that if you’re a business, a creator, or an influencer, you don’t necessarily have to create a TikTok Account to create Micro Videos with massive impact. You can remain on Instagram and use the new Reels Feature to grow your business, Instagram account, audience, followers, and investment return. Thus, here we’re to teach you how to grow your Instagram with Instagram Reels.

Instagram Reels Vs. Instagram Stories

Instagram Reels is a recorded short Video Clip that could be 15 to 30 Seconds. It is similar to the previous Instagram App Feature, Instagram Story. However, it has a few key distinguishing differences that will greatly impact your Instagram growth.

Difference Between Reels and Stories

Instagram Stories are generally a string of temporary video content, images, or written text that expire within 24 hours. IGTVs are long versions of videos. But, Instagram Reels are a version of the video content with the mixed features of both the stories, IGTVs, and TikTok example of Video Content. Meanwhile, Reels also have the attribute to be more engaging, fun, entertaining, and Catchy in the viewer’s eyes.

Videos Recording Format

Firstly, Reels have a wider range of editing tools. It incorporates AR Filter Effects, Speed Controls, Video Compilation, Editing, Video Alignment, Trimming, and Transition Effects. Moreover, you can include music tracks from a library, recorded audio, and dubbed sounds from previously recorded Reels.

Additionally, because Reels can be planned out, recorded, and edited, you can create a snippet that would have a bigger impact than your live videos. Especially since you can record your video, add the music, and the edits, but you don’t necessarily have to post it right away like Instagram Stories.

Instagram Reels Engagement

This impact is enhanced tenfold because Reels allows your followers to engage with your videos publicly through comments and likes since they can get posted on your Reels Feed. But in Instagram Stories, this engagement is private since a viewer can only respond through Direct Messages.

Sharing Placement

Finally, the biggest difference and the most advantageous factor is that Reels can be posted on three locations; the Reels Feed, Instagram Stories, and the Explore Page. Furthermore, unlike Stories, they won’t fade away after 24 hours.

Use Instagram Reels To Grow Your Instagram

Of course, if you’re investing in Social Media Marketing, you should utilize all the features your social media platform offers, whether it may be Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok App. But if you’re unsure about Instagram Reels, it is definitely an addition that you should invest your time, money, and energy in and could take your Instagram Growth to great heights in a great way.

10 Strategies To Use Instagram Reels For Your Instagram Growth

The good thing about the Reels is that it gives you the fun, authenticity, and causality that TikTok provided while also maintaining the high engagement rates, the 1 Billion Instagram Monthly Active Users, and the diverse demographics of users that Instagram provides. Instagram Reels casual attribute would help you lightly grow your Instagram Account, engagement, following, and quality through short-form Videos.

If you have a business, creator, or influencer Instagram account and need to strategize your Social Media Marketing Tactic and give your Instagram Engagement and Following a boost, you’ll just have to apply the subsequent 10 simple strategies.

1. Use Instagram Reels Video Content Tools

If you wish to use Instagram Reels to record your video, ensure you take ultimate advantage of all the Reels Native Editing Tools, rather than creating a video away from Instagram or resharing a TikTok App 15 Seconds video. Try your best to make your videos stand out while making them amusing and entertaining for your users and followers.

Instagram Reel Video Content is a new addition. So to use reels and create impressive videos, you could quickly land yourself on the radar of the Instagram Algorithm and so on the Explore Page. To promote the new Instagram Reel feature, the Instagram Algorithm is tuned by the Instagram App to expose and boost the Instagram Engagement of the Reel by posting it on to the Explore Tab. This way, they would be promoting the new feature to other users on Instagram, which for your Instagram account would correlate to growing your Instagram following and presenting your account to an audience who are yet to follow your account.

As a tip, just remember your exposure chance is only maximized if you use the Reels tools on the Instagram App itself. So to create a reel, record, edit, add music, audio dubs, and effects for quality content through the features on Instagram itself.

2. Instagram Reels Going Viral

If your Instagram Account is a public platform for a business, brand, or influencer, your ultimate purpose for using Instagram Reels should be to boost your Instagram following, which would ultimately provide the ROI you need for your Social Media Platform Marketing and Digital Marketing Strategies. Thus, the best way to gain an audience for any brand is to go viral on the Instagram community users page.

But to get your brands’ posts to go viral, there are a few ways to get on the search Instagram feed. You’ll have to consider these tips in your reel blog post.

1. Firstly, as mentioned, use the native tools when creating the reels.
2. Secondly, always record using your camera in a vertical orientation and without using frames or borders.
3. Finally, and most important among these few camera recording tips. With the presence of the reel feature, Instagram App has announced that their Instagram Algorithm will no longer make a reel go viral into the general community search page if the reel was made by any other platform than Instagram or has been repurposed from a reel content that was created on other social networking platforms.

So if you really wish to go viral, creating your reels on Instagram is the only best tactic to get your content chosen by the algorithm.

3. First Seconds Count

If you want to use the Instagram Reels, feature you should know that if you want to grasp the attention of your audiences, one great way to do so is to remember that the first few seconds of your video content counts as the determining factor of whether the viewers want to keep watching and engaging with your content or not.

It would be best to start your reel with something that stops the viewer from swiping up to the next content on Instagram’s watch roll. For example, you could say something appealing, an eye-catching text, a phrase or a sentence, or stickers along the edge, or start with playing a piece of music that may be catchy, or saying a word or a sentence verbally that stops them in their tracks.

