If you want to super charge your Instagram account and are NOT interested in using Reels, keep scrolling.
Just kidding! but actually saying “keep scrolling” right at the start of your Reels is a tactic some creators use to pull viewers in and get them to watch to the end.
Same with “you won’t believe this, watch until the end” but if you do this and don’t deliver something amazing you’ll hurt your credibility, so be smart in how you use it.
If you’re not sure How to Use Instagram Reels, start with this post and then come back!
What Should I Create?
Stick to your niche. Use trends and challenges as long as you adapt it to your niche.
Most likely, you already have photos and videos, so you have what you need to make Reels of your niche. If it dogs, great! You can do day in the life, dog-friendly recipes, dog parks in your city, products you love, etc.
If you’re a dog account, but now the human is doing Reels of dance trends, that probably won’t resonate with your followers. But if you want to adapt a dance trend to feature your dog, that might work.
Creating Engagement
You have less than 3 seconds to captures someone’s attention and keep them watching your content before they scroll. Also, you want engagement right at the start of your Reel AND you want them to watch the whole Reel.
Since Reels can be up 15 seconds or up to 30 seconds, don’t make a longer reel that isn’t interesting and hooks them. If you’ve watched some Reels or TikToks, they use clips with different angles or interest rather than one shot video.
Ask for action at the start of your Reels, like “double tap if you love cute dogs” and then proceed to show and tell about your cute dog. “Hey friends double tap if you want to explore my favorite dog park with me” and the proceed to show and tell.
Also, end your Reels with another call to action, leave a comment and tell me about your favorite dog park. Or visit the link in my bio for more dog tips (assuming your link is your blog).
Frequency
If you really want to see if Reels can super charge your account, you have to use it! I suggest posting Reels 3-4x a week at the same time over 4 weeks, which is 12 to 16 Reels.
Create a plan of what you’ll post before you upload the first video. You’ll want to have a couple more ready to go, so you don’t get bogged down in the creation.
If you have a blog, you have posts that you can use as your starting point. Or if your dog of Instagram account is known for something, start creating Reels about that.
Growing your Instagram account starts with the audience you have, no matter how small. Get your current followers interested and engaged because that’s how you’ll reach a wider audience. Re-train your current audience to know that Monday through Thursday at 11am a new Reels will be posted.
Once the come to know that they can count of new, engaging Reels from your, they will be back for more and probably share by posting to their stories or tagging a friend.
Keep the momentum going by posting quality posts, videos, Stories while creating Reels and soon you will have super charged your Instagram account!
