Did you hear the latest news in digital marketing?
Video marketing is THE best strategy for exponential growth and reach online these days!
Just to be clear, I’m not saying that graphics and carousels aren’t powerful tools to engage with your audience (because they certainly are), but with the attention span of users only getting shorter, video marketing is a fantastic way to stand out from your competitors, increase your reach, interact with your audience, and take your content marketing game to the next level.
And if you’ve tried Instagram Reels in the past few months, you might have realized that they in fact DO get more reach than any other type of content that you create! If you're using them the right way.
That’s why for this week’s blog post, I'm sharing with you 5 ways that you can boost your Instagram account’s engagement rate with Reels!
Use the tools that Instagram makes available to you.
From text to icons to music to special effects, and so many more visuals, Instagram equips you with everything you need to create video content that will stand out from the crowd. In fact, Instagram RECOMMENDS that you use their newest features, as they will be pushing content that makes use of their newest native tools and increasing the reach.
Create engaging and visually intriguing thumbnails.
When you go through YouTube’s search results, one of the things you are looking at is the thumbnails. Believe it or not, the thumbnail actually plays a HUGE role in deciding which video you want to click on and watch. The same concept applies to your Reels. Make sure that you create thumbnails that are engaging and will attract users to click and play your Reels.
Incorporate hashtags into the caption of your Reel.
Yep, Reels may be a different type of content format, but hashtags still work wonders. The hashtags that you have been using on your static Instagram content works just as well on Reels, so don’t forget to include a couple of them in your Reel’s caption.
Respond and interact with your audience.
I encourage you to interact with every comment you get on your Reel, the same way that I would encourage you to engage and interact with the comments that your audience leaves on your grid posts! If you want a pro-tip to maximize engagement, answer every comment with an additional question for that person, and they will further engage with you. Don’t stop the conversation at that first comment!
Make authentic content.
No one wants to watch cringy videos of you trying to participate in trends that are unnatural and uncomfortable to you. Create video content that aligns with your mission, values, and what you feel your target audience will REALLY enjoy -- Not what the big masses want. Creating authentic content that revolves around your content pillars is the way to go!
BONUS TIP: What NOT to do…
In a quite recent announcement, Instagram said that they will limit the reach of content that they can visibly see is recycled from other platforms. In other words, Instagram doesn't want you to be repurposing video content from other platforms that contain a watermark… *ahem*, like TikTok.
Have you created any Reels recently? Did you notice how much reach you get with a Reel versus a normal grid post?
If you have any questions about how you can grow your Instagram account and increase your reach with Reels, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me here!