You’ve probably heard a lot of people say that if you want to grow on Instagram the best way to do is with Instagram reels. But I would say that all the reels are not born equal. People are making reels because they’ve heard that’s what they should do.
Quite simply in this article, I’m going to give you a whole bunch of ideas, tips, and tricks for the Instagram reel. So that you can create better content to reach new people and gain followers. Here’s how you can grow on Instagram with Reels:
Table of Contents
9 Ways To Grow On Instagram With Reels
Don’t Reuse TikTok Content On Reels
The first mistake that you make is creating content for TikTok and putting it onto Instagram. It might have that little TikTok watermark on the video. Instagram hasn’t said that they are reducing the reach of TikTok content. Instead, they have said that your content shouldn’t have any kind of watermark.
There’s also another reason why you shouldn’t use content from TikTok. TikTok’s native screen size is the full screen size. Wherein Instagram crops your video into an aspect ratio of 4:5 to show on the feed. That’s frustrating, but it is true that you’ve created content for TikTok. With the watermark at the top and the bottom.
Don’t use content with the TikTok watermark in it. Instagram has said this will reduce your reach.
Solve Problems And Educate For More Reach
The type of content that you would be created to connect with new people. I would imagine the majority of people actually are connecting with new people. Who doesn’t know anything about them or anything about their content?
One good way to connect with people who are brand new to your account is by solving problems for them. So for example I created a reel where I show you how to connect the tripod plate to the bottom of a camera without a tool. So there’s a problem that a lot of people face, now people who watched it they connected with it. They didn’t need to know anything about me or anything about my content to relate.
Problem solving and teaching is really a good way to do that. Think about your niche make a list of all the different problems and day-to-day things that you kind of face. Create content around that and don’t overthink it. Just create tiny little bits of content and make a lot of it and see what resonates with your audience.
Create Suspense In Your Reels
It’s all well and good if you create content that people relate to. If people don’t watch your content all the way through then your reel probably won’t do as well as it could. A great way to do this is to create a buzz in your content and let them know this video is about something exciting.
I think people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. If you can hold someone I think suspense is more exciting than delivering what the content is about.
So let’s jump outside of photography for a second because I know a lot of you are not photographers. A way of creating suspense might be filming your feet and saying I always get funny looks when I wear this outfit. They know that you’re gonna look up at the mirror and reveal your outfit whatever that is. That’s not necessarily good content on paper but just when they see something is coming.
Always try and find ways to create suspense in your content and lead up to a moment where something is revealed but make sure you deliver on the promise as well. Make sure that it is still good content but you have created suspense within it.
Make Your Reels Saveable For More Engagement
The next thing that we want to do is to get them to engage with it. Specifically want to try and make them save it. Now reels are really good to save for particular niches and the type of content that makes you want to save. It is something that you want to refer back to probably the most potent.
In fact, within the fitness industry, I save workout routines the most. I find some nice set of exercises that I’ll probably want to try at some point. So I’m going to save it and I’ve got a whole list of them. It’s a great way to create savable content.
Another category would be food recipes; how to do this or how to do that. You will notice that a particular set of educational content is actually savable. So, when you’re creating your content think to yourself; What would make this more savable? or what would make this something that someone would want to refer back to? You could even add in a little call to action to say save this for later, But I think it will devalue the content a little bit. Just give it a go, see if it works for your audience.
Create Reels In The App
Well, I’ve already talked about that Instagram doesn’t recommend watermarks in your content. So do not bring it across from Tiktok. There are a lot of people talking about how they are seeing better results. Because content is created directly within reels. Now there are two reasons; that this could be happening.
Number One
Instagram wants you to use their interface and they don’t want you to be editing on an editor and then bringing the video in directly. There’s something else at play; people are ad blind.
So when you create content with a great shot and with really nice cameras. People might just think it’s an ad and they probably swipe. Whereas when they see something created with a phone it’s more relatable. It’s more the type of content that people are expecting. They’re going to watch it because they think someone’s made it rather than a company has paid to place it.
