Good morning and welcome to the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast. I'm Esther.
And I'm Mellie. Welly.
She's Mellie welly. Okay so today we're joined by Emma York, a fresh approach, digital. She's a social media Trainer here to talk about Instagram Reels. Welcome, Emma.
Thank you so much for having me.
You're very welcome. So Instagram been around a while, Reels? Not so much. So what's the crack
in a nutshell? They are a black hole of darkness where you go and waste a lot of time watching videos. Not necessarily of cat memes, but they came about in August of 2020 and some of us had them and some of them didn't. And now everyone has them. And essentially, if you're a Brisbane business trying to sell something, a product, a service, anything, you should really be using them.
So is this like a TIKTOK dance sort of job that we're talking about here? Is that how you use Reels? Is it dancing and moving and music, or is it just another video format?
Well, I think if I worked for Instagram, I'd want to tell you that it is just a different video format. It is short form, fun, engaging and entertaining and educational videos. It is a rip off of TikTok. And when it got launched in 2020, it was essentially a lot of people repurposing their Tik Toks with the dancing challenges. And now it's not so much that TikTok has gone in a slightly different direction. And Instagram is remaining short, much shorter, fun videos, still some dancing, a lot more pointing and lip syncing.
I wanted to ask.
Seeing as she said.
I apparently did most of the talking anyway and I so far haven't. I wanted to ask why see, with the people I approach or they approach me about Instagram training particularly, is the amount of time that they have to put in to build these videos and the preparation and heck, what are they meant to talk about? Because they know they're not meant to talk about themselves all the time. So how to make this worthwhile something that our audience wants to consume on a regular basis and sell? You've got 5 seconds
Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. For a lot of people, they are time poor and they're already creating a lot of really amazing social media content. And they worry that they have to now think of a whole new batch and spend a lot of time. Yes, you absolutely can do that and have a whole strategy for reals and spend a lot of time editing. However, you can think of something videos, something for 5 seconds and upload it in 10 seconds. You absolutely can make a reel that way. And if you're creating lots of really great content, you're a photographer, let's say, and you've got lots of images. You can put them together with a great piece of audio Bosch done Instagram Reel, or you've got some flat lays or like me, you're a service and you've got a behind the scenes timelapse. It can be very quick and it can be just a repurpose of all of the great content you've already got in your feed anyway.
Okay.
Okay. So how long is a reel?
Well, there are options. You can have 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and now 60 seconds. They're the time limits that are in the time of the Instagram gives you in the app. But there's so much audio. You can make a reel that's only 3 seconds. You can make one that's nine and a half seconds. So it all depends on what you want to have in your reel or the audio that you're using. So if you found a really cool piece of trending music and it's 7 seconds, that's how long your wheel will be.
So is using wheels with a call to action effective?
Absolutely. Yeah. It just adds to everything else you're already doing on Instagram. As you guys know, there are seven different features of Instagram. And if you're already posting to your grid doing Carousels, Lives, Stories, IGTV, which is now just video, it just adds to all of that. So if you're selling your email list or you're selling a product or you're promoting a course, you absolutely can do all of that. And the only way Reals really is working is driving people back to your link in bio or checking out the captions or going to your website. Yes. It's one of the top things that you want to have in your real, really a call to action, a hook, make it entertaining, make it fun.
And so now we can have links in the stories. Can we have clickable links in the reads?
No.
The short answer.
Yeah. I mean, it took us a very long time to get links in stories, didn't it? So it was all that 10,000 followers and you get the swipe up and then they changed it. And then there was a workaround, and now there's a link. So at the moment, no, you can do the same as what we've all done in Stories. And in our post, there is still only one link available. You can just say click the link in my bio. I think it possibly will come because they're adding so much more now. You can do adds in Reals. There's a lot coming. So I think that will be something for the future.
Yeah, you actually did an amazing segue there. Thank you. I was going to go and talk about ads, and a lot of confusion is around ads working in Instagram because they seem to feel and behave differently to the way that they work in Facebook. So what sort of guidance could you give our listeners on how to use Instagram ads effectively?
The greatest thing about reels and it works slightly different with all the other content features of Instagram. Is that real? If you're making them fun and educational and entertaining and they're just hilarious or you've got a lot to say or a lot to promote. Instagram pushes them out to thousands of people that are not already following you. So if you've already got Instagram shopping set up and you have done ads, so a carousel, an image or a video, there's no reason. There's just literally none I can find that would suggest you shouldn't do an ad in a Real, because not only are you going to reach, obviously your targeted audience and all the people already following you, that reel is going to be pushed out to thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands of people that Instagram wants to show it to. So your reach is just potentially phenomenal. And as we all know, everybody is consuming so much shortform, entertaining content that you don't have to spend hours working on an ad. You can create something that is literally 5 seconds to sell your product or your service or your thing, and you're going to reach so many people.
