11 Ways to Improve Instagram Engagement With Reels

Online marketing is constantly evolving. The world of Reels and their potential for engagement has been on many marketers' minds, so here are some ideas for anyone looking to break into the world of Reels and get their page's reach and follower count growing.

If you've used TikTok before, creating Reels might be easy for you. It takes some time and effort to really excel at Reels, though; so it's best to get a proper understanding of how they work first.

This article will discuss the essentials of reel content, how to create them, and their potential to benefit your brand.

What are Instagram Reels?

Just like the famous TikTok, Reels is a lavish Instagram feature that comes with a vast array of video editing tools and Augmented Reality effects to create short, catchy videos. These unique tools and effects help differentiate Reels from TikToks.

The Instagram Reels feature lets users record and edit short-form visual content, usually 15 or 30-seconds long. After creating or editing your reel, you can share it with your followers or the whole Instagram community.

How to create engaging Instagram Reels

The first step to creating Reels is to swipe left from the home feed. From here, the camera will open up with different options and at the bottom of the screen, you should see a scrollable menu. Swipe over from Story to Reel to get started.

At this stage, you should have five icons on the left side of your screen. These are Audio, Length, Speed, Video Layout, and Timer - each performs a specific role in your Reels creation.

Tap on the camera button to start recording. If you didn’t set a time length and stop recording before the 15 or 30-seconds mark, you can insert other clips and arrange them to get a picture-perfect video.

Now, once you record your video, you’re taken to the editing section to add music, text, and effects. Remember: editing is just as crucial as recording because bad edits can render a reel with engaging content unwatchable.

You can go ahead to post your reel on your feed or as an Instagram Story or keep it as a draft.

How to increase your page’s engagement with Instagram Reels

Let’s look at eleven different ways to get the most engagement from Instagram Reels:

• 1. Actively interact with your audience

  Posting an engaging Reel is a perfect opportunity to get your followers talking. And your followers talking is a good sign of engagement, which is why you need to ensure that you properly curate your video to allow for open interaction after posting.

  Not only should your audience do the talking, but you, as the content creator, should respond to comments appropriately. This polite gesture opens up the chance for more commenting.

  You could also creatively ask your audience to leave comments after watching your Reels. It doesn't always have to be the "Leave a comment" classic; prompts such as "Caption this" or "Your thoughts?" are creative enough.

• 2. Weaponize your reels by telling good stories

  

  A good story doesn't necessarily mean a personal experience. Other creative ideas and experiences such as relationships, dating, or family skits are good examples.

  Remember: you can turn anything into a story!

• 3. Effectively use CTAs

  No one needs to stress the importance of CTAs on Instagram and in marketing generally.

  By placing the right CTAs, you can direct and persuade an audience to buy a product, make a comment, visit your business page or website, or even get in touch with you.

  There are different types and applications of CTAs on Instagram, so ensure you fully explore your options.

• 4. Ask engaging questions and provide helpful answers

  

  Posting a fascinating reel should build the right momentum needed to have engaging conversations in your comment section.

  Want to try a more direct approach? Why not drop some thought-provoking questions in your Instagram Reels that would leave your audience talking?

  Moreover, you shouldn’t be doing all the questioning or answering. You can create a warm atmosphere where your audience can ask and answer questions happily.

  You simply have to ask engaging questions and provide helpful answers as many times as possible, while encouraging others to do the same.

• 5. Use effects, texts, transitions, etc., to create unique reels

  Video editing facets like effects, audio, texts, and filters make your reels more unique and entertaining. Your knowledge and expertise of these features will determine the outcome and performance of your Instagram Reels.

  An audience won’t engage itself in a poorly edited or uninventive reel.

• 6. Start your reels wisely

  The first 5 seconds of your reel matter a lot - it’s so crucial that it can determine if viewers will watch to the end or not. You want to capture their attention within these first few seconds, but not in a trickish manner.

• 7. Hashtags! (the right one matters)

  

  Posting your reels with the right hashtags ensures that your content gets exposed to a wide range of audiences.

  Discover the #tags relevant to your content and the ones that will get the most exposure - with high reach and entertaining content, getting great engagement rates is very plausible.

• 8. Create reels based on trending content but keep to your uniqueness

  Trending content means a large audience and engagement, but keep your reels as unique as possible when trying to create them based on what is trending.

• 9. Avoid posting reels that are cringe, boring, or monotonous

  People get irritated or bored when they see cringe, irrelevant, or mind-numbing content on the Gram. You can start losing serious followers when such content appears often, so ensure you carry out appropriate research and prepare your content well before posting.

• 10. Keep your reels natural and clear

  

  No one would waste their time watching a clip that's blurry or has its audio distorted.

  Such problems mainly arise from reposting or screen recording a reel. Well, sometimes, reposting just once can be enough to reduce the quality of an Instagram Reel.

  Also, don't repost content from other apps to avoid getting blurry reels.

• 11. Repost Instagram Reels from your followers

  This act tells your followers that you care about them. Your profile and reels can get a high reach when your followers share your content, and they’ll be more willing to do so if you repost their reels. You can see such reposting as an indirect way of gaining your followers' trust.