Instagram currently ranks 4th amongst all the social media platforms worldwide with a whopping 1.4 billion users globally and is the second most downloaded app in the world.
It is a great medium for digital marketing for businesses, considering that 58% of users confirm they are interested in a brand after watching it in a story, and approximately 44% of Instagram users use the app to shop.
Instagram is a go-to app for digital marketers not just in terms of its user base but also to promote businesses for its seamless business features, efficient algorithms, and unique and engaging content.
Instagram has also evidently become a promising place for people to promote their small-scale businesses (provided you use trending hashtags like #supportsmallbusinesses).
If your target market is between 18-34, then Instagram is the right place to land because 60% of its user base is in this age group.
Instagram Reels is a feature introduced in 2020 that has been extensively used to create engaging content. Reels are basically 15-second short videos that facilitate users with several creative options like adding music, transitions, filters, and functionality of editing and clubbing multiple videos together.
Unlike stories or posts, Reels are published and viewed on the feed, which is customized based on user history.
Several users and brands, in particular, are leveraging this to create short marketing videos. Frequency is key; on average, active brands post 17 Reels per month.
For your Reels to be unique and trending, making them aesthetically pleasing and vibrant is imperative.
Here are the Top 5 Ways You Can Use Instagram Reels To Promote Your Business
1. Create Promotional Reels With Embedded Website Links
Instagram has been evolving in its intelligence since its inception with new and relevant algorithms that enrich user experience.
The best way to increase traffic to your websites is to embed links in creative Instagram reels that you create as a part of your brand promotion efforts.
Be it popular brands or popular clothing and shopping websites, this profound feature of Instagram can be used to widen anyone’s reach.
Go with what’s trending to improve your visibility. For instance, catching up on trending songs, filters, video types, hashtags, and yet keeping your content original and unique will help you reach a wider range of audiences.
Make sure you use the “swipe up” feature that redirects users to websites when you share your Instagram Reels. You can also add articles and blog links to your video. Various video editing platforms have predefined templates that let you add web links effortlessly.
2. Rope In Influencers
A lot of actors are active on social media to stay relevant and connect with their audience. There is a natural curiosity among fans regarding their lifestyles, the products they use, their fitness routines, etc.
Therefore, you can enhance brand awareness through product reviews, brand shoots, and creative content by involving prominent figures or celebrities.
While it could be a challenging task for small businesses and artists to grow their follower base overnight, the smart thing to do would be to leverage influencers’ already existing fan base.
Depending on what type of brand or content you would like to promote, you can choose appropriate actors, influencers, marketers, and creative artists.
For example, if your brand or business is related to F&B, you can partner with popular food bloggers to promote your content.
3. Initiate Reel Challenges
In today’s digital landscape, the most successful marketing lever is predominantly the number of views, likes, and shares of your content. When users find your content engaging, funny, and relatable, they often tend to share it with their friends or post on their feed.
You can use Reels to present exciting challenges on your page to retain your audience’s attention. You can organize hashtag challenges, video challenges involving dance, makeup, or hacks, and offer freebies and prizes to entice people to participate.
This will enhance traffic and lead generation. It’s also one of the best ways to ensure active engagement and spread the word about you or your brand.
4. Create Informative Reels
Businesses can use Instagram Reels to educate their audiences.
For example, many doctors and healthcare providers, especially dermatologists, nutritionists, and fitness experts, engage with their user base on a high level to educate viewers on diverse issues. They give tips, entertain, and engage with their audience in a genuine and personal way.
Similarly, you can use Instagram Reels to show people the behind-the-scenes of your business, post-user-generated content, produce how-to videos, treatment procedures, before and after videos, etc.
5. Create Visually Appealing Reels
For your Instagram Reels to be watched and not forgotten, there is a huge responsibility on you as a creator to impress the viewer in less than 3 seconds.
While a catchy song, hashtag, or hook step can get your content trending, what makes it worthwhile and shareable is how creative, appealing, and different it is from others.
You can add transitional effects, use new filters, etc., so that you can rope in people to share it as much as possible. You also can add animations to your videos to make them engaging.
You can make your content stand out by using an Instagram video editor that has amazing features, like brand kits that you can use for all your reels to save effort and time.
Some video creation tools also let you create the same content in different languages and have unique templates based on what’s trending, which will help you tell your story more creatively.
Knowing Your Audience is the Most Important Part
While there are numerous kinds of reels you can publish, keep in mind your channel’s objectives.
It’s worthwhile to lay out a strategic plan as to how and what time your content should reach the viewers. It is also important to post differentiating content for people to be interested in watching your Instagram Reels all the time.
Therefore, some important parameters you need to check are the target audience, their preferences, suitable time slots to post your content, and conducting thorough research and analysis on what’s trending.