And one more question. I've got that look for Mr. Saying, see you're doing it again. When it comes to video, I sort of mentor and support an awful lot of startups. And doing video of any sort, whether it's through YouTube or through Facebook or anywhere else, is a little off putting, ask gesture. It can be quite hard to build up the confidence to do it. Would you recommend reels being the way to start? And how would you help these people who are just starting and everybody else has been moving slowly over to video formats for a while now? How would you give them confidence? Where could they practice?
Reels is a phenomenal place to gain the confidence to do more of this. If you've never put your face in a video or you just feel like you're not ready. I spoke to a whole group of ladies a month ago who want to do lives and they want to go live on Instagram. And I recommended reels as a way to then gain their confidence so that they can do lives of which they're all doing now. So they started creating all of them, five, six, seven, some of them ten second reels, because 10 seconds is nothing. It's literally a blink or a cough. It's just so quick. And the more of those that they did, they gained the confidence now to do lives, which is totally different. So there are so many different ways to use reels. Lip syncing is a really good one. It's fun. It's not really about you. You don't have to have your whole face in. You can dress up and pretend to be someone else again. You don't even really need to have your face in a reel. It could be very good music or audio on top of some images. It doesn't even need to be video. So you can branch out with little bits. You can have your hands in or your face every now and again. In. And that's what I would recommend. You want to start with what it is that you want to achieve with your real or you found one that you really like and it's just very funny and you just want to try it. Or there's the Instagram reel feature that's called a remix, which is like Tik Tok duet, where you appear half on the screen with somebody else. That's a really nice way to do it, because then you're not alone and you don't feel like 100% of the focus is on you. So that's a lovely way to do it. Find a reel that you like, remix it. You can just point and look at it and laugh along and comment and done. So I would highly recommend that people who feel unconfident is just to have a go find some audio you like, find a reel you like or you want to copy that's. Okay. And just gradually work your way in. You don't have to have your face in the video all the time.
So how would that work then, for a company's brand, say the company. It's a more serious industry. Accounting lawyers. How could they use reels without going off brand?
Absolutely. Yeah. And this is a worry for a lot of people because they feel like making reels could portray them in an unprofessional light. And that's not the case. There are some really awesome, and they tend to be women, actually, women on Instagram talking about politics, pensions, auditing, all of those things that we deem as very boring. We don't want to talk about those doing an amazing job. So what I have seen is some brands picking one particular person as almost the brand ambassador and using a real person in the reel now. Yes, you can make one with lots of text on the screen and you can do it, let's say, of an office or a behind the scenes or just promoting some information. You absolutely can. But the ones that do work best are the ones with real people in. So it's a real person giving you advice. And again, it's just always with, like Melanie said before, a call to action. So what are you telling them? The three top tips for your tax return or if you haven't your one thing to do if you haven't started a pension or giving a reason and then pointing, unfortunately for some, are always the best ones because you can point and put text on the screen and drive around. And that's where you make it fun. But with a very serious message.
You just made me laugh there talking about tax returns because it's such a dry topic. So you can have quite a bit of fun if you have a sort of bubbly persona, couldn't you? But is there any business that shouldn't be on Instagram reels don't you think?
It's a tough on. I want to say no, but there are rules, as we all know, Instagram and Facebook love a rule and a terms and conditions. They don't want very heavy political speak. Or if you worked for a government organization, I would highly recommend you don't do them, because unfortunately, you would end up offending people. It doesn't matter where you work, like the situation that's always ongoing with government and whatever party you support. So I would recommend that probably wouldn't be the right place to promote what you do. But finances, insurance, there's definitely scope, and there are lots of Instagram creators that you can work with. People know them as influencers or creators or whatever you would like to call them. But you could work with someone like that who has that bubbly, outgoing persona that could make a very dry topic like tax returns and VAT and registering your company and again, sorting out your pension and make it into quite an entertaining topic that makes people watch and learn.
So how often should you be doing Reels? That juicy question that everybody always wants to know. We're getting down into the what's it called, that algorithm, that lovely thing that we all know nothing about. But it's a word that everybody throws around. So what's the key to success in Reels?
I'm going to use the one word that I hate saying, and everyone hates hearing me say it, but it's actually the truth. It depends. Unfortunately, it depends. Every account, every single person creating Reels is totally different. It all depends on what you're creating when you're posting it and what your audience is engaging with. So I always say to everybody who if you've never made one or you want to start or you just want to ramp it up, you've got to test. So you've got to test lots of different things. So make a reel with your face in that's 5 seconds. Make a reel that's more pointing in text and it's 10 seconds. Make one that is your voice and is more informative and educational. Then make another one that is a lip sync and just test them. Post them at different times in different days, and then get the data. Then you'll understand what it is your audience is engaging with. Do they only want to see one a week on a Sunday at 09:00 P.m.? Do they want to see one every day? Do they want to see one? Do you see what I mean? So unfortunately, every account is different and it does depend. So the key is really posting and testing
so again you're brilliant at these segue things. The posting and the testing is fine. But how do you find the analytics on Reels? Are they thorough? Are they detailed?
