Popular Brands Share Instagram Reels Tips for Growth

Instagram Reels are taking the world by storm! Popularized by rival social network TikTok, Instagram reels is quickly becoming an excellent opportunity for brands and influencers to grow their Instagram presence, followers, and sales. We decided to ask popular brands on Instagram to share how they use Reels to grow their ‘Gram. Let’s take a look at their awesome list of tips below.

Short Form Videos

According to Syed M Rizvi, online medical educator at Rev.med, short videos are the next big thing after other forms of the post. He is also the founder and educator and knows a lot about Instagram Reels. This is what Syed M Rizvi want to share with our audience

Short form videos are the most sought after forms of content. And this is true for both creators to create and for the audience to digest. Reels is Instagram’s response to this new era of content creation. Therefore we notice Instagram pushing for and most interested in accounts that are using Reels, ultimately ranking them higher and providing more reach on the platform. For example, think of when the ‘fidget spinner’ was trending, didn’t you notice it at every gas station… right near the cashier? Well this is true for how Instagram is showcasing Reels on the explorer page, and even making the Reels button front and center on the app!

Instagram Reels and Growth

Well, it starts off by strategizing and planning, rather than simply posting your best short form video. Instagram values consistency – meaning you should be posting every day, every other day or at the exact same time of day. Posting one Reel and then posting your second Reel in two weeks will NOT allow you to grow successfully.

Instead we’ll plan and execute with the following strategy:

Sit down on a sunday morning and come up with 7 Reels to script, create captions for, and shoot. Initially the idea’s for the Reels don’t have to be unique or trend setting, they should actually be inspired from other successful Reels that the community on Instagram are already loving!

You got your ideas for the first 7 Reels and have created them. Now go ahead and draft the videos and their captions onto Reels without actually posting them. When you are ready to go – pick the consistent pattern of days you’d like to post, for example: Monday at 12 pm, Wednesday at 12 pm, Friday at 12 pm… etc.

Now post one Reel from your drafts at the time and date of your schedule. Once you post your Reel share it onto your IG story for further reach.

Pro tip: At @rev.med we create buzz for our next Reel by using the Instagram story ‘countdown sticker’ to tell our audience when the next Reel will be posted. Our followers will turn on a ‘reminder’ when the post will be live the next day, and Instagram will send a ping to them to go over and check out the new Reel!

Finally, for the next 15 mins after you posted a Reel – head over to the Reels tab and start interacting with other content creators and their Reels. Interacting means ‘like’ Reels that you find of interest to you and double down by leaving a genuine comment on the Reel. This last tactic can be used 15 mins prior to posting your Reel as well. Doing this 15 minutes before and 15 mins after posting your Reel will develop a firm relationship between you and the creator community. It also shows Instagram you are
using the app for its socially intended purpose.

Ok now you have posted 4 of the 7 Reels that you had created – this is the time you should work on the next set of 7 Reels to draft and post later on.

Challenge yourself to at least one month of creating engaging and quality Reels, consistently posting, and you will be sure to see a huge peak in followers and engagement on your Instagram profile.

Instagram Reels for Marketing

According to Artem Minaev, Co-founder of First Site Guide,  using Instagram reels helps grow your Instagram account. Take a look at Aterm’s Reels for growth tip below.

When using Instagram Reels for marketing purposes try to incorporate the current trends into your video. There are always new trends such as challenges that you can use for your own video. This helps provide entertainment with brand awareness simultaneously.

Keep your video caption short and to the point. *People aren’t on there to read through the caption section, they are there to focus on the video. Highlight all the important parts with the video rather than in writing.

Raise Engagement

Erin Mastopietro, Founder of Dope Dog which is an e-commerce store for Dog food. Erin has more than 4 years of experience in e-commerce and is doing great in this field. Her Brand which is an e-commerce store has grown to become one of the leading dog food brands. This is what Erin would like to share from her experience.

In various marketing techniques, we have seen how important it is that your Instagram account stays active along with people engagement, your audience needs to be reactive to your posts for you to reach as much audience as possible.

With reels, gaining engagement is the biggest plus point. This can be done by posing a question at the end of reels that your audience can interact with. This is referred to as the call to action (CTA). The comments are generally the best source for new ideas of content. This will also make your audience feel connected and heard.

Instagram Reels and its Opportunities

Instagram Reels have immense opportunities and this is what Sanket Shah is here to tell us. He is one of the founders and the CEO of InVideo which is a SAAS business founded in 2017. It’s a video creation platform that helps users transform content effortlessly into some amazing videos. Sanket would like to share some thoughts regarding Instagram Reels

Instagram has provided us ample opportunities to present unique and creative ideas to our followers with the help of reels. We make content-rich short videos or promos of our longer ads and present them as reels on our Instagram account. We mostly use reels to introduce our users to new features and additions of our online video editor.

