If you want to get more eyes on your reels, then this article is for you. You will learn how to get more views on Instagram reels, and 8 tips for you to improve your content and grow on Instagram using Reels. We know how disheartening it can feel for you to create this amazing reel, prepare for it, and have this whole nice recording set up only to have it flop after posting it. But that’s going to end today because we teach you tips to improve your content to increase Instagram views.
Table of Contents
1. Cut the Fluff:
In essence, reels are short-form video content and that’s often overlooked. With the limit for the length of reels constantly increasing, it’s tempting to want to drag it out and put as much info into one video as possible. And although 60 seconds or now even 90 seconds reels definitely have their time in place. You need to make sure you’re only including what’s absolutely essential. And this, of course, means cutting out any fluff.
Whether you’re scripting your voiceover reels or improvising while recording on the spot, it’s always good to check your finished product or any unnecessary filler, words, or even sentences. Any pauses that stretch for too long can easily be removed, creating a jump cut to make the whole thing more dynamic. So when you review what you’ve produced, think of it from the perspective of your audience and the fact that most of us have much shorter attention spans than we used to, especially when consuming this kind of content.
Also, this means your reels will be shorter on average, and therefore your followers will be more likely to watch a higher percentage of your video. This leads to better retention rates and therefore a better ranking. So cut the fluff and provide value in a clear and concise manner.
2. Hook Them In:
Speaking of short attention spans, we all need something to hook us in, and this is arguably one of your biggest tasks as reels creator. To engage your audience from the get-go, you have to give them a strong reason to stay within the first few seconds of your reel, whether it’s by telling the audience exactly what they will learn, sparking some controversy with a contrary opinion, or inciting strong emotions. Without the hook, you’re not giving your audience that boost of excitement to keep watching.
This, in turn, means they are less likely to watch the whole thing and more importantly, engage with it, meaning the algorithm will not recognize your content as worth pushing forward. Please remember that the success of your hook is also predicated on its ability to then deliver. If someone’s interest is piqued only then to be snuffed out in the next few seconds because there’s low value, then the hook can act against you. In this case, it would be the real equivalent of clickbait, meaning someone was Lured in by the promise of something great to then be disappointed by the content itself. Very important to keep that in mind.
3. Engage Your Tribe:
Engaging your audience doesn’t just end with the hook. Your whole really needs to be able to keep that attention and this starts with value and relevance. The secret to unlocking it is by actually posting more. When you produce reals consistently and do not obsess over making them perfect, you inevitably get better through practice, and you have a huge benefit of getting data about your specific audience.
Posting real regularly will populate your insights. So the analytics part of Instagram allows you to compare your own content to see what works best and this is crucial because we often compare ourselves to other, bigger creators, and from that perspective, our real views can seem minuscule. What you should be looking at instead is how well you’re progressing over time, how often your audience engages with your content, and how real views are compared to how big your following is.
Apart from this, one of the most powerful tools you can use here is transitions and you don’t need to use transitions on every single one. One of your reels, and you probably shouldn’t. But spicing things up often enough is bound to give you that juicy retention. Transitions are fantastic because of that novelty and that surprise that creates excitement for the viewer. No matter how many times people might have seen a particular transition, they will never know weights them on the other side of the hand swipe or that hair flip.
4. Mix Things Up:
Similar to posting reels, often it’s important to diversify what you put out there. This is a crucial piece here because a lot of creators jump on trends almost exclusively without creating original content at the same time and this is twofold. The first reason is that Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has recently announced that original content is going to be rewarded by the algorithm, and what’s more original than you creating a wheel from scratch using your own voice?
It’s good to jump on trends from time to time because first, it’s a breeze to create reels like that because those trending audios can really put you in front of new people. But nothing is going to showcase who you are better than original reals. This, of course, takes us to the second reason to mix things up and include original content, which is your brand messaging. When you only use trends, you’re not giving yourself the opportunity to show your brand personality. It’s so powerful to be able to use your voice creatively, and it’s the perfect gateway to building strong relationships with your audience.
This is when you can show your true colors and be relatable to your tribe and the beauty of it all is that you can do whatever you want with it. You can record a mini Vlog from your day. You can share a little story time of a funny or inspiring thing that happened to you, or create a step-by-step tutorial for your audience. Whatever your brand stands for and your ideal client needs from you can be visualized in so many enticing ways.
