You may be wondering what is an Instagram Reel? According to Instagram, “reels are entertaining, immersive videos where you can creatively express your brand story, educate your audience, and get discovered by people who may love your business.” These videos can be up to 90 seconds long with up to 60 second advertisements.
Why should my company use an Instagram Reel?
Instagram Reels generate more interaction from your audience compared to a regular Instagram video or story post and are becoming more and more popular. Reels can be used for whatever you would like, you can promote a new brand or product, interact with influencers and your audience, and even post cat videos. Around 2 million Instagram users interact with Instagram Reels monthly out of the 2+ million accounts on Instagram. With so much interaction and exposure the share rate increases, and your company can gain more brand awareness.
How do I Make an Instagram Reel?
Here are 4 easy steps to begin making your reel:
1)Starting off first you need to figure out what you are planning to share. Will it be a promotional video? A video to meet your staff to become more personal? A day in the life in the office video? Or even just a video answering some of your most asked questions?
2)From there you should decide the structure of your reel, planning how you want to create your content.
3)The next step begins with creating your content and putting it all together whether it was previously made content or new content you decide to record.
4)Then lastly make sure you title is and tag everyone you would like then hit the upload button.
If you would like a more detailed description of how to make an Instagram Reel visit https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-reels/.
7 ways your brand can use Instagram Reels:
Here are 7 examples of ways your brand can use and take advantage of Instagram Reels.
1) New Release Promotion: Want to show off that new thing your brand has been working on? Make an easy 90 second video to show it off. It is important that brands promote their products on different platforms to meet their various audiences. Urban Decay Cosmetics decided to promote their new “She Hulk” makeup line on an Instagram Reel, it is a very high quality Reel and while it is not only promoting their makeup line it is also promotion the show and the streaming platform it’s on. Instagram reels are similar to Tik Tok which is another very popular platform. But not everyone that has an Instagram account has a Tik Tok, so making sure you use all platforms is very important especially when you are using promotion techniques. Your promotional reel may look like taking the time and explaining your new product, it could be an answer to a Q&A saying that you have heard the requests and have taken them into action, or it could even look like a commercial.
2) Reality vs Expectation: We have all experienced buying something online and once we receive it, it looks completely different. But what about when you purchase something, and it is exactly what you expected and more. A great way your brand can take advantage of an Instagram Reel is showing them what your product looks like online and just how accurate it also looks in person. Aerie decided they were going to take this route and show not only what the items looked like online vs in person but they also were promoting what their brand stands for which is body positivity and inclusiveness. This can help with confusion of colors and structure and size, and it can encourage a viewer to purchase it because they have proof that what they see is what they will get. You can also use this to clear up any negative publicity on your brand by proving those who have had a poor experience are valid but also showing that they are not accurate.
3) Making the product sneak peek: Have you ever wondered how your favorite product it made? An Instagram Reel is a great way to give your audience a sneak peek at their favorite products and the process it takes to make them. This can create great brand awareness and can be a good way to keep your audience engaged and interested. It creates a sense of being a part of the brand and can make your audience want to stay around or if someone shares your reel it can peek the interest of people who have never heard of your brand. Nerdy Nuts makes different fun flavors of peanut butter, the majority of their posts are them making their peanut butter because not only do they make fun flavors they take pride in their audience knowing that each batch is made fresh with fresh ingredients. This can be used for brands who don’t even sell any products, you can record a video of your brand talking about an upcoming project or a session of spitting off ideas so that your audience can see the process of their favorite companies’ ideas coming to life. 
4) Showing your product in use: Want to see some of your favorite products in use? If your brand produces a product, showing how to use it or how it is multi-functional, is very important. It can be the turning point to your audience if they are going to purchase it or not. Proving that it is functional could make someone think that it is worth the purchase. Glossier has a makeup artist trying on their makeup and showing how she would use it to create a daily look as she is promoting their new eye pencil. If your brand does not sell a product, they can show what they provide in progress. You can show the service that your brand provides and even the best ways to use their services. Simple ways to show off what your brand can provide may gain you a new audience and help keep your previous audience coming back.
5) Join a trend: Want to be trendy, don’t we all. Following the biggest trends are what keep brands relevant today. If you are not using the latest “sound” or doing the latest dance moves or wearing the right things people become irrelevant. Brands like to stay on trend to keep up with everyone else, it keeps them relevant. Starbucks used a popular dance to promote their coffee while collaborating with social media influencers to stay relevant. Joining a trend can bring you up on someone’s Instagram feed or on their search page that your brand may have not appeared on prior. By association being trendy will spread your account more than it would have before. Following a trend to show off your brand like doing a dance to show your new clothes or making a video to a sound that is popular to showcase what your brand can do will catch the attention of so many.
6) Sales Talk: What is better than seeing that an item you’ve had your eye on is now on sale? Nothing, nothing is better than that. Using Instagram Reels to show your audience that you are having a sale will draw attention. Everyone loves a good sale and if it is promoted well enough you can get new interaction on your Instagram page along with on your website. Ulta Beauty every year has a sale called the 21 Days of Beauty where different products throughout those 21 days are on sale, they made an Instagram Reel showing some very popular products and their sale on them to catch the attention of their audience. Your audience will also be more likely to interact with your brand because with a sale peeking interest people will be more inclined to look at what you offer and even if they choose not to purchase anything you will still get exposure that could lead to sharing or future interaction. 
7) Employee Features: Have you ever wondered who is behind the scenes of your favorite brnad’s? With an employee feature Instagram Reel, you can give your audience an inside as to who is working with your brand. Your employees can represent their personalities through an Instagram Reel showing off a playful side that makes an audience feel more connected and personal to a brand. Publix has one of their employees create a video about his working life at Publix and he goes on to tell a bit about him self and how he will be participating in the Special Olympics, this creates a personal bond between you and the person in the video because they are being so vulnerable with the audience. Your employees can also promote a product or service that your brand offers creating a personal bond between them and the company making the company more trustworthy. Your brand can also use an Instagram Reel to show off their employees and promote that they are hiring and that you can become a part of the team while seeing the team firsthand.
Convinced Yet?
In a summary Instagram Reels can be used to your brands advantage. They can be used to promote what you offer in a fun and quick 90 second video. Reels have the ability to increase liked and interaction on your brands social media pages not only Instagram. They can also increase brand awareness and bring a new demographic to your content viewers. Your brand can benefit from Instagram Reels so exponentially over time.
So, will your brand Reel out and start using Instagram Reels to better their social media future? Tell us in the comments about your favorite Reels strategy.
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