Big hits for Instagram Reels

By: Joshua Tecson
​Due to the extreme popularity of TikTok, with the current number of users on this app to be north of 1 billion worldwide. We now get to see other social media apps make their own versions. Instagram’s version of this would be the Reels. Reels are 15 to 30 second videos intended to give the viewer a taste of the makers creativity. Being able to make Reels is a great way to market your business or product. The nice thing about Instagram’s version is that they do not limit themselves to that specific type of videos. You are able to link whatever you are promoting to the Reels.
Some of the creative things you can do with a Reel Include:

• Insert a song- promotes music
• Change the speed- you get some really cool effects if you
• Adds Effects- makes it more fun between the content creator
• Play/Pause the video- which enhances the creativity

These are some of the simple things you could do with Reels. These fun little changes you can do make the feature very user friendly and that is a big bonus for people who are not the most tech-savvy. To tie this to Marketing, a marketer can use Reels to their advantage and advertise. The beauty of having Reels only 15 to 30 seconds long is that this is the perfect time to peek a person’s interest without them getting bored. As we know that the average attention span of a person is relatively low. Reels make it easy to promote literally anything. Let’s take the combination of using Reels with Instagram influencers (a person who has a large following on a social media app), you can easily make a video and have a wide range of audiences. This is the perfect and easy way to market depending on your target market. You can think of any idea related to your product or business and their will be an influencer that would be associated with that idea. With just a quick search for influencers we see names such as Foodbeast and Munchies, if you could have guessed it, they are food related. The way they take advantage of Reels is that they promote local small restaurants, I am evidence to this working as I took a drive just to try out the food they were promoting. Also, Instagram has a user count of also 1 billion, these 1 billion are potential people to market to who can use a product or service.
Reels don’t always have to be simple. Imagine having a professional video-editor/videographer to work with. You can then make reels even more complex and use that to your advantage. The possibilities of Reels are endless and we end up seeing some great content.  Let’s talk about the wide spectrum of reels I found and caught my eye in my recommended. Some of the topics that caught my eye were fashion and dog tricks. As we can see Reels are endless and can catch anyone’s eye. A quick summary of the fashion Reel was an influencer showcasing all the clothes she bought from a company. In this situation this was free advertising for the company. Such a simple video reached out to so many people. Reels provide an easy opportunity for any beginner or pro look into the marketing department. This is also a great way to showcase small businesses, as all you really need is an Instagram account and a few hours to master making good quality Reels. This could be the next thing for marketing as it is a fun way to get the audience attached to the content you are promoting.