11 content ideas for Instagram Reels

Earlier this month Instagram rolled out their newest feature — Reels.  It allows you to create 15-second videos with filters and music within the Instagram app.

While most of us blindly say or feel its the new TikTok, there are still more features for it to be worthy of a full-fledged comparison. We’ll only be able to get to this when Instagram works on improvisation and feature addition within Reels and I’m sure they’re already at it 💪

With the number of tools to create video content and the platforms to publish them like YouTube, IG feed, IGTV, TikTok and now Reels, it could sometimes be confusing to understand what kind of content goes where.

If you’re a creator or an individual, here are Instagram accounts showing us how to step up content ideas for Instagram Reels-

1. Behind The Scenes

As content creators, you tend to take multiple shots in a process to get that perfect one and most of them don’t make it to the gram.
You could compile all of these, a time-lapse of the process or a quick BTS of a product you’re shooting into a short clip for your Reels.

This BTS of a movie night set up by Aakriti Rana is so beautiful❤️

2. Art/Craft

Videos of a quick origami, resin creations, slime and sketches make a lot of us feel calm. 15 seconds or less of that quick art fix is all that we need!

Here’s a Reel by Naysha making us go WOW and how with these Resin combs 😮

And, this beautiful water-colour sketch by Vimal 😍

3. Fashion

A few ideas around Fashion Reels could be a clip of your OOTD (Outfit for the day), Recreating styles, celebrity looks or characters of a particular TV show, X ways to wear a denim jacket, something like this casual street style wear-model edition by Alexandra

Or this Reel by Ranveer Allahbadia – Beerbiceps taking us through his 5 favourite shoes 👞

4. Repurposing / Plug-in

To justify the efforts that go behind planning, shooting, editing video content, you can extend the life of your video by repurposing them on different platforms.

One way you could do this is to share a teaser of a short film, video you uploaded on YouTube or a recipe you posted on your blog.

You can see in the caption of this Reel how Archit is linking us to his blog post for the recipe of these cookies 🍪

5. Challenges

We saw a lot of challenges spurt in the last few months, especially the ones trending on TikTok.
You could re-create dance or workout challenges or even simpler ones like `guess the gibberish` or `Hand Gesture challenge`
This one is a fun dance challenge Reel by Masoom Minawala

6. Tutorials

Who doesn’t like tips to edit images for the feed, share quirky IG stories, create presets using an app or quick photography hacks?
I mean look at this one by Afeef- Mr.Lensman showing us how to create a 360-degree video 😲

7. Food Recipes

There is something nice about videos that include food until it starts making you hungry or startle that craving.
I personally love recipes with few ingredients that do not have too many steps and what better than knowing how to make a quick meal in 15 seconds?

Here’s a Reel, by Alisha- greymurmurs who takes us through a quick veg stirfry recipe 🙂

8. Thumbstoppers/ Short stories

What is better than challenging yourself to put out a message within 15 seconds?
Facebook introduced Thumbstoppers which are clips that narrate the art of storytelling in about 10 seconds that catches these could perfectly fit Instagram Reels too.

This one thumbstopper that Social Samosa shared caught my eye and makes such a perfect Reel 🙂

9. Travel

With most of us staying indoors we sure miss the outside world a little too much, right? 😿
What could be better than going through all your previous travel videos and sharing bits of them as Reels while we wait for the world to heal?

Let’s watch the Nothern lights in Iceland with this timelapse by  Bruised Passports? 😍

10. DIY

We’ve all had those days where we’ve fixed something that broke or upcycled a pair of jeans, pieces of cloth or an old t-shirt?
If you’re a creator, we’ve all had to hunt for that perfect backdrop for a photoshoot or props for a flatlay picture.

Here’s a Reel of a DIY backdrop by Diksha Rawat for an indoor photoshoot-

11. Products

A short clip with products you use in a day, a swatch of your favourite lip shades or 5 favourite desserts would make great Reels.
Mentioning trusty brands in these videos giving them a quick shout out and also sharing information with your followers would be like baking two desserts in one oven 😉

These Reels could also be your skincare routine or 10 Christmas gifting ideas or something like this-  “How to style a corner of your house” Reel by Good Home Magazine

⭐️ Bonus Ideas:

• Workout videos – This could be 5 deep stretches, 4 Yoga poses, How to breathe right or Basic must-have workout equipment.
• A day in your life – Your WFH day or your Birthday? 🎂
• Tips – You could check out Baking tips by Shivesh on Reels.
• GIFs – Create cool GIFs of yourself or your brand.
• OOTD- A video of your Outfit of the day or How you accessorize basic clothing.
• Makeup video – This could be a sneak peek to a “Halloween makeup” or a compilation of all your face arts into a fun Reel like this one by Mansi –

That’s all folks! 🙌