They are currently reasonably basic because we've only just been given them. So some people had them earlier in the year. Then Instagram launched professional dashboard. So if you have a business account or a creator account, you have access to insights, so you can get them through the insights tab in your profile or the professional dashboard area. And within your insights. Now you can see all the data for your posts, your stories, your videos, and now reels. Now, at the moment, you can see things like how many people have watched them likes, comments, that kind of stuff. But that's sort of it. At the moment, I believe they're going to give us a lot more because they're adding more and more to insights all the time. So I'm hoping for more of a breakdown. But that's where you go and find them, and it's better than not having them at all. So again, like everything, look at all your data. How many views are you getting? You can see the kind of demographic of your followers and you'll be able to understand what they're enjoying.
Okay. Earlier in the podcast you mentioned repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. Okay. I've seen a lot of people posting reals on Instagram that have a different branding on them. Let's not mention the name of the other platform that they have used, but I'm sure we all know what it is. How does that go down with Instagram itself and with people who are on Instagram and not on the other platform?
So if you're using a different social media, let's say it rhymes with pickpock. Absolutely. There's nothing to say. You cannot take that pickpock and put it into Instagram. You absolutely can. There's a whole feature in there and you just repurpose it really quickly. Now, Instagram said to us earlier in the year, and this is all to do with that wonderful thing, the algorithm. You absolutely can post one with a watermark from another social media channel and your followers will see it. But Instagram will not push it out to lots and lots of your non followers. So you're still going to get engagement and reach, but it will be limited. And there possibly will come a point where they just won't let you do it. So there's a workaround. You can make your other video, you can upload it there, and then you can actually download it to your phone, remove the watermark, and then upload it into Instagram. It's slightly more admin heavy, but you absolutely can do it. Now, I would personally say that if you're on both channels and the things that you're making, you absolutely want to repurpose them. But for maximum growth and engagement, you want to be removing any watermarks. You also do want to be careful about the audio that you're using, because the other company, also known as Pitpunk, they have different licensing. So if you carried over some music that Instagram don't have the license for, you could end up posting a real that could be muted or again, not used. So you do want to be a bit careful.
So as we're coming towards the end of this podcast and I just want to help people prepare for a strategy, how often would people use a reels successfully. Is it a daily thing, a weekly thing, quarterly thing? How would you use it to inject some life and build awareness for your particular business?
I'm going to use that hideous word again. It kind of depends. So I'm just going to use myself as an example. And a lot of people think that service based businesses, there's no space for us. But there absolutely is. I post a lot more reels items. Sometimes I do two or three a week, sometimes only one a week. But when I'm posting two or three a week and it's all about helping people understand how to use reels and top tips and those kind of things, all service based, promoting my services as a trainer, I get much more growth and engagement off of the back of it. Sometimes more followers, comments, then a subsidiary of that, some DMs and things like that. So I personally find that when I post more, I'm getting more engagement. Now, if you have something to talk about, if you have products, it's Christmas and you're creating a carousel or you're doing stories, just put that into a video. Because if you're creating all of that amazing content, you have it already. You already have your caption on what you want to say and there's no limit. You could post a reel everyday and it will eventually lead into more followers and more growth. It just depends what it is that you want to achieve sales. Again, if you're putting your ads in reels, it will all drive towards the one thing that you want to. So it all depends. Every business has peaks and trusts. Let's say that you're a water sports company and you're closed between December and February and you're opening again. You possibly don't want to post a reel every day. You might not have the content to do that, but you absolutely can in the summer when you've got lots of things to say. So again, I'm sorry, it kind of depends. But it will all be to do with your audience and what they're already engaging with.
Great. Thanks.
Yeah. Lots of food for thought there, guys. And the new year is upon us. The new strategy, maybe for your business, should include adding in some reels. Maybe not for all businesses, but for your business. Yeah, I've been told I have to do a real. Okay, but think about it, guys. Investigate. Try it out. We can all do a three second pose. Dance, mime.
You're not going to see me dance.
I've seen you dance. I've seen your TikToks.
I have not danced.
I have evidence. Anybody wants it. Can let her secret is out of the bag. But try it out, guys. Let us know how you get on. Let us know where you've shared, where you've put your reel. Yes, Emma. How can people find you? Follow you. I know you do a tea and tips every week. Tell us all about that. Any courses you have coming up this is all about you.
Yes, if anybody fancies watching a whole lot of pointing and some dodgy lip syncing wants to know how to do it better, you can check out my reels. I'm at Fresh approach digital. I'm mostly on Instagram that's where you can mostly find me and yes, tea and tips let's get all the pronunciation right there every Friday at midday and I just shout into Instagram, live about social media, mostly about reels and just let people know what's coming up. What's new I'm an Android user. I feel like the only one. So
You are
Yeah, I think I am so I don't have everything but yeah, Tea and tips is good fun every Friday and I don't have anything now between now and the end of the year I'm going to take a small break. I think I might deserve it but yeah, coming up in the new year lots more workshops on reels from every level so it's completely basic how to start them, what to use into some advanced transitions and things. So yeah, again you can find me at fresh approach digital.
Brilliant. Thanks again for joining us today and we'll be back next week with more Monday morning marketing. Until then, bye bye.
That was okay, isn't it.