Instagram isn't happy with its own product Reels? What?
If you're a business owner and you're not loving Reels either,
stay tuned because in this video,
I'm going to share with you what could be changing with Reels and how you can
use it to grow your business for free in 2021.
Let's talk about the pros and cons of Instagram Reels for your business as it
stands today. And later,
I'm going to share with you what Instagram itself recommends for you to do when
you're making Instagram Reels for your business. The pros:
six months after its release, I'm talking August, 2020,
when Instagram Reels became available to everyone,
we are still seeing viral growth and reach for you,
the business owner,
just by posting 15 second videos on a free platform.
How amazing is that, when you think about it? In my seven,
eight years as an Instagram marketer, I don't know if I've seen a feature,
have this much strength for this long of a time.
Six months is a long time for Instagram to be pushing out it's brand new
feature. So if you're watching this now and feeling like, Oh,
I've already missed the Reels train, or I should have done it months ago,
this is your reminder. This is your sign.
It's not too late to start on Reels. I'm seeing it with my account.
I'm seeing my student accounts blow up and even grow faster than mine.
All because they are jumping on video. Again,
Reels are 15 second videos. You can add music, you can add text,
you can add effects. It's totally up to you.
But even the most simple talking head type videos are blowing up on
Instagram Reels. So if you haven't tried it yet, today is your day.
And by the way, this isn't just anecdotal advice.
This is coming from Instagram itself.
They have said in January of 2021,
that six months after the release of Reels,
they are still putting more weight and emphasis into Reels.
So Instagram is supporting you. Make sure you start making Reels today.
The second pro of Instagram Reels, as I see it,
is you can still actually make TikTok videos and repurpose them over
onto your Instagram Reels feed. Now, of course,
Instagram doesn't recommend this.
They want you to make Reels within the app itself,
but I'm still seeing people create a TikTok video,
post it to their Reels. I mean, I can see the TikTok watermarks.
So it's pretty obvious that it came from TikTok and that video is still getting
a ton of views. Quick update from the editing suite.
Since the time of recording this,
Instagram has officially come out and said that TikToks when re-posted
as Reels in the Instagram feed will actually be limited in their reach.
So Instagram is not going to push out your TikTok as much as it's going to push
out one of your Reels. So with that said, now that we know, now that's official,
the rest of my advice in this video still holds. So you can,
if you're more of a TikTok person create on TikTok first,
then save your video to your camera roll and upload it to Reels.
And you'll still see your TikTok slash Reels explode in growth.
Now you might not go as viral as you possibly could because you've
repurposed a TikTok video.
I think Instagram's team is not going to push out another competitor's product
to its people. So you'll probably get decent traction,
but if you have the time and resources,
I'd recommend that whatever you make in TikTok,
you actually recreate in the Reels platform,
especially when you see one type of TikTok video doing well,
take the time to recreate it in Reels - if you've got it - because that
way, if that video does take off your chance of getting in front of millions of
people is much higher than if you've just repurposed your Tik Tok.
The next pro to Instagram Reels in 2021 is this:
I am seeing trends actually start on TikTok and then
trickle on down over to Reels. Why is this a pro?
This is a pro because if you want to get a leg up on your competition and you
want to get ahead of trends that are going to hit Instagram Reels,
start looking at TikTok. Now you don't need to post or show up on TikTok,
just be a lurker, have an account.
Look at what's recommended on the For You page. When you see a certain trend,
whether it's a dance or music clip or an audio,
when you see that over and over again,
that's a good sign that it's trending on TikTok.
And pretty soon it's going to be trending on Instagram Reels.
So if you want to be ahead of the trends on Instagram Reels,
make sure you look at what's happening on TikTok and recreate that trend for
your Reels. The last pro that I see for Instagram Reels in 2021 is this.
And it's a big one. It's the fact that all it could take is just one video.
One video that you make and post your Reels, and you could go viral.
I'm seeing this with my students who are just starting accounts,
just getting into video marketing and seeing results really, really fast.
Listen, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes of the TikTok or the Reels
algorithm. So if your video gets picked up, I mean, amazing,
consider it a gift given to you from these marketing platforms.
And then from there, keep that momentum going.
I'm thinking of my students Shade who created a TikTok account.
And then within one week, her video was getting 40,000 views.
Last I checked Shade's profiles, on TikTok, she has over 600,000 followers,
and on Instagram, she has well over a hundred thousand followers.
This is someone who just embraced video marketing not too long ago.
So again, huge pro here,
all it could take is just one video for you to start to see the momentum for you
then to see explosive growth to your business. Now,
we can't talk about the pros of Instagram Reels without talking about the cons.
And there are quite a few at this time,
and that's probably the reason why Instagram isn't so happy with its own
product. For me, one of the largest,
most annoying cons is that editing text within Reels is
still glitchy AF. I mean, depending on your phone's model,
editing in Reels might be glitchy for you, in general.
I have a pretty up-to-date iPhone.
I think it's the iPhone 11 and still it's just the app itself.
Whenever I'm in the Instagram Reels app and I'm adding text and I want the
text to be timed, I want it to appear and disappear at different times,
this part of editing a Reel is generally super annoying because it's still
really glitchy. I'm talking the text at the bottom of your screen disappearing,
and then you can't even adjust it anymore. Like,
it's definitely not the way it's supposed to be.
