Instagram reels are a way to create short and entertaining videos on Instagram. You can record and edit 15-30 seconds of multi-clip videos with audio, effects and creative tools. 

Instagram Reels: a new way to create and discover short, entertaining videos on Instagram.

You can share reels with your followers on your feed, and if you have a public account, make them available to the wider Instagram community through Explore. Reels in Explore offers anyone the chance to become a creator on Instagram and reach new audiences on a global stage.

While Reels can be singing, dancing or lip-syncing —it doesn’t need to be! I have seen many small businesses, entrepreneurs and brick & mortar stores do pretty amazing things with Reels! And the fun part is if you use a catchy and popular tune, use appropriate hashtags and have fun it can be very beneficial for your business. 

The main way to get started is by watching reels yourself. Making time to watch reels each week will let you see what audio and types of video are trending. The reels you’re shown are already tailored to you and your business, so what you are offered on Instagram will be different from people in other industries. 

For example, if you see the same type of video over and over, you can check the audio source on the bottom of the screen. Click it to see what videos are being produced with that sound and if it fits your business. If it does, you can click ‘use audio’ to get started or ‘save audio’ to come back to it later. 

Instagram continues to prioritize videos and reels are performing better than any other action on Instagram. If you are still in doubt about how you could use Reels for your business, here are 10 ideas you can try:

1. Introduce Yourself

Your followers love to see and know who is behind the brand or business. If you check out the reels tab, it won’t be long before you stumble onto the latest introduction trend. 

When you find one you like the format of, click the ‘use audio’ button at the bottom of the screen and talk about yourself and about your business. This way, you have an opportunity to attract new followers and build more trust with your existing followers. 

And if you don’t have time to make a video right away? Click the ‘save audio’ button at the top of the screen after hitting use audio to keep it handy. 

2. Show Your Work Space

As much as your followers love to see you, they also love to see your workspace, your office, or your corner on the couch! 

The more they know about you, the more they will trust you and in the end, buy from you. 

This type of content can be inspirational to others to start their own business and make money without having a large office/workplace. Many people have chosen to start their own business and work from home since the pandemic started.

So, take out that phone and take a 15-seconds long video from your workspace. Add a catchy tune, add some stickers, a few words and voila—a reel!  

3. Tell a Story

A great way to engage your audience with your reels is to tell them a story about your brand or business. 

It can be a story about why you started your business, a hard time you successfully overcame or how you tackled running a business on your own. 

If you don’t want to show your face, that’s okay! You can record different aspects of your business like packing orders, setting up your working space for the day, etc. 

4.  Pack your Orders or Unboxing your products

Speaking of packing orders, people absolutely LOVE packing/unboxing videos. Have a physical product? Show your followers how you pack your orders or unpack your new products. 

I personally LOVE watching my assistant Crystal post reels of drawing new cards for Hello Sweetie or when she is packing them up to go to a store. 

There are dozens of trending reel audio available for this kind of reel, so make sure you save audio clips that are relevant to use later on these kinds of video. 

5. Answer an FAQ

Do you have questions that you are asked regularly by your customers or followers? Use those and make a reel out of it!  

It takes a great deal of time to answer all comments and messages one by one. So, why don’t you take a video and give a short answer to the frequently asked questions in 15 seconds? This way, you can perfectly describe the answer and show your audience you care about them. And if someone asks you the question again just re-share the reel with them! 

6. How it Started vs. How it’s going

This is a fun one and I always love watching them! Show the evolution of your small business. What did your business look like when it started, what does it look like now?  

I’m sure if you dig deep you can find a few photos and videos from the time you started your business. So, all you have to do is take a few shots of your workspace, products, and orders now and show how it began and how it is going right now!

7. Repurpose Your Posts and Stories

If you have been following me for a while you know that I love repurposing old content and reusing it in a new format! 

Have blog posts that performed well? Have a podcast? Use those topics and ideas and make a 15-30 second reel with! 

8. Reality vs. Expectations

Another of my favourites is Reality vs Expectations. I.e. what you think something should look like vs what actually happened! 

This is great for makers, bakers, fashion, makeup artists and more. Use this as a way to show your followers that their expectations are totally different from what actually happens in small business reality. 

9. Share Tips

Sharing is caring! Right? So, if you want your followers to become fans, hopeful customers, and start to love your brand—make it easy for them! 

Sharing tips allows you to educate your followers and make them realize why they need your product or service. Let them know how you can help me save time, money and effort with your product or service. 

10. Share the Tools You Use

One of the most frequently asked questions you may see in your comments and messages will be “ How did you do that?” “What did you use to do this”? about the tools and programs that you use in your business or on your social media. No matter if you are a content creator, a photographer or a baker, you can create short videos promoting the tools you simply cannot run your business without! 

In a nutshell, Instagram reels are here and they are not going anywhere anytime soon! They can help you grow on Instagram more than posts and stories. People love to watch short videos as opposed to reading, so people are spending a lot of time every week watching them. 

Reels also have the potential of being discovered by people that don’t already follow you as Instagram will share reels that are being watched and will give suggestions to others on what to watch. 

Still have no idea where to start? Check out my Reels at Instagram.com/kasocialmedia or book a brainstorming session so we can start cooking up ideas for your channel!