Top Instagram Reel Tips To Make You Go Viral

Since they were introduced in 2020, Instagram reels have become one of the biggest features on the social media platform. According to data from Meta, the short and punchy videos receive an average of 200 billion views daily. This can be attributed to the Instagram algorithm, which has been favoring reels over other types of content in a bid to compete with TikTok and YouTube shorts.

However, with many content creators realizing that Instagram reels are the low-hanging fruit of going viral, the competition among creators is increasing. Statistics indicate that over 95 million reels are posted every day. If you want your reels to gain visibility and possibly go viral, you must think outside the box. Fortunately, in this article, we will provide you with top tips to create outstanding reels with the potential to go viral.

What Are Instagram Reels?

Reels are short videos that can be easily created or watched on Instagram. They mainly consist of entertaining videos to enable you to connect with communities aligning with your interests. They often have a maximum length of 60 seconds.

Reels can consist of a single video or several clips consisting of edited and combined videos and images. Users can create them using the IG native app or a third-party tool to drive engagement, showcase personalities, market brands, or have fun. Users can edit, add effects, or sound dub to reels before sharing them on IG.

Most Instagram reels are not only videos with audio and text. They consist of funny, informative, or educational short videos. These are great tools for improving your brand recognition.

Why Should You Post Instagram Reels?

According to a study that compared the effectiveness of TikTok videos and Instagram reels, the latter provide brands with a bigger reach and better engagement. Therefore, if you are searching for a tool to boost your brand visibility and grow your audience, you should consider Instagram reels. That said, here are several reasons to consider posting Instagram reels:

• Easy to create/cost-effective. You don't need to be a professional videographer to begin making Instagram reels, and you don't even need expensive equipment. All you need is a smartphone with a decent camera and proper lighting. The ease of making and cost-effectiveness of Instagram reels make them a great choice for creators and brands who want to share content at a low cost.
• Wide range of content formats. Reel enables brands to create content, such as educational videos, product showcases, and even behind-the-scenes videos.
• Preferred by the algorithm. With Instagram shifting toward a video focus, reels are among the video types given bigger visibility by the algorithm. Therefore, if you want to increase the visibility of your content or brand, you should focus on creating reels.
• Free video creation tools. Instagram offers creators a variety of tools to enable them to improve the look of their videos. These include trending music, pre-existing templates, text overlays, and photo and video editors to help draw more interest to your videos. Creators can also use the built-in video editors to add captions, tags, and more. These tools can help you create more engaging videos to drive your engagement.

Tips To Create Instagram Reels That Goes Viral

We have already seen the importance of posting IG reels. Let us now look at ways to make IG reels that will go viral.

Create High-quality Reels

The most important factor determining the number of people who see your video is the quality of the reel. Nobody wants to watch a poorly lit video with an inaudible voice and poor visuals.   

There are several tips you can use to create engaging Instagram reels. These are:

• Use high-quality visuals. Every reel you create must contain high-quality visuals, compelling compositions, and vibrant colors that will instantly grab the audience’s attention when scrolling through their feed.
• Keep it short. The reel should be between 7 and 15 seconds. Remember that longer reels will struggle to hold the viewers' attention. When the IG Algorithm sees viewers dropping off, it will interpret this as a lack of interest, affecting the video's visibility.
• Create an emotional connection. You should ensure that you are connecting with your audience emotionally by telling them compelling stories to evoke specific emotions.
• Try different content formats. You can experiment with formats such as customer testimonials, behind-the-scenes reels, and tutorials. When you do that, you can see the content that best resonates with your audience.

Understand the Instagram Algorithm

Before you start creating Instagram reels, you must ensure you know how the Instagram algorithm works. This is often what enables some reels to get more views than others. There are several factors the algorithm considers when determining the reels to show to users. These include:

Engagement

If your reels receive high engagement, the algorithm interprets that users are finding them useful. Remember that the goal of any social media platform is to keep users longer on their platform. Therefore, they love content that keeps users engaged. That means if your reel gets many likes and comments, the Instagram algorithm will recommend it to others.

