5 Things Nobody Will Tell You From Posting On Instagram Reels
Creating video content is pressingly more relevant than ever before. If you were unaware, consider this your sign to pay attention to it.
Whoever masters the video-content skill will have a massive advantage that will translate into multiple benefits like: free reach, community building, and relevancy. Plus, all the juicy derivates from that: sales, traffic, trust, etc.
So, whether you are a marketer, a content creator, a small business, or just a curious person, if you want to win at the social media game, video content is the 🗝️.
What is the simplest way to produce video-content?
In January, I developed a video-content strategy for a friend that helped him go From 1,166 TikTok followers to 254,600 in 3 months, How?
It was a remarkable experiment, but I wanted to keep on learning about video content, specifically: IG Reels.
Just for fun, I decided to run another experiment. I didn’t have a specific niche, and honestly, didn’t want to spend countless hours thinking about it.
So, I asked myself: What is the simplest way to produce video content on Instagram Reels right now?
The answer: VIDEO TRENDS
Videos with formats that have worked in the past, usually composed of a trending sound + a filter.
How fast can I reach 1 Million Views by posting Trends on Instagram Reels?
Disclaimer *I don't have a big following on IG; 1,444 followers (at beginning of this experiment), it was a challenge.
I posted 12 videos focused on trends, from which I got 2.8 Million views, 17.6k likes, and 198 comments, to be exact.
It took me around 2 weeks to reach 1M views, but what I discovered along the way, was far more interesting than just 1 Million views.
5 Surprising Things Nobody Tells You From Posting On Instagram Reels:
1. Please, Do Not Delete Your Video
After posting my first video, I instantly felt remorse; my inner critic kicked in full force beautifully like Gal Gadot on Wonderwoman.
I started questioning everything. Was this experiment even worth it? Am I too old for this? What if it doesn't work out? Trends, really? All sorts of unfriendly questions assaulted my mind.
With the video reaching 200 views, I felt embarrassed and pressured about "what would other people think," in a panic attack I delete it and abort the mission altogether.
A week later, IG sent me a push notification reminding me to do a video with the sound that "I've saved" and that X amount of people were using it.
After consideration, I decided to give it another try, a lot of people were doing it and felt like a missed opportunity.
This time I promised myself that I wouldn't delete it no matter the outcome.
I gathered 2 kilos of courage and posted the video again.
The first day got around 600 views, and it remained around that number for 4/5 days, with a couple of likes.
But exactly one week after I posted it, BOOM, a storm of likes rushed into my IG notifications for 2 weeks straight until the video accumulated 1.1M views.
What nobody tells you: Just because your video didn't perform well in the beginning, doesn't mean it won't. Don't Delete Your Videos!!
2. There Is Science Behind Trending Videos.
3 out of 12 videos (25%) showed my face being covered by my hand for the first couple of seconds until I removed the hand, revealing my face with a filter.
Simple right? Too simple, I would argue. But, if we analyze it, there's a science to back this up. Humans are curious creatures, so if a hand is in front of a face, we instinctively want to know what's behind it! You wait a couple of seconds to know the answer, which the algorithm interprets as higher watch time, so it is pushed forward to more people, and the loop continues.
What nobody tells you: Curiosity is a very powerful hook.
3. "Virality" Won't Necessarily Translate To Followers
From the 12 videos I posted/ 2.8M views achieved, it translated into 773 new followers, representing 0.02% of the video views, which I dare say is incredibly low.
Full disclosure, I choose one of the laziest forms of content based on pure entertainment. I'm not surprised that it was that low.
My educated assumption is that content that educates (teaching recipes) or inspires, like (traveling videos) will have a much higher following rate. Simply because there's affinity in a topic between the viewer and the producer.
What nobody tells you: Just because it has a lot of views doesn't mean it will get you the same amount of followers.
4. Prepare for the good, the bad, and the ugly
The Good: On IG Reels you can connect with people outside of your comfort zone and your content can reach more people.
The Bad: You need to put your ego aside, otherwise you might have a bad time (which is easier said than done).
The Ugly: If your video gets a lot of views, expect some hurtful comments and never take them personally, I actually had fun responding to trolls with unusually kind answers.
What nobody tells you: When your video has a lot of views, people will comment as if you don't exist, and it feels really weird.
5. Approach Reels with a beginners mindset
It might be inevitable that Instagram becomes a video-first platform, if you want to jump into the wave, approach it with a beginner’s mindset.
Like when you were learning to multiply for the first time, prepare because it will take practice.
Finally… Don't let your inner critic get in the way of you experimenting or doing something that you may enjoy.
What nobody tells you: You will watch the videos that you posted 100 times.
We've come to the end of this show. Hopefully, you found nuggets of knowledge in these words that can be applied to something or at least got you entertained. Whichever the case, thank you for taking the time to read this.
Cheers,
Kathia