Recall that your first aim for creating Reels and short-form clips is to enhance your Instagram Following and followers. So, your aim should be to attract and stop your audience so that they could watch your 15-second to 30-second video and then choose your posts to engage with and ultimately like, comment, and become an account follower. So, making a fun reel with a mesmerizing start at the first few seconds counts as a determining factor and why you should start your reel strong.

4. Creativity + Transitions = Engagement

Growing your Instagram following through organic followers isn’t easy because the general audience isn’t going to become a follower actively engaging with your posts if what they are seeing isn’t appealing, attractive, fun, educational, or fascinating for the viewers.

The Creativity and Transition Edits you apply to your video are key to the content being watched all the way through to the end. You may think it’s not as if it’s IGTV Content; it’s a short-form clip that would be 15-seconds long, so why wouldn’t viewers watch it anyway. Based on proven statistics, the audience finds even 15-seconds way too long and usually won’t spend enough time to complete the whole clip.

Thus, if you really want your audience to finish watching the complete video, a great way to keep them watching is to use interesting transitions, eye-catching scenes, creative edits, and different camera angle recording tactics. Or, different camera zoom-in techniques and different interesting abrupt angles and changes in the scenery to keep the audience interested and mesmerized as long as possible.

Bear in mind that your reels are viewed from Instagram’s Search Tab at times, so for the audience to become the account followers, they need to be intrigued by the brands’ or influencers’ posts seen. Creativity and Proper Transitions in the videos result in your accounts’ engagement and your viewers becoming your organic followers.

5. Use Instagram Reels For Questions and Answers

As influencers, brands, and businesses, you’ll need to become relatable to grow your Instagram, and what better way to do so than with a Question and Answer Reels. Using your reels to answer your followers’ questions is a great way to give your viewers a look behind your brand or life scenes.

You could add a Call-To-Action (CTA) question or comment, add a link so your followers can tap on it, or for them to leave more questions and comments. This way, you could use the comments and questions to create more reels and ultimately create brand awareness, influencers’ friendship and bond, and community union, which would help you grow your Instagram account.

6. Educational Reels And CTAs

Educational Reels are a great Social Media Marketing strategy for brands, businesses, and influencers. Even though reels aim to have fun and create entertainment and amusement for your audience, it doesn’t mean occasional educational reels won’t go a long way.

By offering valuable tips, advice, and learning moments about how things may work with a certain product under your brand or how you may do things as an influencer. It would be a great way to grow and boost your followers’ involvement. Moreover, you can use CTA prompts to redirect your viewers towards more content on your website with a Tap on a quick link which in itself is a great marketing strategy to grow your brands and enhance your investment return.

7. Complete The Narrative

Instagram Reels may only be 15 seconds long, but they should have a plot. You’ll be shocked at how much you can fit between 15 to 30 Seconds once you start. The good thing about Reels compared to Instagram Stories is that they can be strategized and plotted before being shared.

So when creating Reels, tell a complete narrative with a start, climax, and an end, have a story outline, a motive, properly synced audio and music, and a goal regarding the involvement you wish to create using the shared content.

8. Shout-Outs, Freebies, And Giveaways

Whether you’re an influencer or a brand, another tactic to get your Instagram’s followers engaged and talking is by doing Reels for Shout-outs to loyal followers, freebies during challenges, and giveaways to active members.

You may encourage your followers to tag their friends, reshare your content, like and comment on your posts, or use your hashtags in their own reels and shared content. In place, you could offer them free giveaways, coupons, free products, or even shoutouts within your Reels. This is a great motivation for your Instagram Following feeling valued and thus excited to get involved actively with your Instagram.

9. Custom Reels Thumbnails

Once you create your Reel, you’d be allowed to choose a Thumbnail or a shot that your viewer would see on your Instagram Reel Feed. You’ll be given a choice to either choose one of the shots from the video clip or upload a custom photo from your gallery. We recommend creating a title page to maintain a cohesive themed look within your Reels Feed and Profile account.

Using custom reels thumbnails, you’ll make your Instagram profile more professional, presentable, and more user friendly, which in itself will help you use reels to grow your Instagram.

10. Engage With Your Users

If you want your Instagram to grow and flourish, you need to do more than just use reels. You’re using the new Instagram Reels Feature to engage with your followers in a carefree and fun way, but this would be pointless if you don’t respond to their comments or even direct messages. You might not be able to respond to every single comment made, but you could reply to a comment here and there to motivate your follower community to get involved and engage with your posts more often. They might even comment and message you in hopes of getting a turn in being responded to by their favorite brands and influencers.

Growing Your Instagram With The Instagram Reels Feature

When Instagram introduces a new attribute and feature to their App, they also adjust their algorithm to push the new feature to Instagram Explore Tab a lot faster than any other post. This means if you as an influencer or a brand wish to boost your Instagram Account, this is a great way to do it by using Instagram Reels.

Just do bear in mind that for a successful Instagram growth strategy through reels, just like any other feature, you should always strategize, analyze, and reform your tactics depending on your followers’ response towards your Reels. Now, you can use the 10 tips and strategies given to grow and boost your Instagram organically.

About the author

Lina Stewart

Lina is a content writer at Social Tradia who turns social media data into stories worth reading. Off the clock, she's reading a novel, sipping cold coffee, or losing the couch to her cat.

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