Selfie (photo by Vinicius Wiesehofer from Pexel)
About two years ago, in August 2020, Instagram launched a feature that changed the rules of the game and opened up new opportunities for content creators and business owners on the platform: Harils. Short videos, designed to compete with the dizzying success of its rival TikTok. The videos, which were initially only about 15 to 30 seconds long, marked a significant change in trend, as far as publishing video content of the social network is concerned. Until then, Instagram’s strategy was to allow its users to create videos up to 60 minutes long, using theIGTVand to try to compete with YouTube, the corona virus came and with it the “explosion” of Tiktok and caused Instagram to recalculate its course.
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Two years after the reels emerged into our lives, it can be said that it is a great success, when no less than 20% of Instagram users’ time is dedicated to them. In the next article, I will try to make a little order, and explain exactly what the reels are, and how you can use them to promote your content and business?
What are the reels videos?
The reels are short videos, up to 90 seconds long, that include built-in editing tools, which allow you to add music, gifs, stickers, filters, effects, and more, without going to external applications.
What is the difference between posting a reel and a story or post?
The first difference is that the reels, unlike the story, do not “disappear” after 24 hours, and they remain in the application as long as you have not deleted them. Another difference concerns the distribution of the reels – unlike Story, the algorithm built around the reels also allows people who are not on your follower list to be exposed to them, thus significantly increasing the potential of views, comments and video distribution.
Another advantage to reels is that their shelf life is longer. If, for example, you published a post, after a day or two, the content fades and stops being promoted organically. On the other hand, if you uploaded Real, it continues to gain momentum up to 3 weeks after publication. Not infrequently we see videos that, even weeks after publication, reach thousands and even hundreds of thousands of views, because Instagram continues to push the video.
How can you get into the Harils feed And make videos yourself?
Creating Reels videos is quite simple, all you have to do is enter the main screen of the mobile application, swipe left on the screen, then you will reach the content publication area in the application. In the tab below, the options for publishing a post, story and reels will open before you, and you must click on the option in the tab below called REEL. On the left, the built-in editing tool set of the feature will open for you, which will allow you to add music, effects, filters and more.
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Clicking on the musical note on the left – will allow you to search for trending music pieces and add them to your video, when you can choose to add only the chorus or another part of the song you liked.
Clicking on the 3 star button – will allow you to insert trendy and cool effects, which can upgrade your video.
The timer sign with the 15 second meter in it – will give you the option to set the duration of the video, which can be up to 90 seconds long.
Entering the Harils feed is possible by going to the main screen of the application from the mobile, where you go to the tab at the bottom of the page, and click on a button in the form PLAY, right in the middle of the tab. Then you will reach a whole world of short videos, uploaded by users from all over the world. In this context, it should be said that until the last few days, Instagram conducted an experiment among users in the US, so that, similar to Tiktok, entering the application would enter you into a feed along the entire screen, which includes reels and photos. Following the latest protest, led by Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, Instagram decided to stop the the experiment, and at the moment it is not clear who will meet his fate.
Dana Gilboa Private photo
How can you create Reels videos, which will help you promote your business on Instagram in a better way?
Uploading a Reels video to promote your business, without creating a strategy and without understanding how to use this amazing tool, is not enough to make people want to watch, save, comment and share the videos. Here are some practical recommendations, which will allow you to adapt the content of the videos to the latest trends and increase the engagement of the audience and the virality of your reels:
Trending music selection – The music is one of the most important elements for making a video much more viral. I recommend that you always keep trending pieces of music in your folder that you have heard in other videos and liked, that you can use for future videos.
create a “hook” – The first 2-3 seconds in the video are important and greatly influence the viewer’s decision whether to continue watching or not. It is important that in the first few seconds of Haril, he will understand what he is going to get out of watching the video, a new tip he learned? Something that moved him? It is very important that every second in the video creates interest and makes viewers want to see what happens next. We need to understand that the large amount of content we are exposed to on all networks and websites makes us much more impatient and abandon videos more quickly.
Add a call to action at the end of the video – If a user watched your video until the end, amazing and a sign that you did something right! But isn’t it a shame to let him go without taking the action that will make your content more viral or even keep following you? That’s why I recommend at the end of the video to indicate an action that you would like him to do, such as: “Send the video to a friend who…”, “Keep following for more recommendations…”, “Save the video” etc.
Keep a real structure that serves your goals (and the algorithm): combine a value creation hook and a call to action to get the most out of your content. This will also make the viewer not only choose to watch the video and not continue to the next video, but also leave with value and motivation for the action you want to target.
Add text throughout the video – which briefly describes what you see in it or is used as subtitles for the things said by the speakers in the video. Text makes it possible to emphasize and convey your message in a sharper and clearer way and to better enter the minds of the viewers. Always remember that many users watch a video on “silent” mode while they are at work, in class or putting the children to sleep, and therefore do not hear the sound. Add subtitles to help them understand what’s going on in the video.
Keep a resolution of 16:9 – The era of “horizontal photography” is over, from now on we only take portraits. If you take videos that are not long, Instagram will automatically fill in the blanks with a black screen and it looks much less good and much less engaging. Instagram gives us important real estate, it’s a shame we only use part of it.
The author is a strategic consultant in the worlds of social media for organizations, companies and businesses, a lecturer and an expert in organic promotion tactics