Instagram Reels best practices for small business
- Instagram Reel ideas for business
- Optimize your bio
- Have a Brand Plan
- Find the balance in video content
- Hashtags
- Be willing to experiment with Reels
- Audio is important
- Use a Mix of Assets
- Sneak Peek
- Share quick tips
- A Glimpse Into Life
Your Instagram strategy is not working as well as you want it right now because things have changed. What used to work a few months ago is dramatically different than strategies that succeed on the platform right now. Knowing trends in 2023 is essential to stay on a boat, and even Adam Mosseri came out and said that not photos but videos is what Instagram is now focusing on. So that, you can simply upload a video on Instagram and it will work? Unfortunately, it is more complicated than that, for instance, we can upload videos as a post, as a Story, as a Reel, or go live. Each of those has its own advantages and disadvantages, but using Instagram reels for businesses is the way to dominate right now.
Instagram Reel ideas for business
Only a very small percentage of companies understand how to use Instagram reels for business they do and meet the success, which allows them to reach more people, build a massive audience of loyal fans, or create million-dollar generating campaigns. So here are 10 marketing strategies for small businesses, so you can better use the platform to connect and convert your ideal customers and clients.
Optimize your bio
Before actually delving into how to do reels on Instagram for business it is important to prepare such essentials as your Bio. This sounds like pretty basic information, but common knowledge is not always common practice. This is why the very 1st thing to do is to optimize your bio on Instagram and make sure that it clearly reflects what you do who you do it for and what you can offer. In this regard, we should prioritize clarity over creativity as this is your primary visit card and first impression matters. Include CTA - call to action in your bio, which is that link that guides people towards what you want them to do next.
Have a Brand Plan
The way to develop a brand plan for Instagram is to follow the rules of the three Cs:
- Consistency
Be consistent with your content if you want your business to grow on Instagram. Make sure that you are regularly posting your content, and responding to DMs.
- Clarity
Just like with the bio, this is where you want to be crystal clear about what you do who you do it for how you help, and what kind of content that you talk about and provide. Take a look at your brand guidelines and the overall style. Is there a consistent theme or aesthetic on your page?
- Congruence
This is essential to make sure that what you say/do/post all works together and makes sense. Simple rules about the colors you use both for Reels and pages in terms of your logo and templates make for congruence.
Find the balance in video content
Despite Reels being dominating, it is still important to use other tools on Instagram for exponential growth with Storys and going Live. We recommend going live as this is an authentic way to communicate with your audience as they know this won’t be staged and slips will happen. This builds up the trust level and look more natural to your community. But the main focus should be on Reels. It is not a big secret that short-form vertical video content is taking over in the past year and knowing how to leverage this tool is essential. Instagram algorithms are far more conducive to reaching new audience with Reels and has the potential to go viral even if that is not your main goal, it still gives you far more likelihood of getting in front of the people that you want to and also please Instagram in terms of viewer engagement and more Reels content.
Hashtags
Do research and find hashtags to put under your reels that are relevant to your product and applicable to your business and to your target market. Hashtags help the algorithm to find your Reels and present it to the targeted audience, as we said before, common knowledge is not always common practice and many businesses neglect that tool or make it inconsistent.
Be willing to experiment with Reels
As consistency is a key, creativity also matters. One of the Instagram Reels best practice is to not hesitate to experiment with the content you provide to your audience and see what they better resonate with. This allows for uniqueness and creating new trends that would be also applicable to your business. Use simple effects and transitions following top TikTok trends of short-form video content and entertain your audience with your editing skills as well.
Audio is important
Trending audio can help boost your views but it is not the only option you can also find relevant audio. Just make sure that the lyrics or vibe is on brand.
Use a Mix of Assets
Creating absolute original content takes too much time, use on-brand stock assets like hot stock that offers stock images, videos, and even pre-made Reel templates.
Sneak Peek
Create a Reel that is going to generate hype around a new product or service that is launching soon that shows a little sneak peek of what’s to come and will leave them wanting more.
Share quick tips
Create educational Reels without having to show up on camera for by using a stock video or stock photos as a background overlaid with your tips. Remember to keep it short and sweet and then use that caption to expand on the tips.
A Glimpse Into Life
As we mentioned earlier, establishing a better connection with your customers is important to build trust level, which you can do going live or recording a specific Reel showing them a day of your real life.
Author
IT entrepreneur and co-founder of VJump. His passion is travel photography, within which, he has already visited 75 countries. Photos taken during his travels are actively posted on his social networks. For example, his Instagram account has more than 1 million followers.
In addition, his documentary short film Terra del Fuego was awarded more than 30 international awards and certificates at film festivals worldwide.
