Growing Your Following with Instagram Reels

Let’s start with the basics. What are Instagram Reels? Reels are short-form video content, which often include things such as audio and text. As a small business owner, you can almost think of them like mini commercials for your business. The main purpose for Instagram Reels is reaching new people. So, if you’re wanting to grow your following and build an engaged community, then you should probably keep reading. 

Attract Your People

From behind-the-scenes to product demos, the options for Reels are endless. However, if you want to use this tool to grow your audience, then I recommend prioritizing three types of Reels: 

• Reels that explain and/or further your brand message

• Reels that are relatable and/or shareable 

• Reels that drive sales

Let’s talk about each of these a little more. 

So, explaining or furthering your brand message with Reels is actually pretty simple, but many have a hard time doing it. You have to tap into the mind of your potential first-time customer. To put it plainly, step one and two of growing your audience are brand awareness and brand recognition. In order to achieve these, you have to talk about your brand on a fairly regular basis and stay consistent in things like the look, feel and messaging. An example of something you might post could be as simple as a video of you at work, with the text “POV: You’re a (insert your title or brand niche)”. Some other ideas might be highlighting a unique selling point, sharing your origin story or talking about an achievement you’re proud of. In short, you have to talk about your brand for more people to know about it. In addition, you should be showing up in a consistent way, so then people begin to recognize it. In other words, you should be using similar colors and fonts, visuals, audio and more.   

Next up, Reels that are relatable and/or shareable can be a little more tricky. For this type of Reel, you have to figure out what is relevant to your audience, so it may take some experimentation to get this right. Trust me though. If you can nail this, then you’re good to go. High-performing relatable/shareable content is gold for social media managers like me. Some ways to derive what might stop your audience mid-doom scroll are looking through your comments on social media (or the comments on accounts similar to yours), thinking about what problems your product or service could solve for your ideal customer/client and taking note of thoughts and feelings you have related to your industry or niche. 

Finally, let’s talk about Reels that drive sales. Nowadays it’s more complicated than simply talking about your most recent promotion or sharing a testimonial from a past customer/client. You have to give people a real reason to want to buy. One way to do this is showing them the destination; show them how their life might be different if they chose to purchase your product or service. On the other hand, there’s also something to be said about storytelling and walking your audience through the entire journey. This can give them a sense of comfort, because they know what to expect. If you haven’t, you may also want to answer this question: Who is my product or service for? The answer is not everyone. Your ideal customer/client for your business is likely a certain sort of person, with specific interests, needs and motivations. Think about them when you’re creating Reels aimed at driving sales.       

Below I’ve listed some ideas for Reels you can steal and use on your social media accounts.

Reel Ideas

Explaining/Furthering Brand Message:

• Introduce yourself & your team (if they’re comfortable)

• Explain what you do

• Explain how what you do is different from others

• Share what inspired you to start your business

• Share the reasoning behind a particular product or service

• Talk about your wins, no matter how big or small

• Show your lifestyle/culture as a brand

Relatable/Shareable:

• “(Insert a FAQ or common misconception).”

• TFW (That Feeling When) or POV (Point of View)

• 3 pivotal things you’ve learned about your industry/niche

• “If you (insert pain point), then you should try (insert your product or service).”

• Startling, thought-provoking, funny or motivating quote or phrase related to your industry or niche. 

• “Okay, hear us out here. (Insert an opinion on a debated topic related to your industry or niche).”

Drive Sales

• Step-by-step product demo

• Service overview, with explanation about who each service is right for

• “This could be you, but you’re sleeping on (insert one of your offers).”

• Meet (insert customer/client), and then explain your journey together or have them explain

• Share what drives you to keep doing what you do with your business

• Show stats to back up the claims you make about results from your product or service

That’s all for now. As always, I hope you found this blog post helpful to building your community on social media.