Mastering Instagram Reels
Reels are hands down the best way to grow your following, get more opportunities, and make more sales! And contrary to what many people think, they don’t have to be complicated or hard! Trust me... If I can do it, so can you.
My goal with this guide is to give you my pointers and strategies when it comes to reels so YOU can reach more people with your business, product, and/or message!
Social media is SIMPLE, but we get into our heads, overthink our content, and end up not posting in fear of being judged. I hope this blog encourages you to keep going!
Saveable or Shareable?
The goal of each of your reels (or at least most of them if you’re wanting to reach more people) should be to make them either super SHAREABLE or super SAVEABLE (or both!)
SHAREABLE: Content that makes your ideal follower think, “This is so me!” OR “This reminds me of this person”. The content is specific enough to your target audience that it makes them feel seen, heard, and understood... and then they share it!
SAVEABLE: Content that is providing something of value to your ideal follower - knowledge, encouragement, guidance, advice, ideas, etc. Anything that they would want to “save” and come back to later.
Personal vs. Business Content
A common question is: How do I create balance between posting personal-themed content and business-themed content? While many people are quick to share “ideal” ratios, I think it really depends on you and your account. Do what feels right to you! But incorporate BOTH!
I try to incorporate a personal and business touch in all of my content. I don’t steer towards one or the other individually. I want to share relatable, fun reels that will attract and build trust with my target audience. I want people to feel like I GET what their pain points are. I’ve BEEN there myself. I put my story in every single reel, whether it’s the video content or the caption. Most people do not want to buy from robots or salesmen that seem to only care about the money. They want to feel seen and nurtured.
People know social media is used as a method to sell. You want to post information about your business in your reels one way or another. Highlight what you do, how you do it, what you offer, how it will help them, etc. If you do not include some business content in your reel, how would you make sales?
Key: All of the principles in this blog still apply regardless of what kind of reel you are posting!
Who is your ideal follower?
I know, I know. You’ve probably heard “ideal client” and “ideal follower” so many times. But I want to challenge you... do you actually KNOW who your ideal follower is? You really do need to nail this down because with every reel you make, you’ll want to make sure you’re speaking to this person.
Usually, your ideal follower will be someone similar to you, or someone you would get along with pretty well.
Challenge: Take 2-3 minutes, open up the Notes app on your phone, and brainstorm. Write down everything you know about your ideal follower. Here are a few questions to get you started:
What’s their gender?
How old are they?
Where do they live?
What do they do?
What are their hobbies?
What are their goals?
What do they need from you?
What makes them feel seen or heard?
Don’t skip this! I promise, this will help you create content that resonates, adds value, and attracts the right people to your page.
The Hook
Your hook is KEY! This is a quick, catchy phrase or word to get your viewer to stop scrolling and pay attention.
You should have a strong hook in two places on your reel:
1. On-screen text: the first words your viewer will see when scrolling by your reel. The job of this hook is to get them to stop their scroll and watch your reel.
2. The start of your caption: the first word(s) of your caption. The job of this hook is to get them to actually read your caption. And of course, the better the caption is, the more time spent reading it, the more watch time your reel will get, the more accounts your reel is pushed to.
*Need some HOOK ideas? Click here to download!
Call to Action (CTA’s)
The CTAs in your reels are important to increase engagement, watch time, and follower/client conversion!
You should have THREE CTAs in every reel!
1. On-Screen CTA: This is usually used to send your viewers to your caption to find out more. Something easy like “Read caption” or “Find out below”. Leave the viewer wanting more!
2. In-Caption CTA: you’ll want to include at TWO CTAs in your caption! Use your caption CTA to direct viewers to take a specific action (i.e. following you, commenting something specific, sending a DM, sharing their point of view, saving the reel, etc.) Have your first CTA close to the beginning of your caption, and the second at the end. I usually use “SAVE this reel for its trending audio or to refer back to it later!” and “Comment [specific word] and I will DM you the link to get started!”
*Need some CTA ideas? Click here to download!
Talking Head Footage
A “talking head” reel is when you talk direct to the camera for the video footage. These types of reels are great to build trust since they’re more personal!
