Instagram Reels is a new tool, and, spoiler alert: it's SUPER important for growth on Instagram! I spent an entire month posting a Reel every single day, and I'm here to tell you what works, what doesn't, and how to use Reels to grow your account.
When I posted a Reel every single day, the engagement on my posts went up. Using regular posts, I get about 100-200 likes. In the middle of doing a bunch of Reels, my posts got between 300-400 likes and way more reach.
Gaining 1,500 followers in a month is a LOT. I went from 14k to about 15.5k, which makes a difference. Honestly, I expected to grow more. And I expected the proportion of new followers from viral Reels to be more, too.
I experimented with using 28 or 30 hashtags versus 3-4. DEFINITELY use more hashtags rather than less, because I saw a major difference between when I used 30 versus when I used 4. I saw no difference between the 28 or 30.
So in my personal experience, about 0.3% of my viewers converted to followers. That means I need to get a lot of views to get just one follower. The ratio of followers to views is WAY less than I expected.
I cross-posted my Reels to Tik Tok and one of them went viral. Overall, I gained about 2,000 followers on Tik Tok, so I gained more on that platform than Instagram. My video got about 140,000 views. So on Tik Tok, my conversion rate was 1.4%.
With Planoly, you can upload your video content to either our Multi-Channel Workspace or our Instagram Planner. Both planners allow you to plan, organize, schedule, and auto-post your Reels directly from Planoly's web dashboard. Alternatively, you can opt to schedule a reminder, either through email or push notification, to post your content manually at the perfect time, using either the web dashboard or mobile app. When you auto-post a Reel through Planoly, it seamlessly becomes part of your Instagram feed enhancing your social media presence with ease.
Please Note: Due to Instagram limitations, Reels that are scheduled for auto-posting cannot include a cover image, but you can add the cover image through Instagram once your Reel has been published or you can schedule a reminder notification and post it manually including a cover image. Auto-posting is limited to Instagram Business and Creator accounts only.
Planoly Pro Tip: For Reels that are set up for auto-posting, you will not be able to add trending audio through Planoly. What you can do instead is schedule a reminder notification and post it manually including the trending audio and cover image.
Click on it from your phone, and you will be taken into the app to post now - Your Reel & cover photo will be auto-downloaded to your phone, and your caption will be automatically copied for quicker posting
You're all set! You now know the ins and outs of planning and scheduling Reels for your Instagram feed. Upgrade your Planoly Account to a paid plan to start taking advantage of this new feature. New to Planoly? Sign up through www.Planoly.com and take advantage of our 7-day free trial to use this new feature!
The only positive thing about posting them with such frequency is that it was easier to see the pattern of results. But I want to add, that if you really want to investigate how the Reels are working you need to do a test for a longer period of time.
But since I had to post these 10 reels and I saw these insights I want to share them with you as my conclusion is resulting in one single fact. Something that is crucial for everything you post on social media.
So the conclusion of this little mini-test is: MAKE IT RELEVANT FOR YOUR FOLLOWERS.
That is the most important factor of a successful Reel. Accept that, always share your Reel to your grid, use smaller hashtags and post your Reel when you know your audience is most active, that will give your Reel a good chance to be successful.
The issue I'm facing is uploading Reels formatted videos through Hubspot's CSM and they only accept videos that fit between 1.91:1 and 4:5 aspect ratio. Does anyone know the solution besides uploading these types of videos manually?
As a social media manager, I am facing an issue uploading Instagram Reels videos through Hubspot's CMS, as it only accepts videos within a specific aspect ratio. To resolve this, I suggest using a video editing software to resize the videos before uploading or using a third-party integration found in the Hubspot Marketplace. This will ensure that our videos are visually appealing on Instagram.
One solution would be to use a video editing software to resize the video to fit within the aspect ratio requirements before uploading it to Hubspot's CSM. This can be done by cropping or adding black bars to the video. You can use open source software like Blender or Lightworks or paid software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. Another option would be to use a third-party integration that can automatically resize the video before uploading to Hubspot's CSM. Such integrations can be found in the Hubspot Marketplace.
It's mind blowing to me that this feature is not already available on HubSpot. So many other platforms have already udated to offer this feature, including Loomly, and recently Later. As a marketer, I find it interesting that the HubSpot blog is actually directing people away from HubSpot to platforms like Later. I really hope this feature becomes available soon. -instagram-reels
Reels offer a number of fun flourishes you can add to your videos. Video reels are meant for vertical viewing, so a 9:16 aspect ratio with dimensions at 1080 x 1920p works best when posting content. To post a video reel to your Instagram profile:
To create a new post, you can create a post directly by using the Create Post button, or by dragging and dropping media directly into the calendar! From there, select the Instagram account you want to create the post for!
Along with custom thumbnails, you can also select a frame from within your Reel to be the chosen thumbnail. You can use the slider located above the upload button to select a frame! Once you're happy, press Save to keep your changes!
After Meta released its Reels API for external users, SocialPilot has now enabled users to post Reels straight from the tool to Instagram. You can schedule your Reels for professional profiles i.e., Business and Creator accounts for direct publishing or through mobile reminders.
When you're using Buffer to publish to Instagram, you can either publish automatically to Instagram or set a notification to finish the post in the Instagram app yourself. This applies to reels and stories, too. Learn more about how to use notification based publishing for Instagram here.
Hashtags are a great way to make your posts more discoverable on Instagram. Our hashtag manager makes it easy to create and save groups of hashtags so that you can build a library of options, experiment with different variations, and easily reuse your top-performing hashtags. Learn more about how hashtags work in Buffer here.
If your post or reel is set to be published automatically, you'll also have the option to include a first comment. Adding a first comment is helpful if you want to incorporate any information not ideally shown in your caption.
All you need to do to ensure a comment publishes at the same time as your post is to type your first comment into the first comment field. That's it! ? You now have a comment in the queue and ready to publish alongside your Instagram caption.
As a Social Media Manager at an agency or a multi-location business, managing Instagram content efficiently is crucial. The ability to post Instagram Reels directly from your desktop can significantly streamline your workflow and improve productivity. In this guide, we'll show you how to leverage desktop tools to create, edit, and post Reels, making your social media strategy more effective and time-efficient.
Using the right editing software can make a significant difference in the quality of your Instagram Reels. Here are our top picks for video editing tools that can help agencies and businesses produce professional and engaging Reels.
Wondershare Filmora is an all-in-one video editing software that can be used on a desktop. Filmora has an easy-to-use interface that allows you to create beautiful Reels. With Filmora, you can use color grading, speed control, video stabilization, audio equalizer, split-screen, scene detection and more!
iMovie is a fantastic choice for anyone looking for free video editing software that comes with high-quality features. iMovie is one of the few software that has 4K videos on its free version. This is the perfect choice for beginners looking to easily splice together their Instagram Reels. iMovie comes with a clean interface, video transition tools, and audio editing.
Open Shot is another free piece of software that gives experienced editors the creative freedom to edit videos without needing a paid version. This tool is best for clip resizing, scaling, trimming, snapping, and rotation. The OpenShot drag-and-drop functionality for easily adding video, audio, or image files, plus you can color grade your Reels as well.
Last but not least is the Instagram App itself. Instagram is continually improving the editing features for Instagram Reels. Once you have recorded some footage, you can either pre-load it into Reels or record it straight from the app. From here, you can add text, stickers, and audio. This is an awesome option for those who want to keep things centralized and easy right from the app.
Posting Reels directly from your desktop can save you time and streamline your workflow, especially when managing multiple accounts. Here are several methods to upload Reels from your computer, including the pros and cons of each.
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