On 4th August 2020, Instagram officially released their reels feature to their platform. This feature was tested in other parts of the world before they fully rolled it out. But now it has graced us all with its presence. You may also be getting enticed by seeing your favorite Hollywood star, musician, and rock band’s Instagram reels in your feed. You may also want to create one but not sure how to do it the right way. No worries, we are here to show you what all you can do with it and how can you create Instagram reels of your own. Let’s begin.
What are Instagram reels?
Before we proceed, let’s have a few lines about Instagram reels and what are they? Reels are a new way to create and discover short entertaining videos on Instagram. Kind of like Tiktok but on Instagram. When it comes to creators you can now record and edit 15-30 second videos with audio effects, text, and other creative tools. If you not much of a creator then you can also lay in the comfort of your very own cozy bed and accidentally spend two hours mindlessly scrolling and watching these videos. As you all know during quarantine Tiktok blew up. When quarantine happened a lot of Instagram users were spending less time on Instagram and more time on the Tiktok. And Instagram wasn’t very happy about it. So, they created a feature with similar capabilities within their app in hopes of retaining and winning back their audience.
We have seen this happening before. Like whenever Instagram feels they are losing to other social media apps because of their features they do try to add them within their app. Not long ago a lot of Instagram users started going to Snapchat to use their filters. Instagram was like “damn we can have this too” and boom they leveled up their filter game. They developed cool face filters within their app and now everybody came back to the Instagram platform for these filters.
How to create reels on Instagram?
When you open up your Instagram feed you will not see reels right away. If somebody you are following, posted a reel then it shows up in your feed. But usually, you will not see a reel right away. To see some reels right now, tap the media player icon in the bottom middle part of your Instagram app. Among the five buttons in the lower bar of Instagram, the middle one is of reels. When you open up that Instagram reel media player, you can scroll down, and it will give you different reel suggestions. These real videos that you are seeing are likely based on people you’re currently following. The algorithm pulls up the reels based on the people that you follow and the content you’re currently engaging with.
If you want to create Instagram reels, there are multiple ways through which you can do that.
Creating Instagram Reel From your Profile Page
Step 1 – Go in the top right corner of your Instagram homepage and press the plus icon “+”.
Step 2 – Now you’ll see an option to create a post. Look at the bottom bar, you will see different options along with “POST”. Select “REELS”.
Step 3 – You will see that Instagram is now accessing your camera with a media player icon in the lower middle of your screen. You can use it to create Instagram reel videos.
Creating Reel by Swiping right
If you are on your Instagram profile page. You can swipe right on your iPhone and you’ll see Instagram has accessed your camera. You are now in “STORY” section. Look below, you will find a bar where “STORY” is highlighted in bold. Near it, you’ll see the “REEL” option. Tap on it and now you will be on the “REEL” section. You will now see a media player button in the middle which you can use to create Instagram reels.
Also see our beginner’s guide to Instagram to know more about other options.
Instagram Reel Features
Once you are on the create reels section of Instagram, look at the left side. You will see some cool reel features to edit and make your reel more eye-catchy. As a part of the reel features, Instagram has included reel duration, music, speed filter, timer, tough up, and effects. Let’s discuss them one by one.
- Reel Duration – The first option on the left-hand side of your Instagram reel creation page is duration. You can select whether you want to create a reel of 15 seconds or 30 seconds. Tap on it to change.
- Music – If you want to add music to your reel, you can use this option. You can choose from a variety of available soundtracks. You can even select which section of the song you want to add to your reel. Like you can select 15-30 seconds length worth of the song. If you also want to post more do check out this post on how to use copyrighted music on Instagram legally?
- Speed – You can also choose the speed of your reel. Currently, Instagram provides six options to change speed. Those are 0.3x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x and 4x. Choose any that you feel makes your reel look cooler.
- Effects – You will see an emoji face for effects in the Instagram reels features. Once you tap it, it will show you many effects at the bottom. You can make snowfall in your reel, add flowers, face filter, dates, etc. A lot of options to make your reel more beautiful.
- Touch Up – Instagram reel touch up will give last moment finishes to your reel. Tap it and see how your reel looks? You can revert it back by tapping again if you don’t like it.
- Timer – Instagram reel features also have a timer; you can position your phone with the camera on and choose a timer. It can help you when you are making your reels by yourself.
Once you have created a reel, you can copy its link to share it. When you go to the three dots at the top right corner of your reel, you will see a copy a link option. You can like and comment on reels. If you have a private Instagram account, your reels will only be seen by the people who are currently following you. If you want your profile to be seen by more people and grow your Instagram account. You will have to take your account off of private only mode. Public accounts can get their videos and their real seen globally. You can do that by going to the settings option on your Instagram profile page and changing it.
Why should you post Instagram reels?
Whenever Instagram brings out a new feature, they push it hard. To get a glimpse of it you can check your “Explore” page on the Instagram app. When reels came out, they were promoting reels to their users like anything. If the people you follow or based on the stuff you like they were throwing the related Instagram reels on your “Explore” page. And it still happens. Whenever I am getting bored, I just open the app to check for updates and spend hours scrolling through these short videos. Instagram is counted on this feature to succeed they wanted their audience back. So, they’re going to push it in our faces until it does succeed. By hopping on this trend and keeping up with that Instagram is going to recognize your efforts. Instagram will push your content on reels faster than it would be pushing your everyday posts. Reels in the Instagram explore page offers anyone a chance to become a creator and reach new audiences globally.
By posting Instagram reels you have a higher chance of your content being seen and getting in front of your follower’s eyes. You probably wouldn’t be able to get your content in front of it had you just done it every day via Instagram post. Your Instagram username should keep coming up in feeds for better reach. And if you have still not decided on your Instagram username, do check our cool Instagram username generator.
Now if you are convinced that you should post on reels may be to gain more followers or to promote your business. The next question will come to your mind, what should I post? What content can you create that would go viral on Instagram and get you thousands of Instagram followers? Let’s discuss it.
What should you post on reels?
One thing I would like to you keep in mind is Instagram is different than Tiktok. You need to understand that Instagram has a different audience demographic than Tiktok. So, some videos that popped off on Tiktok may not be as successful as they would on reels. An example of this would be the Tiktok trend dancers. Dancers who were posting their videos on Tiktok with their legs all the way up and dancing to punk songs. It is also a kind of content but may not attract the Instagram audience. I saw a girl’s video doing the same on Instagram, but she wasn’t very successful. I mean it’s not like people hated her videos, it’s just that she didn’t get as many likes and comments as she got on Tiktok.
From what I’ve observed so far, reels that provide value entertainment or inspiration seemed to be more successful. They are more popular than trend skits or lip-syncing sounds that float around on Tiktok. Doesn’t matter if you are creating videos about five ways to wear a jeans jacket. Or a beautiful view from the mountain top, a tutorial about how to editing your Instagram photos, and so on. No matter what you’re creating on reels, always keep this in mind Instagram has always been about aesthetics. So, when you are making those reels make sure you’re thinking about Pinterest-worthy visual meeting Tiktok quick content.
Same goes for Instagram guides. If you are planning to create Instagram guide, try to apply these rules there as well.
This was a short description about how to create Instagram reel? what are some of the cool Instagram reel features and how you can use them? Let us know if we have missed anything. I know that Instagram is always updating some or other thing. But we are also Instagram addicts and will keep an eye to bring you the most updated information. So, do subscribe to our blog and stay tuned!