5. Research Your Way to Get More Views:
Now we’ve talked about creating enough reels to get yourself some data but even if you’re just starting out and have nothing to analyze, you can definitely do some research on your own. Always start by looking at similar creators in your niche, and before going on to explain more need to practice it by saying research doesn’t mean stealing. We’re not going on a Hunt to noteful ideas to recreate one to one, but instead, we’re doing research to look for patterns of what works and what doesn’t. Whether you look at the bigger accounts or microreactors, a good place to start is to establish a baseline.
If you go to the real stuff and scroll through, you’ll be able to roughly estimate how many views they normally get. That is going to be so easy to spot the outliers beat and the real viral content or reels that just did much better on average for that creator. Now for the key see what makes them so special. Highly recommend looking both at the reels that performed average and the ones that did very well because this is how you’ll spot those little nuances. Is it a very efficient hook, a real packed with a unique value? Is it super relatable or evokes certain emotion?
Maybe the video is super dynamic or the person is very passionate about something. Note these things and move on to another creator after a time, a pattern will emerge forming a picture that tells you what works for the specific audience you’re trying to target. If you experiment and apply these key elements in your own reals, you’ll be able to work out a way to boost your own views.
Now we could say, perfect, we’ve done our research, we know what works in our niche. There are so many interesting creators doing fabulous things outside of your industry. A few Scrolls through a real feed can give you so many ideas to try out in your own content. Again, not about copying and recreating one to one, but seeing how people do things outside of your group of people.
Personally, it’s always so fascinating when scrolling through TikTok or Instagram and how often find real gems and niches that are completely unrelated to marketing. Maybe it’s the editing style or specific format of that view, but often draw inspiration from how different industries engage their audiences, and you can definitely do it, too. It’s not always about analyzing the subjects that creators touch on, but also about looking at those details that can really make your own content stand out.
6. Make Sense of Your Strategy to Increase Views on Instagram:
We talked about trends and brand image, and it’s an important point to make here. Not every trending, sound, or even style of a reel is going to fit the kind of messaging you’re putting out to the world. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense within your strategy it can be because the subject wouldn’t be that relevant to your audience. Maybe because the style or language is just not optimal, or it somehow clashes with your brand values. When you’re posting things that make little sense for your business and marketing strategy. They are inevitably going to perform worse and that’s the opposite of getting more views on your reels.
7. Your Energy Matters:
Another key step in setting your reels up for success is you. It’s your voice, your demeanor, and your energy that is full of enthusiasm. You’re going to attract those views. It’s about protecting your authenticity and going for what feels right to you. We don’t want you to mistake it for going outside of your comfort zone, because this is a different thing altogether. You can be slightly uncomfortable with creating something but know it’s the right direction for your brand. Then there are those times when you have a post idea or you’ve already recorded a reel. You watch it and something just doesn’t sit right with you.
If you feel this, chances are your audience will too. People are really attuned to this kind of off energy on a subconscious level, and if it doesn’t feel authentic or right they are not going to stick around and listen. As someone who regularly produces both long and short-form videos with me talking and showing up on camera, from experience that your energy can make or break a video. Find your way to make your voice heard with authenticity and joy and if there’s passion behind your content, people are going to be excited about it too.
This, of course, is going to look different to different people. If you’re not big on recording, you could batch create all of your wheels. For the whole month in one or two days, you don’t have to reluctantly go through the process every few days. You always want to show your true colors and make sure your personality gets. To shine because that’s where your tribe is going to relate to.
8. Not Every Reel is Going to Blow up:
Aiming for high reels each time you post can really get you on a path to burnout. As creators, we all want our content to do well, especially since we spend so much time creating and perfecting it. But if you focus on the numbers after you’ve published, it can really affect your ability to continue on and deliver. Like with everything building a social media presence takes a lot of time and effort, if your main goal and focus are to get bigger, you can get burned out pretty quickly.
Reels are no different from any other social media format in the sense that it’s absolutely normal for a post to not perform so well. Not every real you create needs to blow up, and you shouldn’t expect super high views on each and every one of them. It’s good to learn and continue improving. Your content, but the focus should always be on serving your audience the best you can and not on the numbers when you apply.
9. Makes Some Reals Stand Out:
To take a look at the number of views that big creators have in conjunction with their following. You will see clearly that not every single one of their real does super well, and this is what for you to remember. Create with joy and with purpose, and not to gain a certain amount of youth.
