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Credits: Google
When Instagram introduced Reels in 2020, people around the Internet were quick to dismiss them as a mere afterthought in response to TikTok’s titanic rise in that same period. And honestly, who can blame them? Just listen to this pitch from Instagram.
Making engaging Instagram Reels is not just about turning your camera on and breaking into dance (are dances still a thing?) Rather, it involves a mixture of originality and optimization. What do I mean about that? Here are some tips to make your reels engaging.
1. Keep Your Reels Consistent
Create a content calendar and plan your Reels in advance to maintain that consistency your audience loves and ensure you always have content ready to post. When it comes to posting, you can’t be a one-hit-wonder. Regularity is the name of the game!
2. Use music to create an atmosphere
Just like on TikTok, Reels live and die by the creator’s choice of music. So when you’re “storyboarding” your Reel (you are doing that, right?) make sure to also consider the sound bites.
4. Add closed captions for accessibility
Many people consume their social content on the go, without sound. Adding closed captions will not only accommodate them, but also people who have hearing difficulties. Remember: the bottom fifth is where captions are displayed, so avoid putting stuff there, like visual elements or CTAs. If captions are not your thing, use on-screen text.
5. Tag others or collaborate with brands Social media is 75% sweat, 25% networking. I just came up with that, but it doesn’t make it less true. Networking is an integral part of boosting your social media notoriety, so it’s important to reach out to like-minded creators when relevant and try out Instagram collab posts every now and then.
6. Publish the Reel on your own feed
Remember the Instagram feed? The existence of Reels doesn’t make the feed less important. Cross-posting is great to squeeze some extra algo juice out of your Reels. When planning your Instagram feed, don’t overlook including Reels too.
7. Reels transition ideas
Use them at your leisure. Warp effect, voice effect, scan effect, there are so many of them, and they could be the key to making your reels stand out from the crowd.