Here are my tips for talking head reels:
Start with an extra strong hook. You have a split moment to grab your viewer’s attention, so make the most of it! For example, don’t start out with “Hi, I’m [name].” Just jump right in with your hook.
Don’t talk too slow. Be enthusiastic. Edit out pauses. Remember, people have short attention spans (refer to the “splits and transitions” section of this guide for help with this).
Include closed captions. Most people are scrolling by reels with their volume either really low or completely off. I include an app recommendation for this at the end of this guide! Accessibility is HUGE too!
Use a trending audio as your background audio on low volume (not so high that it distracts from your voice).
Include a title on-screen AND on your cover photo (I talk about cover photos on page 16). The title can be the same as the hook you use to start the video!
B-Roll Footage
B-Roll footage is basically background content that you use as the video for your reel. This has become a popular method for reels which is GOOD because it means less work for you! It also means you don’t have to show your face if you don’t want to. My introverted self is personally a VERY big fan of faceless content!
Examples of B-Roll footage include:
Pushing your stroller on a walk
Sitting at your computer working
Pouring a cup of water, coffee, or your protein shake
Putting out your outfit for the day
Rocking your baby
A short clip of the sunset
....basically any random thing going on in your life.
Tip: collect 5-7 second clips throughout your day (or designate one day a week to collect several). Add them to an album in your phone so they’re easy to find and pick from when you go to create your reels.
Stock Video Footage
Stock footage is a type of b-roll footage. Specifically, it is footage OTHER people have taken and given you the rights to download and utilize.
Stock footage has become INCREDIBLY popular in the faceless marketing world. We do not have to worry about the quality of our footage or taking the time to edit the footage itself. We are given the rights to download the footage, upload it onto Canva or directly into Instagram and call it good!
Not going to lie, I use because it’s easy and less time consuming. And we’re all about easy and less time consuming over here. Also, I am there’s NO WAY I am dancing, talking, lip syncing, anything in my reels. And I don’t know the ins and outs of my phones camera nor am I going to go purchase a new phone to get better quality footage. I will leave it to the professionals! So, don’t underestimate the power of a short, basic clip of something random!
There is an abundance of stock footage sold by content creators that you KNOW is going to be aesthetically pleasing when used together on your social media account. There are also free download options such as Pexels and Unsplash. You will need to search within these sites to see if they offer content that fits with your brand.
Your Main Message
Your main message is the message you’re aiming to get across with your reel.
You have 2 options: You can put the “meat” of your main message as on-screen text in the reel itself, or include it in your caption and use a quick CTA to send people to your caption.
I have found more success putting my main message in my caption. Instagram is really focusing on how many replays your reel gets (talked about later on), so getting them to stay is KEY. Pack that caption with helpful information!
Remember, your main message is content that is either shareable or savable - so, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Are you providing value to your ideal client or follower?
Is your message relatable to your ideal client or follower?
Does your message give ideas, encouragement, guidance, or advice of some sort?
Your main message doesn’t need to do ALL of these things, but it should do at least one of them!
In deciding whether or not to put your main message on-screen or in-caption, here are a few pieces of advice:
Only include it on-screen if you can do so without over-crowding the screen, making the text hard to read, or making the video too long.
If you DO include it on-screen, make sure to edit the video so that the text pops up in sync with the rhythm or beat drops of your selected audio. Even better if you do just one small chunk of text at a time!
If it’s too much text, just use a call-to-action right after your hook to send people to your caption.
Trending Audio
A “trending” audio is basically any audio that Instagram has flagged as popular. Using a trending audio is KEY if you want to reach the most people because Instagram is more likely to push your video out to more people because it thinks they’ll be interested!
You’ll know if an audio is trending if it has the diagonal up-arrow. If you click on that arrow on a video, it’ll take you to all the videos using that audio and you’ll be able to see how many times that specific audio has been used.
I recommend using trending audios with less than 1,000 uses max. Even better: the “original” video has more than 1M views. Lower usage increases your chance of being at the top of the list under that audio. More views on the original video increases the chance of a LOT of people clicking the audio in the original video and noticing your reel in the list.
TIP: Use your scrolling time wisely! As you scroll through Instagram and find videos, audios, and/or trends you like, SAVE them! You can save reels into folders and can also save your favourite audios to use later. Just make sure they’re still trending when you go to use them.
