So you’ve finally created an Instagram for your business or brand, you’ve started posting, and you realize it may not have been as easy as you think and you want some Instagram Reels hacks to help you out.

You are likely trying out Instagram Reels because either a) you’ve heard about all the craze around them, or b) you have caught on to the fact they are all over your Instagram feed now. 

If you are like anyone else just starting out with Reels, you’ve likely realized (or should we say “reel”-ized) they can be kind of frustrating to create, edit and post. You might be asking yourself questions like…

What song do I choose? Why is it so hard to edit? 

This blog post will hopefully alleviate some of these pains to make your Instagram Reels (and life as a business owner) just a tad bit less stressful!

Find trending audio

The first step to finding trending audio is to just scroll through the Reels tab on Instagram and look at the bottom where the audio is listed. If you see an arrow to the left of the audio name that is angled up and to the right (pictured below), this means that the audio is trending! 

Why should you use trending audio vs. any other audio that you think sounds good but isn’t trending? Well, the short answer is you don’t have to use trending audio. However, the reason it is trending is that there are many other people using it in their content and Instagram will more likely give your Reel a chance to be discovered by people scrolling through Instagram who may not be following you already. 

However, this is not the only thing that matters when it comes to stepping up your Instagram Reels…

Use templates

We’ve mentioned it before in our other blogs but if you haven’t heard, video is here to stay and it’s only getting bigger. Instagram has made a push and the CEO of Instagram has even shared on his own account how there will be a bigger push towards video content. With that being said, Instagram wants users to have the ability to easily make Reels and one way they are doing that is by allowing them to utilize the “template” option on the Reels tab. This option basically allows you to add videos and pictures on your camera roll easily!

Add text to your videos

Adding text might be the most important Instagram Reels hack to help you get more views! Did you know 85% of people are watching videos on social media without sound? That is an absolutely staggering number. Think about it, people are consuming video content everywhere nowadays. At a coffee shop, in the waiting room for an appointment, or even in their cubicle at the office right next to their boss (but not you, of course). Make sure to add in auto-generated captions to any Reels you make – people watch ads with captions 12% longer than those that don’t!

These were just a few hacks to get you started on improving your Instagram Reels and growing your account. If you found this blog helpful, head over to our Instagram @definedmediaco where we share helpful resources regularly!

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Will Koppenhaver | Marketing Assistant | Defined Media