Instagram reels have taken our accounts by storm. They appear everywhere, whether you watch them or avoid them like the plague. How can they benefit you and your business? Learn the most important rules for creating good reels!
Why is it worth creating roller skates?
Instagram Reels are a new (at least in Poland) option for Instagram. With the growing popularity of TikTok, a new medium where users can post short, often funny videos to the rhythm of music, Instagram decided to add a similar option to its service. Actually, not similar, but identical.
But what advantages do reels have over TikTok?
A large number of people and companies already have an Instagram profile, so they do not have to create a new account and build a community "from scratch" - they can use the engagement of an already gathered audience.
Secondly – Instagram, as it admits, is currently in the phase of very strong promotion of reels. They appear in as many as 6 different sections of the service, often in places that were previously reserved only for sponsored content. This means that thanks to reels we can achieve very large organic reach and reach completely new recipients!
How to make roller skates? Good practices
To achieve success, it is not enough to create anything – you have to do it wisely. Below you will find a few rules that are worth applying and remembering when working on videos.
Briefly and to the point
For a long time, the most popular form of video on Instagram was Instastory – 15-second videos or photos that were meant to be a taste of real life. Many people started using stories to create educational content, posting their thoughts, monologues (so-called Talking Heads), or unboxings that sometimes lasted a few minutes. Reels are used for something completely different. They are supposed to be content that is digested quickly. The average viewing time of a reel is 7-8 seconds! What does that mean? That your content must be as condensed as possible (you have a minute at your disposal), and the first 2-3 seconds will be crucial. In the following subsections, we will explain how to use them well.
Catchy headline
As we mentioned, the first few seconds of your video will determine whether someone who comes across your reels will continue watching or swipe to the next video. One way to grab their attention is to use a headline that foreshadows what will happen in the rest of the video. Common phrases include:
- 5 ways to…
- How to make…
- Did you know that…
We can also use some provocative “clickbaits”, e.g.
- You've never seen anything like this before!
- You've been doing it wrong all your life!
- I gained 15k followers in a week, see how!
Headlines should be placed both at the very beginning of the reel and on its cover. You can add sound to them (record yourself reading the reel title) or leave them in text form.
Dynamic transitions
This is where we get to the real secret of the rollerblades. What makes them so enjoyable to watch are the transitions synchronized with the music. The most successful films are those in which a lot happens right from the start. The music is rhythmic, and the images change with it.
It is not a very good practice to set a fragment that lasts longer than 3 seconds at the beginning. As we mentioned, our task is to draw the user in, to make them want to watch until the end. If nothing interesting happens in the first few seconds, the viewer will get bored and scroll further.
Good transitions are a combination of two elements – rhythmic music and a creative change synchronized with it. We'll talk more about music in a moment, but you'll find interesting transition ideas nowhere else than in other people's rolls! Write them down, think about how you can modify them to suit your needs, and create!
Music
Music is the foundation of this type of video, ALWAYS use it! Even if your reels consist of you talking to the camera – add some background music. You can adjust it, if you don't want it to interfere with understanding your speech, set its volume, e.g. to 5-10%. If you use music that is currently in trend, Instagram will also promote your reels, even if the sound doesn't play the main role in it.
You already know that it is worth using so-called trending songs, i.e. those that are currently often used because Instagram is eager to promote them. But how to look for them? First - watch other people's reels, especially in the explore tab. If you come across the same song several times within a few dozen seconds, you can be sure that it is in trend. The second way is to follow the official Instagram account @creators. The best videos with trending songs are regularly uploaded there.
The third option is not yet available in Poland, but we may soon be able to use it. A green up arrow will appear next to the titles of songs that are gaining popularity. Those that are no longer "on the rise" will receive a red down arrow.
Cover and subtitles
Reels appear in various places on Instagram. Some of them are automatically enabled (e.g. those displayed on our home page), and some are stationary until you go directly to the post (e.g. in the hashtags or Explore tab). It is worth ensuring that the stationary image that we see in some sections is attractive and informs users about the subject of the reel. The cover can be selected directly from the video, but we recommend preparing it specially, e.g. in Canva. Interestingly, the cover can also be changed after the reel has been published - this is a useful option if we want to standardize the look of our feed after some time. Setting the right cover can not only attract new recipients, but also help maintain consistency on our Instagram profile.
The second important issue is subtitles. They should be on our cover – they will inform what to expect from the reel, but more importantly, if the film contains spoken content, they must also appear during its duration. 75% Instagram users browse the portal without the sound on and use it only when something intrigues them. If they do not know what your film is about, they will not turn on the sound to listen to the end and will quickly move on to the next reel.
Technical requirements
Failure to adapt the reel to Instagram's technical requirements may result in its reach being cut off. Remember about the appropriate video size - 1080×1920 (the same dimensions as on Instastories), appropriate quality and not placing captions in places where the description and username are located. Leave the top and a large part of the bottom space empty, try to place captions in the middle. In addition, if you are adding a video that has a watermark from another application (mainly TikTok), it is worth removing it. There are rumors that the Instagram algorithm does not like such content very much.
Try until you get it!
Instagram reels are an amazing opportunity to reach new audiences and gain followers. The first reel won't always be a huge success, but it's worth trying! To encourage you, we'd like to show you the statistics of our average Instagram post and the first reel we placed on it. The reel achieved almost 30 times greater reach than a regular photo!
Motivated? So go ahead, start your adventure in the rollerblading world!
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