One important tip for creating Instagram reels is that these videos need to be extremely witty. With reels, you only get a single minute to display all the information and ideas. Hence it has to be graspable. At InVideo we create short videos displaying quick steps to make a video using certain
features from our tool.

Growth by Instagram Reels

According to Becca Booker, Owner, and CEO of Homemade Social, using Instagram reels help our brand to grow at a growth rate of 91%. Becca which is one the top leaders would like to share some tips regarding Instagram Reels

What if we told you our agency saw a 91% growth rate in our Instagram following and an increase in leads in 2020’s Q4 due to *one* change in our social media strategy? In an attempt to rise above their new competitor, TikTok, Instagram has been pushing their new Reels feature heavily the past several months. By posting 1-2 Reels a week, our business skyrocketed as our content began to grow and reach an audience wider than ever before.

If we think about one of Instagram’s goals as a business, it is to keep users in the app for as long as possible. Because of this, the algorithm rewards content that users spend an extended amount of time on by pushing it to more people. The best way to get the algorithm to work for you and grow your business? Video!

While a static photo may capture your audience’s attention for a few seconds to a minute, video can keep them engaged and entertained for minutes on end. Instagram then rewards this high-performing content by pushing it to more users. Because of this, Instagram Reels is a key feature to incorporate into your business and marketing strategy this year if you’re looking to grow your business and reach new audiences like never before.

Here are a few general rules of thumb when posting Reels:

• Be consistent without burning yourself out! Our agency saw the most growth when we posted 1-2 Reels per week.
• Let at least one Reel live on your grid at a time. This makes it more visible and can increase impressions! Once a new Reel is posted, you can remove your old Reel from your grid, if you’d like, to live exclusively on your Reels feed.
• Consume to create. The Reels that perform best are on-trend. Whether that means they use trending audio or hop on a viral challenge. The best way to stay on top of trends is to consume them!

Use Instagram Reels for Q/A

According to Teo Vanyo, CEO of Stealth Agents, using Instagram reels for Q/A help promote the brand. Stealth Agents is a virtual assistant service company that can significantly minimize overhead costs for businesses. We have a solid foundation, built on advanced technology and a highly trained workforce. Our number one priority is to provide all clients with incredible results. This is what Teo would like to share with our audience

I recommend using Instagram Reels for Q&A to promote your brand and account. *Using your reels to answer your followers’ queries is a terrific way to give your viewers a glimpse behind the spotlight of your brand or life. You may include a CTA question or comment or a link for your followers to tap on or leave more questions. In this manner, you can use the comments and questions to generate more reels, which will help you build brand awareness, influencer relationships, and community togetherness

Grow your Account by Instagram Reels

According to Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, CEO & Plastic Surgeon, using Instagram Reel for growing your Instagram. Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo is the authority on how to crush your inner critic so that you can live a life of purpose, fulfillment, and True Success™.

She’s America’s most trusted celebrity psychologist with over 100 national media interviews including The Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, Fox Business News, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and countless others.

Considered Shaquille O’Neal’s “Head Coach for Happiness” Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo is on a mission to help you recognize your REAL self-worth, so you can live the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Dr. E has personally helped celebrities and high-performing executives, entrepreneurs, and athletes crush their inner critic and access untapped, practically limitless, reserves of potential.

Through her inspiring writings, online training, passionate keynote speeches, and private one-on-one work, Dr. E is on a mission to change the global conversation around ICS (Inner Critic Syndrome) for good so we can all live happier, fuller, and more connected lives.

A Licensed Practicing Psychologist with a Ph.D. in Psychology and a master’s degree in Physical Therapy, Dr. Lombardo’s bestselling book and course, Better Than Perfect: 7 Strategies to Crush Your Inner Critic and Create a Life You Love helps anyone suffering from conditional self-worth or perfectionism turn down their critic’s voice, turn up their self-confidence and gain essential skills to flourish in work, health, relationships, and life.

This is what she would like to share

When it comes to growing your Instagram account, one great piece of advice is to rehearse a few times before posting your first reel since you can permanently erase and try again. When making your first reel, be sure to make use of all of the options Instagram Reels has to offer, such as music, typeface, and font style. It should be noted that some Instagram users have complained that the music option is not accessible.

