What happens when you only share Reels on Instagram?
If you use Instagram, you might’ve noticed that your static image post engagement is down, but when you’re posting Reels, they are getting loads more. You might even have been part of the test for full-screen video content appearing on the home feed. All signs have been pointing to a video-first platform for a while, and now Instagram has announced this new approach, some people have asked, what happens if you move to a Reels-only strategy?
Later spoke to Olivia Noceda, a content creator who has been exclusively posting Reels to her account for the last 6 months, and they came up with some interesting findings.
What happens if you only post Reels on Instagram for 6 months?
Like a lot of content creators, Olivia had noticed that her account had become a little stagnant; “I was spending so much time planning and curating my static photo content only to get zero engagement,” she discussed. “It was so discouraging.”
For her, the solution was clear. “I thought, I can either complain and sit in this stuck feeling or I can move with where Instagram is headed.”
Suddenly, she pivoted almost entirely to a Reels-only strategy and included daily Instagram stories. The result? After 6 months of doing this, Olivia had grown her account by 60k followers!
“It’s so nice to welcome people into my community who found me because of my Reels,” Olivia shared. “I’m connecting with so many like-minded people who have the same interests as me.” The reaction and engagement from her communities have been unlike anything she’s seen before on the platform. “I can’t explain it, but the engagement on my Reels feels so much richer than anything else I’ve posted on Instagram. It’s on another level of connection with my audience.”
Key Learnings for a Reels-Only Instagram Strategy
Olivia has spent the last 6 months focused on a Reels-only Instagram strategy and has a lot of learnings, here are her top 6 takeaways:
#1: Don’t focus on going viral!
“When your focus is solely on going viral, you lose the authenticity behind your content,” she explains. “Plus, audiences are smart — they can suss out when it’s forced or someone is posting just to post.”
If your only focus is going viral, you could be setting yourself up to fail.
“You can spend three minutes on a Reel and get 100K views and spend three hours on another and get 250 views. The algorithm can feel so incredibly random.”
Think about how you can grow your community and how can you add value?
“I don’t need a billion DMs or a billion Reels views. I want an intimate group of people that are really interested in what I’m talking about and who are happy to be there,” she adds.
“If doing those two things creates a viral video, then great. If not, that’s okay. I’ll try again next time.”
#2: Content Pillars Are Key
“When you use content pillars, you’re signalling to Instagram what your niche is. Then, both the algorithm and your audience know what to expect from you.” For instance, Olivia’s main ones are recipes, health and wellness, aesthetic b-roll, mini vlogs, and quotes.
“My content pillars keep me grounded. They come in handy when I don’t feel inspired or if I don’t know what type of content to create. I’ll look at my content buckets and know I can always create something within those topics.”
Repurposing content is a great tool for content creation.
“Since I’m posting so many Reels, there’s no way I can film and re-shoot new content every single day. And I’m sure many other business owners feel the same.”
Go through your camera roll, waaaay back, and see if there is anything you can repurpose! It’s way easier than starting from scratch.
#3: Trending Music is Everything
Think of your Reels with an audio-first lens.
“The very first thing I’ll do before anything else is scroll through Instagram to see what’s trending. Once I find something, I’ll ask myself: how can I make this audio work for me? How can I use this song?”
“When I find the trending sound I want to use, I’ll screen record a video using the sound, upload the clip into InShot, extract the audio from the screen recordings, and then put it over the video so I can edit in the app.
Then, I’ll delete that sound in InShot, upload the video to Instagram, and add the actual sound to Instagram.”
#4: Stick to it!
Nothing is learnt overnight and for Olivia, it took her several months of consistent posting to get into it.
“You learn from every single post you make. I look back and think, how on earth did I post that? And others I’ll look back and feel proud of the Reel, but the views don’t necessarily reflect the time spent.”
A key thing to remember? “If you’re just starting out and you’re feeling defeated, remember you’re comparing someone’s middle to your beginning.”
#5: 6-12 Seconds Is the Sweet Spot
Olivia has found that people love short and simple when it comes to videos.
“I’ve found that 6 -12 seconds is the sweet spot,” Olivia shares.
“There is so much you can do in a short amount of time. If your product is a candle, put your candle on your desk under pretty sunlight, pop some music over top, and boom, you’ve got yourself a Reel,” she adds.
“You don’t have to create an Oscar-worthy movie on Reels.”
#6: Accessible content should come first.
It doesn’t matter what kind of content you’re creating, on-screen text is an absolute necessity for accessibility and inclusivity.
“If there’s any sort of speaking in your Reels, you should use captions. Use Instagram’s automatic captions or write them. Who cares if that part of the video looks aesthetic or not. Don’t worry about aesthetics, be worried about creating accessible content!”
“98% of the time I include a CTA on the Reel itself. I can’t rely on people pressing and reading the caption, so I do my best to put it out there in the easiest way possible.”
I think we can all agree that video-first is coming so we need to get on board with our own strategies. It’s great to hear from content creators like Olivia who have been through the change and have seen positive results from it, these tips can certainly be applied to any business’s strategy. Her number one takeaway for content creators of any kind? Stay true to your brand. You’ve already established yourself with your community and your brand will be the thing that ties you together over the change.
“Stay true to yourself and your brand while trying out a new format. Trust me, you’ll see the pay off”
“You don’t have to change your entire strategy like I did. Start off by creating and adding one Reel per week into the mix.”
If you aren’t sure how to change your Instagram strategy to be more video-focussed, click the link below to arrange a call with Francesca to learn more.