Cover Photos
The cover photo of your reel is what people will see both in your profile “grid” (the main view of your profile) and in your reels tab.
Ideally, your cover photo makes it clear what each reel is about, fit your brand, and encourages someone to click on your video if they’ve visited your profile.
I think it is still important to stay on brand and make sure your cover photos are a proper depiction of what to expect.
Your options:
Choose an existing frame from your video as your cover. Make sure the frame you choose includes at least the “hook” on-screen text.
Upload a cover photo from your camera roll. You can use Canva to design a cover photo if needed. The next page will show you how to create a cover photo on Canva.
TIP: Cover photos can be added WHILE you are creating your reel in Instagram or AFTER. If you go to your already-posted reel and click edit, it will allow you to upload a reel cover. This is a great feature if you have a bunch of reels already uploaded, but want that aesthetic look to your whole account!
Splits & Transitions
The “Split” feature is within the Instagram app and is basically a way to cut one long clip into multiple tiny clips. This is a proven way to keep your viewer’s attention longer since these days, our attention spans are so short! Using the split feature is especially important if your reel is longer than 5-7 seconds.
THIS is a great tutorial on using the split feature.
Plus, using this feature means you only have to press “record” once, and you still get the feel of multiple takes.
Similarly, transitions between clips are a great way to make your videos more catchy and snappy, and therefore keep people’s attention longer!
HERE is a great tutorial on why you should use transitions PLUS 5 easy transitions you can do right inside the Instagram app!
Get Creative + Be Original
A good way to reach a wider audience is hopping on trends as early as possible. When you’re scrolling Instagram, pay attention to reel trends you see over and over.
The key here is to BE ORIGINAL! Hop on trends and use trending audios, but put your own twist on them. It’s okay to be inspired by a trend, just do your best to make them your own.
Don’t copy and paste someone’s content. It is very easily detectable. People do not want to purchase from a robot. They want to purchase from YOU. So show yourself (literally or figuratively) in your content and caption! YOUR people will find you and appreciate the work you put into this!
Your Signature
Your signature is a one sentence call to follow you that you’ll put at the end of every caption. It’ll tell your viewers very quickly who you are and why they’d want to follow you.
I noticed a substantial increase in my followers when I started implementing a simple signature on each video!
Here’s what I use on most of my non-business themed reels:
✨ Follow @XXXXX to learn how to succeed in faceless marketing!
Short, sweet, to the point. I’m basically telling my viewer to follow me if they liked this video and want to see more like it. And it works!
TIP: Use the “Text Replacement” feature in your phone settings to save your signature using a shortcut so you don’t have to retype the whole thing every time.
Hashtags & Keywords
Hashtags are NOT dead. A lot of people claim that they are, but MANY of the pros still recommend using them and personally, I still find a lot of content I like by using hashtags! (as of March 2025)
Can you get great reach without them? Sure, but I don’t think using them will hurt you! If you do choose to use hashtags in your caption, I’d focus on hashtags that are less saturated. It’s less likely your video will be found with a hashtag that has millions of uses.
Although Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags, I have seen suggestions that say to use approximately 6-10 hashtags per reel. This makes it so your content doesn’t look too spammy, which could hurt your reach!
Keywords are a newer emphasis on Instagram. Basically, you want to make sure your on-screen text AND your caption contain relevant keywords so that the algorithm pushes your content out to the right people. For example, some keywords I like to make sure I include somewhere in my reel and/or caption are: busy working mom, work from home, side hustle, spend more time with my child, digital marketing for beginners, etc. If your caption is short or there are keywords you want to add, you can always just type them below your hashtags in your caption.
I would suggest creating a long list of keywords in a NOTE on your phone. On your reels video, paste this list as text. Shrink the text and drag it off screen! Instagram will register that you have a lot of keywords, but you don’t have to worry about actually incorporating them into your writing!
Crafting Captions
Remember, your caption should start with a strong hook that gets people to expand your caption to read the whole thing, particularly if your main message is in your caption. I usually write my CTA as my first line in my caption. This grabs their attention and makes them click the “read more” to see the answer they are looking for!
Some tips for your caption:
If your caption is more than a few sentences long, make sure to separate lines with a space pretty often. It’s easier for people to focus on 1-2 sentences at a time versus trying to read a long paragraph.