So there’s a few different reasons why it might be better to be making your reels directly in reels with your phone. I think it drives that kind of TikTok creativity that people expect from reels. If you’ve been making lots of reels using a camera and uploading video from different places. Maybe try making it directly in the reels app and see whether you get any better results.
Don’t Be Too Repetitive
There is another mistake I see people make all the time. They get success with some content and then they make that content repetitive. Well, this works better on TikTok making the same kind of content. It’s just the way that it’s delivered it works better than it does on Instagram reels.
I would be careful to be creating the same type of content over and over again. Because people will get used to it and they will just swipe away from it. The more that people do that the fewer people will see it. It will just be the sort of downward curve if you can just try and mix it up. Maybe pick three types of content that you’re going to make and mix those around.
People who watch your content will expect what is coming next. And you still have that consistency. So you’re working within your niche and you’re still entertaining or teaching people. You aren’t repeating the same sort of thing over and over again.
Make It Personal
Make it personal because there are only a few of you who can try and copy all sorts of different people. But people start noticing when you start sharing your personality with your followers. This is actually a difficult thing to do. It takes a lot to put yourself on camera to start talking.
If you can break that barrier and start sharing more personal content. Then you’re ahead of the competition. Most people can’t do it; it’s too scary. I sympathize with anyone who really wants to do it but hasn’t quite jumped in yet. So all I want to say in this is if you’re feeling like you want to share your personality. Then dive in and share what you want to share. Deal with it afterward and don’t worry about any negative comments. Just go for it and see how it feels.
Know Your Audience
Who is your audience and what do they want to see? The good thing with reels is at the moment; if you create good content then it’s going to reach lots of people. It’s a much fairer algorithm than the standard algorithm. Sharing all your photos and all that sort of stuff.
Reels do reach much more people but you still have to be making good content. As humans, we always have this urge to share stuff about ourselves without thinking about it. How that’s going to come across on the other end. You need to think about who your audience member is? and how my content is going to be useful, relevant, or entertaining to them. Think about your content and when you’re making it.
I’m not saying don’t share content about yourself. You might be awesome and loads of people might care about anything that you do. My point here is to understand your audience. Understand what it is about your content that they are going to find useful. Once you kind of do that you know the framework that you need to work in to get the most out of your kind of creative content.
How To Gain Followers With Instagram Reels
People talking about how they’re getting a lot of views but they’re not getting lot of followers. Now if you think about the way that Instagram reels have been delivered it’s not surprising. For example on YouTube if you watch a video you click on it and then right down the bottom there is a subscribe button.
It’s easy to see and it’s obvious it’s just there. When you’re looking at Instagram reels you need to go into the profile and you need to go and hit the follow button. It’s difficult to do; so you need to find other ways to prompt them to do it.
Now you could do a simple call to action and say hey follow me but that doesn’t work too well. For example, if you’re creating tips for photography. Then you could say there are more tips on my profile to go and take a look at. That prompts them to go and have a look at your profile where there is a nice big juicy follow button that they could tap.
Similarly, if you’re doing fitness workouts or food recipes. Say hey I’ve got way more recipes on my profile; go and take a look. It prompts them to go near the follow button without even hitting it.
You could also say if you want more workouts tips and tricks hit the follow button this is what’s called a call to action. You don’t want to say hey follow me again and again because we have to think about them. What are they going to get when they hit the follow button. Tell them what they’re going to get and then ask them to follow.
Final Thought
This is going to seem really rich coming from me as I’ve fired off a load of overthinking at you. The point is don’t overthink it because Instagram reels is supposed to be fun. Social media is supposed to be fun and people don’t want to see you putting serious content. They want to see you having a good time. They want to see you enjoying and being passionate about what you do best. So, don’t overthink your content.
Some of the things I’ve said are actually contrary and you know maybe people do want to see lots about you. Don’t overthink it take what I’ve said and apply it to what you do and see what works within your niche. Only you know your audience and only you know the type of content that you want to make. Just share your passion and share your enthusiasm.
Also Read: How to Fix “Chrome OS is missing or damaged”