There are several tips you can use to increase Instagram reel engagement. These include:

• Start with a strong hook. Ensure your reel begins with an attention-grabbing hook that will make people want to see more. It can, for instance, start with a teaser or use a storytelling format where you tell your viewers about a problem and how you solved it.
• Understand the trending formats. Trends are big on IG, and different reel formats, such as text overlays and complex animations, drive them. Use a trending format that resonates with your brand voice to increase engagement.
• Use hashtags to boost visibility. Hashtags are among the most essential features you should not forget to use on Instagram. They enable you to reach new audiences searching for hashtags in your niche. Therefore, to drive engagement, include top-performing hashtags in your reels.
• Share reels to your story. If you want to increase the visibility of your reels, reshare them in your story. While the story will only be visible for 24 hours, it can ensure that your followers also see the reel driving engagement.
• Use native editing tools. There are suggestions that Instagram favors reels created and edited inside its app, especially if they feature trending content. Therefore, using the app to create reels can help increase their visibility on the platform.
• Cover photo optimization. When Instagram users visit your profile, they will first see the cover photo. An appealing cover photo image will not only catch their attention but also pull them to watch the video. 
• Post consistently. Consistency is key to building an engaged audience. Having a regular schedule for your reel can help increase engagement.

Make the Right Size and Length of Instagram Reels

The size of your Instagram reels will determine if they look professional. The recommended size is usually 1080 X 1920 Pixels, while the aspect ratio is 9:16. To ensure that your reel fits well in your smartphone, you should record vertically. This is the right size to ensure your reel takes over the user’s screen. By properly formatting your reels, you can have well-displayed videos to keep your viewers hooked, ensuring they finish watching the reel.

You can make reels that are a maximum of 60 seconds and 2200 words for the caption. You are also allowed to use a maximum of 30 hashtags in a caption; therefore, you should leverage them. However, it's also important to note that reels between 7 and 15 seconds drive the highest engagement; therefore, you may want to focus on that.

Include Captions for Silent Watchers

By default, Instagram reels start without sound. Many viewers also prefer to watch videos without sound. Include captions in your reels to ensure that you cater to this group. The text you use in your reels should be more than just descriptive. It should guide viewers within the narrative, emphasize key points, and add value to them.

There are several tips to remember when adding captions for your Instagram reels. These are:

• Use outstanding colors and fonts against a background pleasing to the eyes.
• Place the text strategically to improve your understanding of the reel without blocking your key visual elements. The text should act as a silent narrator to improve the viewer's experience.

Understand the Best Instagram Reel Posting Time

When posting Instagram reels, timing is important, as you want to post your reels when your audience is active. While different factors affect the peak time, early mornings before 8 a.m., late afternoons after 4 p.m., and evenings have the highest traffic for Instagram reels.

There are several factors to consider when deciding the best Instagram reel posting time. These are:

Location of Your Audience

Your audience’s location will determine the type of content you create and when you post it. This is important as the geographical location of your audience will determine when your account will receive peak activity. If you have a business or creator account, you will be provided with Instagram insights showing the countries and cities where your followers come from. You can view insights on your Instagram profile, followed by Professional Dashboard.

Your Audience Waking Time

You also want to find out when your audience is mostly awake. While this can be hard to determine, you can find this information using Instagram analytics tools. You can also check your audience’s location and determine the timezone. For instance, if your audience is in the US and you are in India, you can schedule content around a difference of eight hours.

We recommend checking your Instagram insights to find out when your followers are usually most active online. You can then schedule your posts to be posted at such times. When you consistently post during these windows, you can maximize engagement and interactions, improving the chances of your reels going viral.

Use the Right Hashtags

We have already mentioned this before, but we need to emphasize it further. Hashtags drive the visibility of content on Instagram, including reels. Hashtags enable the algorithm to understand what your content is about and to determine the right audience to show the content to. This can lead to more views, likes, comments, and shares.

There are several tips to consider when adding Instagram reel hashtags. These are:

Perform Real Instagram Reel research

Don't just include hashtags because you believe they relate to your niche. Instead, you need to find highly relevant and popular hashtags. You can start your research on the Instagram Explore Page, as it shows popular content relevant to the content you are searching for or engaging in. You can check the kind of hashtag reels used on the page.

You can also use the search bar to find hashtags. Simply enter the key terms and phrases with the # related to your niche, and Instagram will provide you with reels. You will see the number of posts using the hashtags. Select a mix of hashtags with more and less than 100,000 posts.

Mix Your Hashtags Well

You must mix trending, unique, and niche-specific hashtags for the best visibility and engagement. However, avoid overusing competitive hashtags to avoid your content getting lost in the flood of content.

Understand Where to Add Hashtags

When you add hashtags to Instagram reels as text, they won't work the same way they do for the Instagram story, as the reel hashtags won't be clickable. That's why it's advisable to add hashtags in the reel caption of the comment section. However, whether you add the hashtags to the comment or caption won't matter to the algorithm, as it favors both positions.

