Instagram Reels: how to make a success of your videos?

With over 200 billion daily views, the Reel is the fastest-growing type of Meta content. As the holiday season approaches, the right use of Reels could well mean success for many brands. Just in time, Meta recently shared a new "Reels Performance Playbook".

This 10-page manual, packed with tips on how to maximize the impact of your Reels, provides brands and companies with essential information on how to leverage Reels for their marketing campaigns. Haven't had time to read it yet? We've got a recap for you!

Why integrate Reels into your marketing strategy?

With their ability to engage quickly, short video content such as the Reel has become central to any brand wishing to communicate on social networks. So it's hardly surprising that Meta has emphasized the importance of Reels in branding.

How do you earn your place in the sun? If the Meta Playbook is anything to go by, creativity combined with trends and a mastery of the art of storytelling can dramatically improve brand awareness. The icing on the cake: integrating Reels into your marketing strategy opens the door to a wider, more engaged audience, leveraging Meta's two platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to amplify your reach.

Creating engaging Reels: Meta's recommendations

Getting noticed isn 't just about creating videos, it's about knowing how to communicate via Reels. Understanding the unique format and adapting your content to it will help boost engagement.

According to the Meta playbook, successful Reels have three essential characteristics:

Entertaining: combine audio, visual effects and narration to create an emotional connection with the audience.

Understandable: to be digestible, your communication needs to be clear, fast-paced and offer value. Be brief, clear and to the point.

Accessible: tell stories and rely on visuals and familiar people to establish a personal connection with web users.

How to create a good Reel? Creative elements recommended by Meta

First of all, Meta recommends focusing on the 9:16 format (using safe zones to ensure that your messages are not obscured by the user interface) andintegrating sound content. The combination of these two elements can lead to an improvement of up to 51% in cost per conversion.

According to Meta,adding creative elements can improve ROI by 13%, reduce CPA (Cost Per Action) by 16% and increase conversion rates by 29%. What are these creative elements? Here's how.

Editing techniques: Reels rely on dynamic editing to capture and hold attention. Use zooms and fluid transitions between different parts of your video, and favor short edits to keep the audience's attention.

Hook: quality Reels are "hooked" as soon as the video is launched. The first few seconds are therefore critical. That's the time it takes to decide intuitively whether a Reel is worth watching or not. So it's essential to spend some time getting your introduction right. Meta suggests "setting a hook" at the very beginning of your video to immediately attract attention. How do you do this? By asking a question or integrating a punchline directly into the foreground. For example, take your product and turn it into a question. "We've got a new foundation" can become "Would you like to know a secret tip for perfect skin?"

Stickers: these little stickers, very popular with Instagrammers, are not only fun to use, they also reinforce your message. It's a good idea to use them to "flag" each feature or benefit, to make it easier to understand, or to reinforce your message.

Human presence: employees, customers or celebrities... Including real people makes your content more engaging and personal. Want to get someone's attention? Talk to them. Engaging your target audience in a testimonial-style video or "edutainment" format is a great way to create a more intimate connection.

Meta notes that Reels with "human presence" generate higher engagement.

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Authenticity : "Lo-fi" (short for "low fidelity") and UGC are raw or "user-generated" video production styles. Get your customers or employees to testify. The best is the enemy of the good. Quality shouldn't be an obstacle (to a certain extent, of course). On Reels, ideas are more important than perfect execution. Be creative! If you've organized a shoot, for example, try to capture some "behind-the-scenes" content at the same time.

The 5 best formats for creating your Reels

Want to create your own Reel but don't know where to start? Meta makes 2 main recommendations: use popular formats and create conversational content. To take your Reels from good to great, Meta suggests using "typical stories" - a set of tried-and-tested formats. Highly attractive, they will help you structure your content in such a way as to resonate with audiences and generate conversions.

The list: guide your audience through each feature of your product.

‍Thetransition sequence: use techniques such as jump cuts or sweep cuts to create a captivating Reel. You can also use stickers to personalize each step, for example.

‍Theproduct demo: introduce your audience to your product by showing them how it works IRL, combining a clear presentation of the product with entertaining and relevant storytelling.

Before and after: Proof with pictures! Show the benefits of your product or service with a montage such as "Life before your product vs. life after". You can accentuate the line for a humorous effect, or even use memes. Treat yourself.

Q& A: use the art of persuasion. Tell your product story like a conversation between two people. By presenting your message in a conversational tone, you foster a stronger emotional bond, which should lead to more engagement and trust.

Last but not least, Meta's advice: exploit trends!

Meta highlights how trends play a major role in engagement. The message is clear: stay ahead of the curve. Avoid videos that are too sales-oriented. Focus on content that entertains the audience and gets your message across smoothly.

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