I’ve got good news and bad news…
The bad news: reels are still the #1 way to reach NEW people on social media.
(I know, cue the sad violin!)
The good news, though?
High-performing reels are getting easier and easier to make.
And speaking of making high-performing reels…
I’ve got 3 quick tips that will help you make better reels, faster:
Tip #1: Make the Instagram “Explore” page your new best friend.
Ever heard the quote, “Success leaves clues”?
It’s especially true with Instagram reels.
When a reel goes viral, it typically ends up on the “Explore” page — which means anything you see there is performing well.
That means before you start creating, head over to the “Explore” page on Instagram and see what’s working for other people in your niche.
Are the high-performing reels in your niche showing other coaches or experts talking straight into the camera? Which trending sounds are they using? Do you see any themes in the messaging?
These are ALL clues you can use to improve YOUR reels!
Tip #2: Put the MOST effort into the first 2-3 seconds of your reel.
If you don’t grab someone’s attention right away, they won’t stay and watch your reel.
It used to be that you had 5 seconds to grab someone’s attention…
But now that the best-performing reels are between 5-10 seconds long, your “hook window” got a little shorter!
Catchy hooks include short, bold statements or questions like:
- “I can’t believe no one is talking about this…”
- “Here’s something I wish I knew before X”
- “The worst thing [your ideal client] can do to [achieve their #1 goal] is [something controversial / something they wouldn’t expect to hear from an expert]”
(If you need help with hooks, we include them in our reels prompts every month inside of Content Club)
Tip #3: Balance your caption length with how much text is on your reel.
In other words, if you have a lot of text transitions or lots of text overlaid on your reel, write a shorter caption.
But if you don’t have much text in your reel, you may want to create a longer caption.
This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but more of a guideline based on how people interact with content.
If there’s too much text in your reel AND your caption, they might get overwhelmed.
If there’s not enough text anywhere, people might just scroll right past your post.
So, try to keep it balanced!
The beauty of reels these days is that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” formula, but it IS getting easier to spot trends and learn what works.
Just like any other skill, creating reels takes practice…
So go take imperfect action and CREATE!
Make it an amazing day,
Alicia
