Tagging other accounts is highly encouraged in the Instagram realm. You get more reach by putting your content on someone else’s account as well as the potential for them to share your content with their following. You can utilize this tip with regular Instagram posts as well.
If you post a Reel to a public account, any other Instagram user will be able to create their own Reel using that audio track.
Create a Reel, ask your followers to create a Reel on a topic of your choice, using the same audio for your Reel, and post with a custom hashtag. Follow all the same best practices for Instagram giveaways!
What are Instagram Reels?
Who doesn’t love bloopers? People love being able to relate to the business owner behind the camera. Use humor to express the lighter side of your brand personality and improve your social media engagement along the way.
Really focus on the platform you need the more help with (i.e., Google, Yelp, Facebook). Be funny with this one. Try not to placate too much but tell your followers how much you would love to hear their feedback on their service.
Combine that with the fact that video content fosters more engagement, connection, and trust, and you can see why Instagram Reels has become a marketing tool for businesses.
Reels appear in the Reels tab of your profile as well as the Explore tab, but you can also share Reels in your feed, Story, or directly with another user.
How to create an Instagram Reel for your business
Each time you use music, your Reel gets exposed to that specific song’s tag. It’s similar to hashtags with the potential of more reach. And since there are plenty of users that don’t keep their sound on—yes, even while they are scrolling through Reels—it’s good to put on those captions so they can engage with the sound off.
1. Enter Reels mode
In addition to the fact that it’s video content, Hootsuite found that on days when they published Instagram Reels, they saw spikes in overall engagement.
1. Use Music AND Closed Captions
Reels is an Instagram feature, available in both iOS and Android, where you shoot, edit, and share 15- or 30-second videos. Unlike Stories but very much like TikTok, Reels offers sophisticated editing and video processing tools. You can overlay music, speed things up or slow them down, add special effects, and more.
2. Tag relevant accounts
Your Reels will also appear in searches for the song or hashtag you used.
3. Push Reels to your feed
Tip: If you use words on your video, try to get them as centered as possible (without obstructing the important parts of the video). When you share your Reel to your feed, it will naturally get cut off as the ratios for posts and Reels are different.
Here are the four basic steps for creating a Reel for your business on Instagram.
4. Take old Stories and posts and recreate them into Reels
Check out this example from @cutylife that uses Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” for their Reel soundtrack.
Good cross-promotion strategy here. Do your subscribers get exclusive deals? Early access? Entered into a drawing? Get more email signups with your Reels.
5. Upload your TikTok videos to Reels
You could choose to promote a neighboring small business, or if you’re a B2B company, highlight one of your clients. Shopify does this in the example below, talking about a small, woman-owned landscaping company that went viral.
6. Add titles to your Reel cover photos
A big portion of the content creation community repurposes older posts and Stories to create their 15-30 second video for Instagram reels. For example, if you just recently traveled somewhere as a business or have some pictures from a job you just completed, you can combine all of those photos into one video.
Instagram Reels ideas and examples for businesses
Have some of your most loyal customers do a 15 to 30 second video on why they love doing business with you. Reviews are always going to perform well on social media, especially video content like Instagram Reels.
7. Film yourself giving tips
To enter Reels mode in your Instagram stories, go to your profile, tap on the plus sign, and Select Reels.
8. Share customer testimonials or success stories
If you are a service company, this will be really easy. Just don’t forget to take some pictures before you start the project/maintenance/job.
9. Make a blooper Reel out of your Reel bloopers
You can organically post your Reel as is through the Reel platform (it will then show up in your Reels tab), or also publish it on your own feed. For the most part, it’s a best practice to publish to your feed so that your current audience can engage too. This will also you to build more content and promote your account.
10. Feature your employees
There are plenty of free ways to reach your potential customers on Instagram: posts, videos, Stories, IGTV, and now Reels. Here are some of the ways businesses are using Instagram Reels to express, educate, and entertain.
11. Provide useful checklists
Did you start your own business? What were the best marketing strategies you used to grow your business? The options are endless. A lot of content creators will have the options written out and they will point to them as it goes across the screen, but if that isn’t your style, you can always literally check off on a notepad and go through the tips of your particular topic.
12. Create before-and-after Reels
When someone navigates to your Reels tab, make it easy for them to select which Reel they want to watch. Titling your Reels also gives your Instagram followers a feel for what kind of content you post. Useful tips? Inspiring landscapes? Company culture?
13. Promote another business
Showcase what makes your business different by producing Reels for each product or service your business offers. Head to your service or product pages and let the games begin! Or, show your customers how to become power users.
15. Talk about the perks of being on your email list and then tell them how to join
Now that you have some ideas and the know-how on creating Reels, it’s time to get creative and have fun! Remember, you don’t have to do all of this on your own. Utilize those around you for creative input too. You will be surprised who is willing to help if you just ask.
16. Product highlights or tutorials
As a business, it’s important to stay in front of your customers where they are, not where we want them to be. And with one billion monthly active users, you can bet that a good portion of your customers are on Instagram.
17. Demonstrate how to leave a review
Get your employees in on the fun! Feature an employee each week, sharing what they love about working for your business, what they love about their job, or giving tips from their specialty. People want to feel connected to who they do business with. Plus, this is a great opportunity to express your company’s core values.
18. Run a Reels contest
Here is the full list of tips and ideas:
Use these Instagram Reels ideas to express, educate, and entertain
You could provide five short tips, one extensive tip, or a preview of a longer video to come. Think about the keywords you target in blog posts, FAQs from customers and prospects, and other videos that have performed well in your social media marketing endeavors. You won’t believe how much content you will come up with just by answering questions your customers ask you on a regular basis.
Did you just post a video to TikTok? You can literally post that same video to your Instagram Reels as well! Just make sure it’s all your 30-second versions of those videos (TikTok allows 60 seconds), or you can cut the 60 second video into two Reels—only if it makes sense to cut it.
- Use music AND captions
- Tag relevant accounts
- Turn Stories and posts into Reels
- Upload your TikTok videos to Reels
- Add titles to your Reels cover images
- Useful tips
- Customer testimonials or success stories
- Blooper Reels
- Featured employees
- Checklists
- Before-and-afters
- Promote another business
- Quick and encouraging messages
- Newsletter signup promotion
- Product tutorials
- Reels contest
- Demonstrate how to leave a review
