Keeping it Reel – Three Things You Need to Know About Instagram Reels

If you’re on Instagram, there’s a 100% chance you’ve run into a Reel someway or somehow. But what exactly are Instagram Reels, and what can they do for your page? Look no further, this is your friendly neighbourhood A-Z guide of three things you need to know about Reels! 😎

What are Reels?

Reels are vertical videos that can be up to 60 seconds long, they can be displayed on your main profile, or in a special tab of their own.

Whether you shoot your Reel separately and edit in your own software, or create it directly in-app, the recommended Instagram Reel dimensions are 1080 x 1920 for high-quality uploads. At the moment, the best way to have high video quality on Instagram is if you upload directly through Creator Studio – but we can only do that with regular videos on the feed at the moment so just make sure that your videos are high quality in your camera roll/shot directly through the app for the best possible quality.

Now with all of that out of the way, here are 3 things you need to know about Instagram Reels to help you understand them more so your Reels can pop off just like they deserve to!

Do Instagram Hashtags Work on Reels?

You’re probably wondering why these little guys have been around for so long, and why they’re so important. A common misconception is that people are constantly looking through hashtags by searching up a specific tag and scrolling through the content, while this can sometimes be the case, it’s not the only reason why we use them.

When we add a hashtag to our Reels, we are attributing that specific stream of content to our post, which helps it land on viewers’ suggested posts or explore page. You might be asking how, and it’s simple! Say someone they follow is using the same hashtags as you, and they interact with that content. This signal is picked up by Instagram’s algorithm to register that they are engaged with that specific hashtag, which gives your content a chance to be viewed by them as well.

It’s all about connections! And while it’s perfectly good to assume that people can find your content through direct hashtag searches, you now know there’s a lot more hashtags can do for you! 

What are Instagram Reel Trends?

If you want your Reels to gain traction quickly, it’s important to stay on top of the trends that come and go. Similarly to TikTok, these trends appear as fast as they disappear– so make it part of your morning or nighttime routine to do some research in the Reels tab on Instagram, take note of any similar audio clips that are used more than once, and the style in which the video is edited and shot.

Trends don’t last though! So once you find one that suits you and your brand, make it snappy and get onto it right away for the best chance that your page can get to reach a wider audience outside of the ones you target through your hashtags.

What’s Important About Instagram Niches?

The most important thing to remember is that your page usually follows a niche, so with your Reel content try to stick to your particular niche. It helps propel your content to the audience that you want to reach. If you consistently post to your selected niche, it’s the best and easiest way for your Reels to gain traction.

It’s important to keep to a schedule, even though the nature of Reels can be spontaneous and erratic. If you stick to posting at the same time each day, with the same content, you’ll have thousands of views soon! Don’t be discouraged if your Reels don’t reach that many people to begin with, it’s important to remember that you have to start from the beginning. If you keep going, you’ll start to see results!

We know, learning new things is like jumping into a freezing cold pool in the middle of winter, but we hope this helped you out in your endeavour to create more video content for your page. Good luck!