Make sure to include your hook, CTA, hashtags and keywords, and signature at the end.
Story telling is key! Share your experiences and be vulnerable and honest. This is huge if you want to gain trust, convert viewers into followers, and convert followers into clients.
Use emojis but don’t overdo it.
If your caption is catchy, engaging, and decently long (separated out with spaces), this will help you get more watch time on your reel (especially if it’s a short 5-7 second clip), which will mean it should get pushed out to more people.
Instagram LOVES replays! So pack your caption FULL of helpful information. This will keep people reading while your reel plays over and over and over!
Some More Tips
Font Choice: Only use fonts that are easy to read on top of your video. If people have to squint or strain, or if the words blend in with the background, they’ll scroll right by. Write your words using Instagram’s fonts. Instagram loves when you use THEIR features and is more likely to push your content!
Your Branding: Speaking of fonts, I recommend staying consistent with what fonts and color schemes you use throughout your content. You want your brand to be recognizable!
Video Length: Most of your reels should be between 5-7 seconds long. This is a proven sweet spot! The closer to 5 seconds, the more chance for increased replays!
Filters: Don’t overdo it with the filters or use crazy abstract ones. One of my favorites is the “Shade” filter by “laisrnferreira” to make the screen a little darker so it’s easier to read the text overlay.
Text Location: Make sure your text is in a place that’s easy to read and not covered up by your username, the start of the caption, or the graphics.
Save As You Go: “Save As Draft” often. To be extra safe, save your drafts to your camera roll (you’ll have to save it without the audio, so make sure you have that audio saved to use later). Instagram glitches and the last thing you want is to lose a reel you’ve worked hard on.
Schedule In Advance: You can create a reel and schedule it to post at a later time if needed. Read THIS ARTICLE for instructions on how to do this. You can also utilise Meta Business Suite for scheduling. I highly suggest to have some emergency reels saved for when you feel uncreative, sick, or anything happens that prevents you from coming up with content/caption ideas.
Pay Attention To Insights: You need a business or creator account to see insights for your reels. HERE is an article about reels insights. Don’t stress too much, but definitely pay attention to what reels are performing better. And remember, it’s not all about likes! Sometimes, you’ll have more shares, saves, or comments than likes. Any type of interaction is good interaction!
Respond To Comments: Take a few minutes in your free time to go through and respond to comments. This keeps people coming back to your reel and will improve your engagement rates! Engage with your followers, ask questions, and build that trust.
Keep it simple: Reels don’t have to be complicated or time consuming. I used to NEVER post reels because I thought I needed video editing skills to make them fancy and high quality. Don’t overthink it!
Share To Facebook: When possible, allow the reel to post on your Facebook account. Several times, I’ve had a reel do “average” on Instagram, and blow up on Facebook. My reach is actually greater on Facebook than it is on Instagram, but that isn’t the case for everyone!
Be Patient: Reels have a way of taking their sweet time! Sometimes mine start performing WEEKS after I posted them.
Stay Consistent: I can’t stress this enough! Play the long game. Don’t just post to try to go instantly viral. Keep your ideal follower in mind and consistently show up for them. The algorithm is NOT out to get you!
Helpful Apps & Links
CapCut: Video editing app with more text and editing options if you prefer to create your reels outside of the IG app. A great app when you need to use the green screen feature.
Canva: I LOVE Canva for creating content! If you want to create your reels outside of the IG app, Canva is a great option.
Unsplash, The Content Cove and Pexels: Download high quality stock footage.
Captions: This app is great for if/when you want to post a speaking reel and want to include high quality captions.
ManyChat: Automation, baby! If you use a CTA like “Comment [WORD] for the link”, ManyChat is what you can use to automatically reply to the comments and send DM’s with your link.
ChatGPT: Need help coming up with a caption or content ideas? ChatGPT is your best friend! Ask ChatGPT to write you a caption following xyz parameters and it will provide you with one! I highly suggest not copying and pasting though! Make sure to edit the caption and make it sound like YOU.
I hope you found this helpful and able to approach reels with more confidence than ever before! Remember, you are unique! You have a unique purpose and a unique message that people need to hear from YOU.
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