Custom Reels Thumbnails for Views

According to Dr. Michael K. Newman, CEO and Plastic Surgeon, using a custom reels thumbnail can help drive views to your account. Dr. Michael K. Newman is an exceptional, board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills who embodies the characteristics desired by all patients: world-class training, a wealth of experience, and artistic talent. In addition, he is warmly regarded by patients for his thoughtful and compassionate demeanor. This ideal balance of traits allows Dr. Newman to produce amazing results and is precisely why so many of his patients recommend him so highly to family and friends.

Educated at some of the finest medical institutions in the country, Dr. Newman is recognized as one of Southern California’s elite plastic surgeons. He is a member of the faculty at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and he has consistently been included in the List of Super Doctors published annually by Los Angeles Magazine. ABC’s Nightline news program featured Dr. Newman’s unique skills and compassionate, patient-focused care. Dr. Newman has also helped a lot of women from different walks of life and ages in the battle against breast cancer. This is what Dr. Newman would like to share with our audience

Create a custom reels thumbnail to drive views from the feed as one reels tip to grow your Instagram. When you make a new Instagram reel, you may select a thumbnail, the still image that will appear on your profile. You have the option of selecting a clip from your video or uploading a new picture. You can give your Instagram reels a consistent, branded look by creating a title template in your favorite graphics editing program.

The thumbnails for your reels will not appear in the Explore stream. Custom thumbnails, on the other hand, will make it simpler for people visiting your Instagram profile to discover videos of interest, get answers to queries they may have, and get a feel of the kind of material you publish without having to browse through all of your reels

Instagram Reels to Engage with Audience

According to Amber Reed-Johnson, Copywriting Assistant at Giraffe Social Media, using Instagram Reels help engage brands with the Audience. Amber would like to share some thoughtful tips for our viewers regarding Instagram Reels.

We use Instagram Reels to engage with our followers and post funny, behind-the-scenes, and helpful tip content for our (mostly) followers. Our followers tend to either be marketing-based themselves or are looking for social media marketing tips for their small business. Creating Instagram Reels can be a lot of work so the #1 tip we recommend is repurposing content from your other sources, such as TikTok videos (without the watermark – download before posting), blog posts, podcast episodes, and more. Repurposing content, in general, is a great tip for social media as it enables you to post more frequently without coming up with a completely new idea every time.

Instagram Reels make your Brand

According to Luisa Zhou, founder of LuisaZhou.com, using Instagram reels can help you make your brand. LuisaZhou.com is multiple 7-figure business that helps people turn their job skills into their own online businesses. Luisa Zhou has previously been featured in publications like Business Insider and Forbes. This is what Luisa would like to share regarding Instagram Reels

Using Instagram reels is to make them work for your brand. For example, I don’t just use reels to make funny videos that follow all the trends. Instead, I use them to share educational videos filled with tips and strategies. That works for my brand and what my audience appreciates. Often, I’ll repurpose other content, such as my YouTube videos, and create reels out of them. By not following every trend and creating reels your way, you’ll stand out much more easily than if you use the same reels as everyone else

Eye Catching Content for Instagram Reels

According to Yumna, Community Manager for Social Champ, use Instagram Reels and its tools to create eye-catching content for the Audience. Social Champ is a social media management solution for entrepreneurs and agencies looking for a simple yet powerful solution for scheduling social media content and tracking the performance of social media campaigns. Experience unparalleled workflows with our workspaces, team collaboration, bulk uploader, and integration of Crello, Canva, and Wave Video for creating exciting content. Fahad explains this awesome content tip in greater detail below

Use Native Enhancements

The new Instagram Reel consists of advanced editing tools, music, and visual effects that can make your video eye-catchy.To maximize your reach, try to make your video more compelling by adding music and visual effects rather than just simply uploading your video without any changes.

The First Seconds Counts

If you want to capture the attention of your audience, the first two seconds are important. Make sure your reels start with something that captures the attention and make sure the viewers don’t drop off in the middle.

Leverage QA’s in your reels

Think out of the box and be creative in using Instagram reels for a Q/A session. At the end of the video, you can add CTAs, comments, or add a link so your followers can go and ask more questions. This will help you grow brand awareness.

Create an Attractive Thumbnails for Reels

Once you are done creating your reels, Instagram allows you to choose a custom image from the gallery otr one of the best shots from the reels as the thumbnail. A custom thumbnail with a title tag is great for maintaining a cohesive brand theme.

Final Thoughts on Reels for Growth

As discussed above, it is now safe to say that Instagram Reels can be a great way to grow your account and share more of your life with the world.  You can play with reels by making them as long or short as you want, and by utilizing them according to your liking. Though it’s important to know how to use this feature in order for it not to become overwhelming. It may seem intimidating at first, we hope that this blog post helps you understand what Instagram Reels are and how they work.