Improve Your Instagram Reels with These 4 Easy Tips
Struggling to make your Instagram Reels catch attention? I’ve got four easy tips that can help you improve your Reels and make them more engaging than ever before.
So, in this article, I will tell you 4 hot things that anybody now can easily follow to make Instagram Reels better.
Why Your Instagram Reels Are More Important Than Ever
Instagram Reels are a valiant new weapon your business and creators, something like humans can use to reach out to newer audiences. But a lot of people find it hard to make an effective Reel.
I’ll explain why Reels are so lucrative before I go into the methods. Reels are one of the best ways to reach people who don’t follow you yet. They let your content show up in new places, giving you a chance to connect with fresh eyes and potential fans. As social strategist Shannon McKinstrie noted, Reels are “reach heavy,” meaning that while other Instagram features like hashtags have lost impact for discovery on the platform, they still present an opportunity to gather reach. That’s your clue that the Reels you upload will likely be shown to new fans.
Bonus — Reels help the Trust factor happen too quickly. Video is powerful as it is what stops someone from scrolling further (think about the direct relationship to long-form content). Reels are a great way to continue growing your following and remain top of mind for your audience. Reels are a great tool to reach new audiences — something that is becoming more important by the day for brands of all stripes.
Reels are not video production-minded. Effective Reels can be created by anyone with a smartphone and some creativity. This immediacy makes Reels practical for any and all sized businesses.
Hack 1: Improve Your Instagram Reels with Relatable Content
Engaging your audience with relatable content is crucial for making your Instagram Reels pop. According to Instagram’s Business Blog, Reels that connect on a personal level tend to perform better in terms of engagement and reach. Start by creating Reels that resonate with your audience. Think about their daily struggles or little moments they can relate to, and make content that reflects that. This kind of connection is powerful. Such content assists in making people feel validated and gives a touch of humanity. Even if the Reel doesn’t go viral, when someone sees your content and feels heard, it can have so much of an impact.
When coming up with content for “feeling heard,” simply ask yourself what problems they are going through, what frustrates them the most, or maybe an experience your audience is likely to share. For instance, a nutritionist could use that platform to film Reels of their own while riding on the bike with ice cream cones flying by in and out of the screen, writing something like, “I’m not sure who needs to hear this yet stressing over the frozen yogurt is most likely more unhealthy than simply eating some,” alongside fixed pages. It conveys the ongoing struggles of life that many experience and gives hope.
The secret here is to display the primary message as text covering an entire screen area instead of scrolling it out. This is the optimal solution for modern content consumption to address.
Another tactic for making “feeling heard” content is with phrases like, “I don’t mean to interrupt your scrolling but.….” or signing off the video by saying something such as, “this is your sign to…” Or in general, letting people know that whatever you are about to say is either relatable; shares a commonality among everyone. You can also provide gentle reminders or motivational pep talks related to your niche. For example, If you are a social media marketer, remind your followers that it is okay to take time off from posting if they feel overwhelmed.
For this content, it is all about knowing your audience on a deep level. Well, what kind of lives do they live daily? What keeps them up at night? Solving these problems means that you create content that speaks to your viewers personally, this personal bond with the reader/viewer.
Hack 2: Tips to Improve Your Instagram Reels
The second pillar of her strategy is to produce content that helps. Use this to post tips and tricks and educate people with good, seasoned truth kept simple and digestible. “Which is why you know what I decided to do with my clients, for the helpful or the if it’s going to be a list of like five, 10 things again; be so specific and so simple and they don’t even have to go out and buy whatever thing. Shannon says, “They don’t have to go out and build the thing.”
If you are thinking of creating useful content, then consider imparting something that your audience can implement at once. It can be a trade secret related to your industry, a small how-to, or a simple solution to a common problem. So, if you own a coffee shop–maybe even something like: here is how to froth milk at home for the best latte.
You could also substitute the phrase “I found” with something closer to useful content! For example, “The best podcast mic for beginners from a rookie podcaster” or “How I schedule my content in Meta Business Suite as a social media manager!” It adds a personal touch and authenticity that I think gets lost when you tell people what they should do instead. It also positions you as an expert in a personable manner.
