Five quick Instagram Reels ideas to get you started
Aimée Colley
Designer at Shaw
Despite being around since late 2020, not every business is posting on Instagram Reels. And you might not know where to begin. So we’ve put together some easy ideas that you can hopefully follow and begin to create Reels content.
Idea 1: ‘Day in the life’ snippets
Film lots of little video clips of your day. Everyday tasks might not seem interesting to you, but sliced together with a little bit of music added it can be a fun look at the inner workings of your business. We recommend each clip be no longer than 4 seconds, and try to keep your phone as steady as possible for a smooth viewing experience. (See an example of that here)
TOP TIP: Add music from the ‘sound library’ to your Reels. Businesses have less music available to use than ordinary users due to copyright reasons, but there is a wide range of music available that can be searched by genre or keyword.
Idea 2: ‘Before and after’ of work
You might have seen reels that cut from one extreme to another. For example, a jewellery business might have precious metals and stones, then the camera cuts to a fully formed ring. Is there a way to show a before and after for your business? (See an example of that here)
Idea 3: Timelapse
A timelapse of something happening is always a fun idea. You’ll need to speed up the footage before you take it into Instagram, but this easy to do on your phone. Find the footage in your phone’s ‘Photos’ or ‘Gallery and edit to speed up.
Idea 4: Meet the team
Capture snippets of your team waving at camera and working. You can add short captions throughout the video saying their name and what their job involves. Followers know a little bit more about your team and the people behind the products.
Idea 5: Photos
If you’re not able to take video footage but have a bank of photos then you can absolutely still use Reels. Add the photos one after another to create a video sequence. Or use one photo as a background, but have other text appearing over the top. Don’t let a lack of video footage hold you back.
TOP TIP: Save your Reels for later and come back. Sometimes Reels can take up a lot of time. Especially if you’re capturing content, then editing, then posting all in one go. To make things more time efficient, you can capture content for a few Reels at the same time. Then edit the videos, add captions and save to your drafts for later. Then on a busy day just ‘post’.
Hopefully once you get started your ideas will develop and you’ll get into the swing of creating Reels. Some influencers make such inspirational content, really pushing what Reels can do, so be inspired by what you see and figure out how that idea, transition or style of Reel could work for you.
If you’d to chat more about Reels or need help with social media strategy in general, drop us an email on edinburgh@shaw-online.com