Instagram Reels

By Julie Siomacco | April 12, 2021 |

What are Reels?

Reels is Facebook’s answer to TikTok! It’s creating short videos and piecing them together so that they tell a story.

How to Get Reels on Instagram

  1. In order to get Reels you need to set your account to a Creator Account. If you only have a personal Instagram account, you need to either switch it to Professional or create a new IG that is Professional. Then once it’s Professional, switch it to Creator.
  2.  Then update the app on your phone but uninstalling and reinstalling.
  3. Wait for 7 days. Could be faster but typically takes a week for them to show.
  4. Check to make sure it hasn’t moved into another location.
  5. Be patient! IG software is full of bugs and glitches. If you don’t have access it’s a glitch. 

Reels Tips:

  • Use TikTok for getting ideas for your reels. Also, followers on TikTok  jump over to follow you on Instagram too. And creating TikTok videos is a great practice and trends start on Tiktok and move over to IG. Trends with music, challenges, skits, etc.
  • Reels are hotter than anything right now on IG because they are a newer feature.
  • Keep it brief – only 15 – 30 seconds long
  • Make it valuable – funny, educational, relatable, shareable
  • Add text – using words to help the algorithm find you
  • Use multiple cuts using either one long video you trim or short videos you piece together
  • Use popular sounds that are already created which isn’t always music or voice overs
  • Use hashtags like you do your normal IG posts when writing out the description of the reel.
  • Always share your reels to your IG feed
  • Share your reel to your IG story.
  • Go comment on other peoples post in your niche, this will get them to look at your account and watch your real
  • Insights are displayed on the reel with the number of views, comments and likes, use this to do more of what your followers like
  • batch process reels and save them to your drafts
  • Always post reels that are related to your niche and brand
  • If you don’t have time to do a reel, you can find viral tiktoks in your niche and repost them, giving credit back to the creator.
  1. Open tiktok
  2. Search your niche
  3. find a video
  4. Tap share
  5. Save video
  6. Post as a Reel
  7. Give them Credit

When to post your Reels?

Post right before your Instagram peek. To find that…

  • Click on the 3 lines in the top right corner of your IG account
  • Click Insights.
  • Click Your Audience.
  • Scroll to the bottom
  • You want to post during the hours just before the peak. For me it’s between 6-9 am.

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