Instagram reels can be a creative and effective form of video content to grow your business’s social media audience. Since the TikTok-influenced video feature was brought to our phones in August 2020, reels now account for 20% of user activity on the platform. With figures like that, it’s easy to understand why reels are a massive tool for Instagram, and offer great potential for businesses to increase their engagement.
Of course, we understand it can be overwhelming to use an unfamiliar social media tool. However, if you have a few ideas and a vision of how you want your reels to look, then it is more straightforward than you might think and, most importantly, fun.
So, let’s not waste any more time and delve into what you need to know about reels and content ideas for you to grow your business on Instagram.
What are Instagram reels?
Reels are an Instagram short-form video content feature that allows the creator to film or upload video between 15 and 90 seconds. They are flexible and can be edited, have effects or filters added, sound over-dubbed, or even contain trending audio.
They also can be beneficial to your business. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has said more than 45% of accounts interacted with reels at least once a week. Alongside this, reel campaigns that included branded content ads saw an increase of 123% in brand awareness. This is why you should include reels into your Instagram strategy.
8 Instagram reel ideas in 2022 [with examples]
Below are some suggestions and ideas that can help you on your business’s short-form video journey.
1. Launch a new product
Do you have a new product launch that is useful for consumers and is probably the product that would make you the top-choice seller for your market? Why not provide your target audience with a sneak peek of what this product can do?
Not only do your customers see what your product looks like, they can see it in action, too. In essence, using reels can provide a more authentic product launch for viewers as they are already interested in your business and products. In addition, the algorithm will allow your reels to get in front of new audiences who it thinks will also like your reel, without feeling they have received an ad through targeting.
Dyson have created great examples of this, by showcasing their new products through brief how to use videos with concise text descriptions and calls to action.
2. Show off your workspace
Human beings are curious by nature, so there’s no wonder we all love to see what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to our favourite brands. Workspace tours are especially popular.
Showing where you work can give your audience a great overview about the setting and the environment where everything takes place, such as how many people work in the business, or what your workspaces looks like. Do you have any fun facts to share that could grab your audiences? How are your products made or where are your services managed from? All this can be an engaging way to show a little more personality behind the brand.
You can even add funny captions on screen, or ask your followers questions to get them talking in the comments.
3. Educate your audience
Educating your audiences about your products and services can make for really interesting reel content. Presenting your audiences with a background knowledge, stats or facts connected to your business, can build loyalty and trust. For example, if you’re a food-based business, try explaining the type of ingredients that are used and what they’re good for; or, if you’re manufacturing company, demonstrate how to use or fix a component. No matter your niche, education reels can build credibility.
4. Show Behind the scenes
As with workspace tours, this is another way to give your audience a bit more background knowledge into everyday life at your business. For example, why not demonstrate how you created a fantastic photoshoot for a client. Have you created any videos to promote a new product or service, why not show how it was made? One of our content creators created a reel to show the step-by-step process of creating an autumnal photoshoot for our client TROVE.
This is a great way to give your audience a little window into your day-to-day life and allows your audience to again see your brand more in a more human and personable way. Using reels to give your audience an inside look into even the smallest details can give you the opportunity to build better connections. Consumers love to know the secret to creating their favourite products or services.
5. Promote an Event
If you’re attending an event with your team, or your business is running its own, creating reel content to promote it can be a fun and an engaging tactic. Events your business is involved with are always worth sharing. For example, our content creators at LikeMind Media love getting stuck into creating reel content for events, especially with our MarketEd.Live presents Creative Climate event, which is coming up in September.
With reel content for event promotion, you can think out of the box and be as creative as possible, thinking about your target audiences and the message you are trying to convey. An example of this was our early bird ticket promotion reel for Creative Climate, which was based on the scene in the film Bruce Almighty, featuring the track Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up by Barry White. The reel played out a scenario of me being very attracted to a seductive discounted price ticket.
6. Use Pop Culture Trends
With your reel content, you can tap into popular trends such as hot topics, popular sounds or tracks, challenges, TV show moments and movies related to what you are trying to sell. Trends like these are easily recognisable by audiences, and show that you’re up to date with your consumers’ interests.
For example, why not find a trending reel and use the idea for your event promotion, like we did. We re-enacted the now famous Master of Puppets Eddie Munson guitar scene from Stranger Things 4. This was a fun and relatable way of explaining the benefits of attending our MarketEd.Live event, as well as selling tickets, that can be both informative and enjoyable.
7. Staff Takeover
Your employees might have something exciting and fun to share, so why not take advantage of that? It’s another effective way of showing the people behind the brand and making your business more personable. This also allows you to keep things interesting and bring a bit of variety to the type of content you share across the platform.
So, how can you approach a staff takeover using reels? It’s as simple as it sounds – you allow an employee to create their own reel! They can share interesting parts of their working day, their routine, maybe a fun project they’re working on, what their breaks look like or how they interact with the rest of the team. There really is no limit. It can also demonstrate authenticity with your business, without your content needing to be branded.
For example, during this year’s heatwave, we had a spontaneous idea (you can blame it on the heat) to take a fun spin on how a content creator keeps cool while working from home.
8. Engage with your community
Part of a successful social media strategy is literally being social. Engaging with comments in your posts, or sharing and commenting on someone else’s posts, is a fantastic way to keep your audience growing and develop new business relationships. At its foundation, community management is about relationships and how you as a business take advantage of opportunities to connect with the public across online spaces.
Why not make this into a reel? Simply choose a comment you would like to reply to on a previous post, and Instagram now has a function that allows you to respond using a reel. Responding through a video is not only engaging but can also help grab the attention of your audience faster. The human attention span has now dropped to 8 seconds, so grabbing your audience with a quick video response can make you stand out from your competition. It’s also nice for the person behind the business to give their audience a personal explanation.
Let’s start making reels
Reels are a fantastic form of content to start implementing into your strategy. They can provide the opportunity to show off your business and your amazing team behind the brand.
With short-form video becoming the most popular form of content for most audiences, and almost half of users on Instagram interacting with reels, now is the time to get started with reels and reap the rewards.
At LikeMind Media, we understand it can be daunting trying a new tool for the first time, especially when video is involved. Which is why we have a great team of creative experts ready to guide your business through the exciting world of Instagram reels.
Get in touch with us today, and let’s see what we can create together.
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Article posted by Kieran Marshall
Kieran is a driven content creator, with a strong audio background. With a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Music Technology, Kieran has gone on to explore his creative vision through content-based marketing. He produces a vast range of curated content- whether it’s social media, podcasting, video or Kieran’s specialty in paid social, he’s always keen to jump in and support his clients in achieving their marketing goals.
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