And I keep waiting for Instagram to update and fix this, but I'm still waiting.
However, because I'm impatient and I am tired of waiting,
I did come up with a workaround and it's all through using an external app.
I actually walk you through the app right here in this video,
where I cover the best apps that you can use to make Instagram Reels.
And to be honest,
it's a lot easier to use these apps right now than Instagram itself.
The second con with Instagram Reels in 2021 is the music feature.
It's still on and off for people. And in fact, most business accounts,
as far as I've heard, have lost the music feature.
This is super annoying because I was a business account for many years.
And then when Reels came out in August of 2020, I had the music feature.
I didn't have to do anything to get it.
Then in January of 2021, lo and behold, as a business account,
I lost music. So what I had to do was switch to a Creator account.
So at the time of recording this,
I am still currently a Creator account and I do have the music feature.
So the good news is for you as a business owner,
if you currently are set to a business profile,
you should be able to switch to a Creator profile pretty easily and still have
all the same features that you're used to, like insights.
The one major con of being a Creator profile is now my connection
to my scheduling tool, which is Later, which is an Instagram partner,
so it's legit,
but now my connection to the tool isn't quite as robust because I'm no longer
a business account. So that means I can't auto-publish posts.
Not a huge deal, I still manually publish them.
I still schedule them through Later. Then I get a notification on my phone,
then it's time to manually publish it. So that's what I do.
I don't mind because I like to be in the app when my posts go live anyway,
but that is a con of needing to switch to a Creator account.
Why can't business accounts get music? Well,
I'm pretty sure it has to do with all the complicated copyright issues of
songs.
So if you're a business account and you're using your account for business
purposes and you have music,
I'm sure that that is against the terms of the song because you can't use
Britney Spears' song to make money.
But if you're a Creator and you're not necessarily using Instagram as a
business, then you can have "Stronger" in your Reel and not be dinged for it.
The next con I see with Instagram Reels is that Instagram itself I'm talking the
head of Instagram has admitted that he's not all that happy with the feature.
This feature has been out for six months.
We have been using it and loving it and loving the growth from Instagram Reels.
But six months later, you're not happy with this feature.
Here's what Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said:
I'm not yet happy with it. (Same).
We're growing both in terms of how much people are sharing and how much people
are consuming, but we have a long way to go. And we have to be honest,
that TikTok is ahead. Well, there you have it.
Instagram has actually admitted that they are using Reels to replicate TikTok.
We knew this, but now it's official.
Adam then goes on to admit that TikTok is better with its creative tools and its
ability to start memes and trends.
And that's kind of where Instagram wants to go.
So this tells me that Instagram is working hard to make Reels even more like
TikTok, so heads up for that.
You're probably going to see more creative features and effects coming out
because Instagram wants you to use Reels to really get creative and come
up with really great content.
The other thing that Adam admits is that Instagram has a lot going on,
especially when it comes to video.
He mentioned that people probably don't know the difference between IGTV and
Reels, and he also hints at some simplification coming.
So if I read between the lines,
it sounds like Instagram is really trying to grow its Reels.
It might pull back on its IGTV features or abilities so that it can really
simplify the platform so that people really understand Instagram as a place for
short form video content.
This is sounding to me like they want to become more and more like TikTok.
So we'll see what happens this year. So with that said,
that would be my last con on the list. And maybe you don't see it as a con,
but it's the fact that Instagram Reels is probably going to bring in more TikTok
features. So this could be a con for you,
if you've checked out TikTok and you found it overwhelming or too complicated,
or there's too many editing features going on. If you're in this boat,
then you might not like the fact that Reels is going to go more in that
direction. But don't fret;
I have a ton of trainings on this channel on how you can get started with TikTok
for your business. So be sure to poke around and check them out.
Last but not least,
because we've been talking about the pros and cons of Instagram Reels in 2021
for your business. I want to leave you with this.
And this is coming from Instagram itself.
This is a recommended list of the do's and the don'ts when it comes to making
Reels for your business.
The first 'do' is to inspire creation so that anyone feels like they can create
on Instagram Reels.
Do share original and authentic content created within the Reels camera.
That's a major hint, hint there. Do use the Reels music library and audio tools.
So again, don't use TikTok is what they're saying.
Do stay relevant with cultural moments and topics.
So timely content could be really good here.
Do have a wow or LOL factor. Do pull the viewer in quickly.
The more intriguing, the better.
Do have a fun surprise or twist that's really worked well for me as well.
And do follow Instagram community guidelines.
They always love sneaking that in there. Now the don'ts include:
Don't add music that's not in the Instagram music library unless you've obtained
the appropriate license. Don't use dated references.
So old trends are old news, don't even bother with it.
Don't lack a storyline. So, meaning, don't be boring.
And don't create content that goes against our community guidelines.
There we have it. So,
few tips from Instagram itself when it comes to using Reels to make sure that
you have your best chance at going viral on the platform.
We covered a lot in today's video,
but for more tactical tips on how to use Instagram Reels for your business,
I've got two videos for you. One, content ideas for your Reels,
and two how to make a Reel. So go ahead and check out either one of those.
To ease and revenue. I'll see you in the next video.
Thanks for joining me for today's video on Instagram Reels marketing in 2021.
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