Another good type of content that gets a lot of watches is the “POV” (Point of View) Reel. As an example, one of Shannon’s clients made a POV Reel for frustrated parents with kids who were throwing tantrums. The Reel said: “POV: You’re sick of your toddler throwing tantrums in the grocery store, and you’ve just discovered my account”. On the face of it, you might think this is a video where we see someone holding their child’s hand. The creator included helpful advice on how to deal with tantrums in the caption.
This format helps you do just that — pose a problem and provide relatable solutions. Here, you want to showcase the feeling or end state of reaching a specific solution that customers crave. “Ex: POV- You are a coffee enthusiast in NC Raleigh and discover this new coffee place that serves birthday cake lattes.” An example of the latte as a person could be shown in a Reel.
Your useful material does not constantly have to be cutting-edge or complicated. Sometimes, the most simplest tips are going to be of immense value to your audience. Incorporate what is into your content, not as buzzwords but as a means on how to act upon.
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Hack 3: Add a Touch of Humor to Your Reels
The third pillar of Shannon’s approach is humor. You might be like if you do not even have an oz of funny bone in your body. It doesn’t have to be hilarious; the tiniest chuckle can do wonders.
To produce funny content, brainstorm a list of relatable circumstances for your guests on topics in your trade. Ex — creating humor for the marketing creators where you are “ridiculing Meta Business Suite and how difficult it is” or perhaps like this Reel will be viral, with 200 looks at one junk account This resonates with anyone grinding in the space of social media marketing, making them comedic gold.
One of the ways you can leverage humor in your Reels is with popular audio clips. They typically involve people lip-syncing to snippets of movies, TV shows, or songs with their own visual twist. You can even do it without lip-syncing(if that makes you uncomfortable); simply play the audio in background while showing images according to it.
Note: Choose trending audio that is still very low on the number of uses (less than 5K). However, if you have an Instagram business account, it should be possible to head over to your professional dashboard and swipe on down until you see trending audio (via Reels Advice).
If you do not like appearing on camera already lip-syncing, try simply editing the video with tools such as CapCut. It is good to make funny videos that use stock footage or GIFs, and then add your own caption. So something like a hilarious GIF of someone that is clearly confused but then has some text associated with this reflecting back to an industry-wide issue. Shannon notes to check out TikTok for ideas.
- Top Tip: Open your Instagram app on the Reel Camera. Choose your movie, then head over to the Clip hub and discover hilarious GIFs.
Instagram Stories camera can also be used as a tool to create Reel content. Reel recording is automatically made in the correct aspect ratio — 9:16 dimension that helps you shoot content for Reel quickly.
Just ensure that when you add humor to your Reels, your intention should be light-hearted and make sure it spreads a smirk on the face of viewers. If utilized strategically, this doesn’t mean you have to be a comedian in your posting. Just recognizing the daily struggles or even characteristics of your field can be enough to make your potential viewers connect with you.
4. How to Tell Events from Instagram Reels
The last pillar in Shannon’s strategy is sharing your “happenings,” or BTS (behind-the-scenes) before and afters, stories, life & business updates. It is the kind of content that makes your audience connect emotionally to you and hence more personal relation with your brand.
This is the kind of content that when executed correctly, can turn any social media profile viral. This allows you to take your audience on the journey with you, sharing all of the highs and lows. Whether showing your founder’s story, behind-the-scenes process, or how you work anywhere on team and workspace also sharing about product & services recent events.
Say you own a coffee shop; one thought would be to do Reels of how the store is opened in the mornings or introduce your baristas — showing off how they are preparing for their shift… maybe show someone making some of your most popular drinks….. For eCommerce businesses, Shannon recommends ideas such as “Join me to pack a $200 order,” which offer viewers the opportunity to see someone actually fulfilling an order.
In this case, content may not ever go viral but it is valuable. It deepens your relationship with the people who already read your content, which makes it more likely they’ll stick around and become even more engaged followers. This is especially powerful for local businesses, as Instagram frequently serves content to people on Instagram who are in the neighborhood.
