Instagram Reels: The New Instagram Marketing Buzz

I was just scrolling through my Instagram and a message popped-up saying that update your Instagram to experience the “Reels”. I instantly updated my Instagram and clicked on the search icon. Here at the start itself, I found all the videos posted by real people similar to TikTok. This is where it excited me to explore this feature and write about it.

Overall, it means that “Reels” are a competition to the TikTok platform. After the pandemic of COVID-19 from China, many people uninstalled TikTok, especially in India. TikTok was the most popular platform used globally to post videos related to art, fun, skills, etc. Basically, it was a platform wherein people spent a lot of time and had also started earning through it.

Let’s end the TikTok topic here and explore the Instagram Reels.

What is Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels, a TikTok inspired feature that ensures that videos are the future. The release of Reels also means Instagram’s growth again since it had been quite slow for the past quarters. The usage of Instagram increased by 14% during the pandemic as people at home used it the most and is a much bigger number as compared to the predicted one. Yet, it is nothing compared to the 78% growth of TikTok in 2019.

Instagram Reels offers a new approach towards creating fun and engaging video content different from Instagram Stories.

Many people didn’t focus on the Instagram stories when it was launched. When it became a popular feature, even YouTube and Facebook revealed their own story versions. Today, Instagram stories usage has reached to new heights. You know it’s just farther than Snapchat’s. Surprising, isn’t it?

With Reels users can create fun, engaging and short videos using a catalogue of music and user-generated Reels media on Instagram. Its main feature allows videos sync to audio and music. Even green screen can be used to create movie-like videos or footage.

Though Reels are thought to be a direct competitor to TikTok, it aims at entertaining people. It will give you a chance to go viral because of the Explore page similar to the stories and posts do. The maximum time for Reels is 15 seconds similar to Instagram stories.

You might like reading: The World Is Home And Watching You! Tips To Get More Creative With Your Instagram Posts!

Reasons Behind Instagram Reels Expanding to India and Other Markets

Only some Instagram users have got an access to Instagram Reels. The feature is currently available in India, France and Germany after it was first tested in Brazil. Though the feature is still in the testing phase, it is available on both iOS and Android.

It is expected to be available globally soon. Moreover, Reels can bring great revenue for Instagram via brand advertising as compared to Stories that were launched before it.

TikTok has been recently banned in India and it was the largest market after China. In India, there are 165 million monthly active users (MAU) of Instagram. As per Ajit Mohan, Head of Facebook India, videos contribute over a third of all posts in India. With Instagram Reels, brands will get a huge opportunity to grow a product that was facing tough competition from TikTok.

Would you like to learn to create a video with Instagram Reels? Let’s start then.

Steps to Create a Video With Instagram Reels

• In the Instagram Stories camera menu, there is a new mode Instagram Reels located either between the default Normal mode and Create mode or on the bottom menu besides to “Story”.

View all steps