What Are Instagram Reels & How To Use Them In Your Digital Marketing
It’s fair to say that 2020 has yet to go as anyone planned. And with more people online than ever before, finding digital marketing solutions that support your business are moving higher up the strategic agenda.
In a series of Sandford Journal posts, Christina will be exploring the latest updates from some of the social networking sites, the impact they’re having and importantly, how architects, interior designers and product designers can use them to their advantage and grow their own brand awareness.
So let’s start with Instagram and the launch earlier this year of Reels. In response to the meteoric rise of TikTok, particularly in lockdown, Instagram launched this new video platform to create and share 15-second videos with others in a new dedicated Feed on the Explore page.
What are Reels?
It’s essentially a more advanced version of Instagram Stories (which currently has over 500 million accounts using them every day!), but you have a variety of editing tools (AR effects, speed controls and the ability to line up multiple clips for smoother transitions). Reels can be shared to your feed and Stories too, making them a little more versatile than Stories on their own.
So how can you use them to further your Instagram marketing activities?
How can your digital marketing strategies be updated to include this new offering?
At Sandford, we would always start by looking at your audiences and what might appeal to them. What content would your target market like to see? OK, you can’t say a lot in 15 seconds but demonstrating your knowledge of particular aspects of your work may be a good place to start. What top 3 tips might you offer your clients? Can you highlight 3 clear bullet points, for example, over a project image or video of one of your team?
The ultimate idea is to generate more engaging content and something people will seek out every time you post. Think of it as an elevator pitch for every topic - keep it light, focused and relevant. And there aren’t many people in the industry who are using them in that way yet. So be creative, challenge thinking and test ideas out. Some might work, some might not but you’re broadening your reach and engagement and learning as you do about what content will appeal.
A new dawn
It’s currently too early to give us a clear picture of this new functionality’s success but as it’s within an already highly engaged platform, it’s definitely one to watch and we’ve already been working with clients to develop content strategies that include Reels.
Need some ideas too? Then get in touch with us and see how we can help.
