Admittedly, Reels aren’t the easiest type of content to create. But they’re by far the most effective way to create engaging content on Facebook and Instagram as we move towards 2023.
In fact, if you prioritise Reels over any other type of post, your influence will grow enormously. You’ll gain loads more visibility, fans, growth and sales, even without an ads budget.
As you’ll no doubt know by now, the best-performing posts online are the ones that attract the most engagement and responses. If you post something you think is incredible and all you hear is silence, then objectively speaking that’s a low-value piece of content. No matter how much time, budget, effort and creativity you put into it.
That’s why the algorithms love Reels, and your prospects prefer them too. Reels are highly engaging by nature. Short, impactful, dynamic and often fun. What’s not to love? The only issue is how to get your head around creating them!
But before that, even if you know all the ins and outs and technical aspects of using the editing, stickers, music, captions, filters, memes and trending audio, the first question is what type of message will you put together to make the right impact?
Get clear on your niche
It isn’t enough to operate in a particular sector and splice up your content with days at the beach or views from your office. When it comes to Reels for business, you need to think about dropping truth bombs to your targeted niche so they have an instant explosive impact on your audience and the algorithms.
Being a lawyer, selling soap, or being a fitness coach no longer cuts it – far too generic! Nowadays, you need to be a divorce lawyer in the UK; selling vegan and allergy-free soaps for young women; or a fitness coach for new mums who are wanting to snap back.
If not, the content won’t hit any precise pain or desire points to encourage people to like, follow, download or buy.
Pick the most suitable cover image
Your cover image needs to pose a dilemma or a question, or suggest a problem or a curiosity.
- The divorce lawyer will have the title at the top of the post (but still within the square format so it can be easily seen on the grid) saying “4 reasons narcissists go crazy” or “Why you should always consult a lawyer in divorce”.
- The vegan soap seller will demo their summer collection with a title such as “Launching The new vegan colours and smells of 2023” or “How to freshen up your bathroom for your hot-girl summer”.
- The post-pregnancy fitness coach will lead with “5 exercises to tone your body after pregnancy” or “My postpartum fitness journey”.
All of these posts have garnered hundreds of thousands of views because the title and content is so compelling. These three examples demonstrate the content gold you need to offer your highly focused niche in order to make that post go viral for you.
Create for sound off
Most people will watch Reels with the audio muted, and won’t turn it on unless the content looks interesting enough. Consequently, creating Reels that can operate without sound is a must.
However, if your Reel features any type of speaking or voiceover, switching on the closed captions is essential. That makes your words automatically appear on the screen as you speak, but on the lower half so as not to distract from the speaker or the action.
Secure enquiries and sales
For marketing purposes, all posts should have a call to action – something you want the viewer to do once they’ve seen the post. Without this, they’re likely to just scroll on by.
But here’s a golden nugget for you – if you send them off the platform, the post will perform less well. So, when creating your Reel, tell people to ask questions in the comments below or DM to get a freebie. That way, you increase engagement on the post enormously.
Increase your followers
When was the last time you decided to follow someone online just because they had one outstanding post? Never, I imagine. Same for gurus or pop stars. You don’t become a fan based on a few good tunes or speeches. Most people will do a good dose of due diligence before they decide to become a fan.
The usual trajectory is this:
- See a great post
- Check out the bio
- See if they have a bunch of titles that pique your interest and demonstrate their expertise
- Watch a few more posts to check for value
- Visit the website
- Follow them
- Interact with some posts
- Buy, make an enquiry or download a freebie
And remember, even if your prospect decides they definitely like you, it may take between seven and 17 touches before they’re ready to follow you. As for purchasing? That will take another seven to 17 touches too.
So rev up that content machine and get ready for some consistent Reels action. The more you do, the better the results.
Keywords rule
Since the platform’s algorithms recognise keywords in the bio and in each of your posts, it’s essential to go niche so that the platform can keep serving the valuable content to the right people. Ultimately, it will help your visibility and your website’s performance.
In other words, the best way to get posts to blow up is by creating these highly valuable Reels that are funny, educational, relatable, engaging and highly specific to your niche consistently.
Over to You
This post was originally published on the Enterprise Nation site in November 2022. Have you started creating Reels for your business? It’s an absolute gamechanger. If you’re ready to start to master Reels to turn your business into a 6, 7 or 8 figure business, check out all the training options on Supersize Media