Where Does Reels Fit Into Your Social Media Strategy?

If viewed as an additional marketing feature for brands marketing on Instagram, rather than the TikTok for the Instagram demographic, Reels becomes a welcome improvement to the Story feature and an attractive alternative to the lengthy IGTV format for marketing. 

Reels videos can be up to 30 seconds long, can be edited, posted, commented on, and shared within Instagram. It’s also a super fun and creative way to share engaging, even viral, content with your audience to build and grow your community.

3 Ways Your Business Can Use Reels To Boost Engagement

1.  Create Utterly Authentic Content That Resonates With Your Audience

Creating captivating content is easier than ever to do with Reels. Show your audience who you are and be genuine in your Reels. If you are quirky, be quirky. Reels provides an opportunity for brands to share a real, not-so-perfect side of themselves with their audience. 

Showing the human, sometimes messy, side of your brand will make you relatable and build deep connections. Sharing your story and uniqueness while staying aligned with your purpose will resonate with your audience and strengthen your relationship with them. In doing so, you could reach a whole new audience as they are exposed to your Reels on their Explore feed! 

2.  Share Valuable Informational Or Educational Content To Your Audience

Reels are great tools for sharing information with your audience and beyond. You can share tips and tricks, educate your audience about your brand, teach them how to make or do something, and so much more. 

Teaching your audience will build authority for your brand and position your business as a trusted source of information. 

3.  Showcase Your Products or Services You Provide

Share promotions and specials you are running in your Reels. You can also use them to teach your audience how to get the most out of a product, showcase your products or services, and share product demonstrations. Reels is a great way to build buzz and excitement for your business and the products you sell. 

With Reels you have the opportunity to show not tell in creative and captivating ways. 

For more tips on how to use Reels for business, read The Ultimate Guide To Instagram Reels and Your Guide To Instagram Reels For Business. 

Things To Keep In Mind When You’re Marketing With Reels

While Reels is a very effective way to build lasting relationships with your audience and expand your reach, there are some things to consider when adding Reels to your social media marketing strategy:  

• Viewers cannot rewind or fast forward when watching a Reel. It has to play until the end and then loop back. 
• You can’t edit the caption after you’ve uploaded your Reel. You have to delete the video and reupload it (hopefully, you’ve saved it) after making the changes. 

This is where your stellar proofreading skills come in. Alternatively, you can save your Reels on your device, upload them into social media management and scheduling app, like Later, write your caption and schedule it for another date or time. Scheduling it to publish at a future time gives you the chance to go back and review your caption and refine your hashtags with fresh eyes. 

• Viewers can only see the first line of your caption. The entire caption is there but the viewer won’t see it unless they tap More. For CTAs and long captions that tell a story, this is not optimal. 
• Currently, Instagram does not show you any Insights for Reels. You can see total view counts but nothing else. There’s no data for likes, comments, clicks, or followers. However, if you posted it to your feed, your Reels will count toward your overall reach.
• Instagram is very responsive to user feedback and is continually making additions, revisions, and improvements to Reels which is commendable and encouraging. 

Although the editing, caption, and tracking limitations of Reels are problematic for businesses who use it in their social marketing strategy, brands that have implemented it experience a marked increase in engagement, brand awareness, and reach.

What Is The Outlook For Reels?

Reels may never become a true competitor to TikTok or a viable alternative but it is a welcome additional tool for businesses and influencers who are already successfully marketing on Instagram. 

If Instagram continues to update Reels and adds the crucial editing, viewing, and metrics features businesses need, in order to determine how to implement Reels effectively as part of their overall social media marketing strategy, it will become a key marketing tool for brands. 

Sharing Reels with your audience will raise awareness for your brand, build relationships, increase engagement, and conversions more effectively than Stories or your regular posts because they are videos and accessible long term. 

Instagram is currently working on making it easy to sell your products directly from your Reels, which will be incredible for conversions and business growth. 

Reels Enables Brands To Connect Authentically With Their Audience

Being able to create short, fun, fast-moving videos gives brands the opportunity to share their personalities, stories, and lives with their audience in very authentic and genuine ways. Letting your customers, audience, and the IG users at large, see your human side through Reels will build genuine connections. 

In addition, if your Reels is deemed valuable by Instagram, it will be tagged as “Featured” and appear at the top of all users’ feed. Having your Reels featured on Instagram will immediately give your brand authority and value. As a result, your business will experience exponential growth in terms of followers and engagement. 

Ultimately, Reels is a powerful growth tool for businesses marketing on Instagram. To learn how to create reels, check out Create An Instagram Reel In 7 Steps. Explore what other brands are sharing and then start sharing your unique gifts with your audience using Instagram Reels!