Now whether those people have turned into good quality followers, is up for debate, but Instagram Reels are a fun new way of engaging with your audience and showing off your personality!

For those of you who don’t know what a reel is, let me explain. It is a video clip, up to 30 seconds in length – a bit like TikTok. You can lip sync, dance speak, give tips, tutorials – the list is endless. You don’t need to be silly to make them work.

Now, I just want to add that if the thought of doing a reel frightens the hell out of you, you don’t need to do them. Getting your content on your social media right first is what you need to concentrate on. However, if you’re ready to explore and use this new feature then, here are my top tips on how to make the most of them.

1 – Hook people in the first 3 seconds

Social media is fast paced, and with all content you want to grab people’s attention whilst they’re scrolling. With reels you want to grab people’s attention in the first 3 seconds to get them to continue watching. Once someone has watched your reel once it counts as one view, so the shorter and snappier your video the more chance it has of being seen.

2 – Use content that is going to resonate with your ideal customer

Again, like with general content, think about what your customer wants to know about you. Do they want to be entertained or do they want tips and tutorials? I started doing reels when they first came out and I’ve had to experiment to see what works. I was doing funny ones at first, but then when I started posting my top tips as reels they went crazy! So, play around with a few things and see what gets the best reaction. This will give you an indication of what your audience likes.

3 – Use trending music/sounds

If you want to grow your reach with reels, using music that is trending (i.e. popular in other reels) is a good idea. Instagram will see that the piece of music you are using is popular, so will therefore show it to more people.

Now, how do you find trending music I hear you ask? There are a few ways. First way is to open up the music tab when you are in a reel and see what comes at the top of the list as most popular.

Second, you will get a feel for this just by watching Instagram reels and seeing what other people are using.

Or you could follow TikTok trends and bring them over to Instagram. If you have a business account like me, this can be harder, so you may want to consider switching over to a creator account. Only do this if you are not planning any promotions or paid advertising in the future.

4 – Use hashtags and share away!!

Hashtags also work in reels too, so if you are using them on your posts start thinking about using them on reels too. Make sure you use all 30 and create a caption to your reel that people are going to read and be interested in. Hashtags are a great way of helping your reels be found by your ideal client, so use them wisely.

The best way to start is by just watching what other people do and get a feel for them, see what you like and you’d feel comfortable doing. Start by doing an easy one. Once you’ve built up your confidence there’ll be no stopping you. Also, when you’ve done a few you can see which got the most reach, likes, and comments and you know to do more of that kind in the future.

If you want to have a laugh, then go and follow my account and watch my reels!