Keep Analyzing and Improving 

Remember that the Instagram algorithm isn't static. What worked for reels today might not work in the future. Therefore, you want to ensure that your hashtag strategy keeps changing and aligns with the changes. Remember that fresh content with new hashtags is given preferential treatment on Instagram. Therefore, you should avoid using the same hashtag over and over again. Keep researching the right hashtags to use in your Instagram post for each reel.

Follow Instagram Trends

To remain relevant on Instagram, you should create content that leverages current trends. This could be a viral challenge, a popular dance, a new song, or more. When you add these elements to your Instagram videos, you can improve your visibility on Instagram.

However, don't just copy the trending content. Instead, add a unique twist to make your reels unique. When doing that, analyze what is capturing the audience's interest and use it to create reels reflecting your brand voice, message, and style. Blending originality and relevance allows you to take your reels to the next level.

There are several ways to find and leverage the trending Instagram reels. These include:

• Use the audio for trending reels. Instagram has an extensive audio library that enables content creators to create engaging reels. Using such popular audio can increase the visibility of your reel. You can go to the Reels tab on the Explore page, or you can use the search bar to find the song for the relevant hashtag.
• Competitor analysis. Observe your competitors on Instagram to understand the type of content that resonates with their audience. Check their reels, hashtags, and engagement levels to find meaningful insights into what is working for your target audience.
• Check the reels tab. In the bottom bar of the home screen, tap on the reel icon to see some of the most popular hashtags. As noted earlier, the Instagram algorithm will only show reels that are considered to have a high engagement, relevance, and view count. Therefore, the reels it recommends may be doing something right.
• Follow popular influencers and hashtags. You can view the content that popular influencers in your niche are creating. Similarly, check the trending hashtags. You can use the explore page or search bar to find popular creators and hashtags that align with your interests.
• Take part in challenges. Common Instagram challenges can show you trending reels and give you more visibility.

Add Fun Transitions

You can take your Instagram reels to the next level by adding beautiful transitions to keep your viewer’s eyes glued to the screen. You must fully grasp jump and snap cut techniques to change a reel into a seamless visual journey. You can do that in several steps:

• Record several clips.
• Use the built-in Instagram timer to stitch the clips seamlessly. 

By adding polished transitions, you can make your content appear more professional and increase the engagement level of your reels.

Cross-promote Your Instagram Reels

Just because your target platform for the short video is Instagram doesn't mean this is the only place where you can promote the reel. Instead, you can leverage different social media platforms to market your Instagram reel. For instance, you can share it on X, Facebook, and even blog posts.

Cross-promoting the reel will increase the views and add traffic from different sources to the Instagram account. Remember that each of these social media platforms has its unique audience. When you cross-promote, you will ensure all your potential viewers see your videos.

Influencer Collaboration

Influencer collaboration is another great way to boost the visibility of your Instagram reels. Often, a little-known post goes viral when shared by a famous influencer, which indicates the power of Instagram influencer collaboration. Remember that influencers already have a dedicated following that trusts them when they recommend a brand.

Since they have a higher engagement level on their posts, you will get the upper hand when you add them as your post collaborators. This will let you please the algorithm and make your content go viral. There are several tips to ensure success in Instagram influencer collaboration. These are:

• Research the right influencer. Start by researching the right influencer to use. You can check their niche, audience demographic, authenticity, and engagement rate. Ensure that the influencer connects genuinely with their followers. Their content should also resonate with your target audience to grow your Instagram following.
• Have clear goals. After finding an influencer, you should have clear goals for what you want them to achieve. This could include increasing visits to your site, improving brand awareness, and generating sales.
• Understand the collaboration type. Influencer collaboration can take different forms, such as sponsored posts, giveaways, brand ambassadors, affiliate marketing, and more. You must select a partnership that is best suited to your brand and aligns well with your target audience.
• Track the collaboration's results. You can use IG insights and other tools to identify whether the collaboration works for your brand. This can also help you refine your future influencer collaborations. Remember that influencer collaboration is not a one-day affair but an ongoing process that requires a lot of learning, adapting, and evolving to get the best results.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the secret to growth on Instagram is the use of Instagram reels. However, creating a good IG reel strategy isn't easy. Besides, the competition for viewership is still high, and your content can easily get lost among the many others. However, following our Instagram reel tips, you can easily hack the game and create reels that can quickly go viral. You can, therefore, take your brand marketing on Instagram to the next level.

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