When the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, posted a video on his profile, he probably didn’t expect the number of disgruntled comments he’d receive from businesses and influencers around the world. Mosseri announced that Instagram has chosen to shift and become less of a photo-sharing app.
It will now be geared toward becoming a video entertainment platform to keep up with competitors like TikTok and YouTube.
Regardless of how you feel about this transformation of the app, we’ll all have to abide by the algorithm’s new guidelines to stay relevant and ensure our content continues to be seen by our followers. You might be thinking that video is not your strong suit, and if that’s the case, you aren’t alone.
Numerous online tutorials explain how to become more confident in front of the camera. Posting to your stories and creating reels to add to your content strategy, however, aren’t anything new.
Reels have been around since August 2020, and they won’t be going anywhere, anytime soon. The human attention span has collapsed to become lower than that of a goldfish. We aren’t joking.
The average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. The average human attention span fell from 12 seconds in 2000 to only 8 seconds according to a study reported in July of this year.
Reels are no longer than thirty seconds. The average reel lasts about ten to fifteen seconds. This means you have roughly eight seconds of video content to get your message across to as many viewers as possible.
So you may be asking yourself: How do I manage to create a successful reel? Here are three essential tips to help you make the most out of your Instagram reels.
1. Use Text In Your Videos
Creating reels doesn’t require you to say a single word on camera. You might not even have to appear physically in your reel at all. With the availability of stock video online, you can avoid having to face your fear of being on camera.
An effective alternative is to use text in your videos. For example, say you have a ten-second reel with footage of the ocean waves. You intend to use the reel to provide the seven best tips to get over writer’s block. That’s a lot of benefits to cram into a short amount of time.
This might sound like an impossible task, but because your video is so short, the viewer will have to rewatch it several times over to grab all seven tips. The more views the reel has, the higher the engagement. The higher the engagement, the more people will see your reel.
2. Put More Information in Your Caption
Reels are a great way to become a lead generation source. But how do you get people to sign up for your online course or download your free eBook with a reel? You want to provide a call to action (CTA). Here’s a way to do it.
You’re a yoga instructor that has written an eBook you’re giving away as an incentive to build your email list. The book is all about how to find mindfulness during the daily grind. This is a perfect prompt for your Instagram reel.
Create a short video that simply poses the question, “How do I manage to stay mindful when life is so hectic?” A successful CTA for this example is to have the last piece of text on your video to say, “read the caption to learn how.”
Your caption can provide substantially more detail, which gives you an opportunity to include a CTA. That’s where you can invite people to sign up to receive a free eBook. Congratulations! You’ve now learned how to create a sales funnel through a ten-second reel on Instagram!
3. Partner with Other Influencers
What an influencer has that you might not is simple: more followers in your industry than you do. Influencers offer you a chance to connect with significantly more people around the world.
According to Relevance, the digital marketing and PR firm, influencer marketing’s global reach has grown upwards of 57% as of 2020. This number is only expected to continue rising.
The level of influencer you connect with will determine what compensation they might require. As of now, there are four levels of influencers.
- Nano Influencers (1k-10k followers)
- Micro-Influencers (10k-50k followers)
- Mid-tier Influencers (50k-500k followers)
- Premium or Macro-Influencers (500k-1 million+ followers)
A nano influencer is still starting to build her following. This means the person may only wish to trade an affiliate link with you that gives them a discount on your services or products.
Someone who is at the mid-tier influencer level is less likely to be satisfied with simply receiving one of your products for free. You’ll have to figure out what your business can afford as an incentive to persuade an influencer at that level to partner with you.
You can go about it a few different ways, but ideally the influencer might create a reel on their Instagram page that showcases your product or service, while also mentioning and tagging your company in the post. That would take some of the heavy lifting off your plate, of having to create the content. You can focus on other aspects of expanding your business.
There are more tips and techniques to leverage your Instagram reels. These are just three to get you started. Do some research, and if you need help, look into working with a social media or digital marketing firm to give you an extra boost of assistance and expertise.
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