Instagram is a staple for social media marketers. The platform has over 1 billion active monthly users, 500 million active daily users. Instagram has recently launched a new feature, Reels.
If Tik Tok is anything to go by Reels might be the next big thing in marketing and advertising. So are Instagram Reels worth your time? Here is our guide to the pro and cons of Instagram Reels for social media marketers.
What Are Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels is very similar to Tik Tok. Users create 15 to 30-second videos set to music that are shared to their Reels, stories, and explore feeds. Instagram Reels videos have the Reels icon in the lower-left corner of the video when you view it. If someone you follow uploads a reel, you’ll see that in your home feed.
If you have a public account you can share Reels to dedicated spaces in exploring, where anyone in the world can view it. When you share Reels with specific hashtags, effects, or songs your reel could appear on dedicated pages. Meaning anyone searching for content like yours will find it.
At first Reels may seem very similar to Instagram stories, but there are some important differences. Stories let you share your entire day, not just those you want to keep on your profile. Reels is more about creating engaging content and offers far more creative tools. And when you share a reel anyone can see it on the explore page, whilst stories only go to your followers.
Benefits of Instagram Reels
When Facebook (who owns Instagram) rolls out new features they give priority to the content using the new feature. Reels creators are reporting higher engagement and reach than on other content, even when using the same content in different functions such as the story.
Reels are easy to create. Video content requires a lot of work, time, money, and production. But the Reels feature is designed to take all the work out of it. Reels are short videos, 15 to 30 seconds and the videos can be created entirely within the app. All the editing and creation tools exist inside Reels and the best part is these tools generate trends.
Unlike stories, your Reels content is permanent. This means you can get much more creative with Reels. You can develop your brand identity, tone, and themes quickly. And because Reels are so quick to create it is easy to batch make content that follows on from one another. And you can repurpose your Reels as stories and feed content.
Instagram Reels Are Perfect For Businesses
Tik Tok has a reputation for being all about dancing videos. And this has flowed over to Reels. And this is not true. Reels offers businesses are a really interesting way of engaging with its customers.
Tutorials, step-by-step videos, tips, and insights for your industry are doing well on both Tik Tok and Reels. For example, if you are a florist, short videos explaining when a man should buy his wife which flowers would be a big hit.
Businesses can also get very creative with Reels trends. When a trend becomes viral everyone starts following suit. This is a creative opportunity for your business to find a way to do that trend unique for your business. Dong this well will leverage the organic reach of the platform.
Reels Or Stories Or IGTV
Ideally, you have the time and resources to be smashing out content across all of Instagram’s platforms. But this isn’t always the case. If you need to choose where to focus your attention you will need to consider which video content platform you want to share on Reels or Stories or Instagram TV.
Reels are easier to share than stories. Unless you are tagged in a story you cannot share that story on your own story. And you can’t share stories to your profile. Reels can be reposted on your own feed and story, and other users can share your Reel to their story or home feed. This allows you to reach a much wider audience much faster.
Reels offer far more visibility because you can apply up to 30 hashtags. Stories are limited to 10 hashtags. When you create a Reel and nail the hashtags you can put your content out in front of so many more viewers, as they will find it in a range of hashtag feeds. And because Reels are permanent the chances of people seeing the content increase significantly.
Because Reels have only just been launched Facebook is not yet monetizing the Reels feed. This means no ads. And while you cannot advertise in the Reels feed, you can use reels to create retargeting audiences.
Reels can be used to create video views custom audiences for retargeting. This is big-time if you use Facebook and Instagram ads as part of your marketing approach. If your audiences are engaging well with your Reels content you can redirect them to move closer to the next step to buying from you.
Cons of Instagram Reels
Whilst early adopters are prioritized by Instagram, your users may not be all that familiar with Reels yet. At present, Reels are not that easy to find. Instagram has recently give Reels its own feed. Here you users can scroll through an explore feed for Reels only. To see Reels of pages they already follow they will have to scroll through their own home feed.
An important downside of Reels currently is that you can’t schedule them. For many marketers that is a key part of their strategy. This can make adding Reels to your strategy difficult and may not yield the returns you are looking for.
People who watch Reels do not read captions. This means you need to spend less time on copy and make sure your call to action or key message is in the audio and text overlay of the video.
Is Instagram Reels Worth Your Time?
As a business owner or marketing professional Instagram Reels has a lot to offer. Especially if you are an early adopter. Reels offers creators a lot more flexibility and reach than stories and IGTV. And the best part is they are easy to make and share. We recommend exploring how you can add Instagram Reels to your marketing strategy. And if you need help we can assist you and deliver an amazing return on your marketing investment.