TIP #10 — Personal Happenings –Get personal with the “happenings” content Tell the story of when you started your journey, and think about expressing it with YOUR challenges and victories accompanying them. It could be as light as an announcement of a conference you have just attended or it might be the full founder story.
Share a happenings Reel on your profile grid—these are meant to be a little longer and give more detail. For example, you could take your best-performing piece of content and pin it so that when new users land on your IG grid, they view this as an intro in the same way a visitor would see the “About” page if this were a website. This is your home for people who may be interested in what you have to sell. Of your pinned Reels, imagine them as sections of a mini website – one to introduce yourself or your brand and another for services, etc. perhaps even some featured reel from an achievement highlight (most viewed product).
Instagram Reels: The 3 S's to make your stand out
Shannon’s tips for making your Reels powerful include a trick she calls “the Three S’s”:
- A simple one: Can readers quickly grasp what you are trying to say and digest the message? With the way social media moves today, you need to be able to convey your message clearly and rapidly. Do not write a sentence that requires much context or explanation to understand. Do the text placement as in Reels. Be sure to do this in the middle, not where you might have an icon that cuts it off. One part of it is that you want a little bit — not too blantantly obnoxious, but 1/10th most certainly won’t kill ya.
- Is it shareable: Would I want to tell my friend about this? You should make the content good enough to turn people into the “group chat hero”—a term I use when someone has something so fire that it gets a ton of praise from everyone as soon as they send it in your group texts. Consider what it is that makes you want to send content out to your own friends and attempt to have the same effect with your Reels.
- Does it offer value or purpose — will somebody care? Especially in your hooks (the intro of ur Reel) Be specific. If you need help with a post title instead of “Instagram Tip” change it to something like — Instagram Tip: How I got out of 500-View Jail, or the badge system that grew my followers in October by over 1K. Instead, with specifics you are basically saying to your viewers: this is why this should matter for them.
So keep saying this in your head when you create Reels — think from the point of view of what would I like to see, as my ideal follower. The more you can answer “yes” to all these, the better your Reel is going to do.
In an increasingly competitive social media space, specificity is key. You used to be able to say “Instagram tip” a couple of years ago and it would get them stopping in their tracks, but now you have better speak more on how specific knowledge or insight can serve his/her interest. The clear Why tip: Always be sure to answer why they should care. Please give them a reason before you get past the first paragraph.
Common Instagram Reel Struggles and how to Triumph over Them
Many people feel overwhelmed with Reels Creating video content — at all different stages; many people lack the knowledge. Here are some frequent problems and remedies to them:
No camera shy: You don’t even have to appear on camera in your Reels if you’re uncomfortable. Instead, use B-roll (additional or alternative video clips). This might be as simple as recording footage of your hands while you work, demonstrating the product in action, or even stock images that relate to the message. You can follow it up by adding text overlays to convey your message.
Humor does not mean laugh-out-loud funny: so please remember: “I’m just NOT FUNNY!” You can even do a scenario someone relates to and makes them smile. Stop focusing on the humor and start concentrating on it in everyday situations or frustration that is all around your audience but do so in a funny way. Even if all you do is speak to a shared struggle, that can be what establishes your common bond with the audience.
Do not fool yourself with “I don’t have time to make fancy videos”: many successful Reels are very simple. The reel can be up to 5–6 seconds as well. This can be as simple as a 1-second shot with text or just you looking at the camera and an overlay of text where your message is shared. Don’t be discouraged by the fact that you have to build complex productions for Reels.
“I have nothing to write a post about”: Mind map some of your ideas based on Shannon’s four pillars (Heard, Helpful, Humor, Happenings) You might list potential topics first. What kinds of questions do your customers often ask you, problems they encounter, or desirable characteristics about what you do as a professional? All of these can be content for your Reels.
As I said above: Find content that fits the style of your target audience. It does not have to be perfect — genuine works 99% of the time better than polished perfection. Test different types of content and work out what works best for your brand and audience.