Posted by It’s happening!
The focus on Reels is bigger than ever, which means you can love it or hate it, but you definitely cannot ignore it.
When you talk about reels, the general problem is, how long should your reel reely be?
Would a long reel keep your audience hooked until the end? Or would a quick 7-second reel do the job?
The confusion is endless, but we’re here to help!
Before we dive into it, let’s talk about some specifics:
How long can reels be?
Instagram Reels can be from 15 to 90 seconds long.
Will this number keep rising?
Yes, it may! TikTok, for example, currently allows videos of up to 10 minutes.
So this number can keep increasing.
What’s the length of the most viewed Reel on Instagram?
9-seconds – Khaby Lame currently holds this title!
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So how do you decide what reel length you should be following?
Let’s talk about it!
No. 1: What’s in it for the user?
As with any piece of content you create, you need to ensure that your reel serves one of the following purposes
- Educating your ideal customer
- Entertaining your ideal customer
- Inspiring your ideal customer
Repeatedly ask yourself, “What’s in it for them?”
Remember, you are creating content to be consumed.
Getting specific about your idea will help you understand how long the reel could be when you execute it.
Video Marketing Coach, Virginia Kerr, specializes in all types of reels.
You can expect short, and longer format reels from her, and her content is bound to keep you hooked until the end.
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No. 2 Spy on your competitors (Trust me, this is healthy)
Find accounts that are in your niche or are similar to what you do, and look through their reels.
Look for the following insights:
- Views on their top reels
- Reel length that is receiving the best engagement (likes/comments)
- Reel length that is receiving the highest views
Chances are that what’s working for them will be similar to the kind of content your audience consumes.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel! Work smart and use the data available to your advantage.
No. 3 Test! Test! Test!
There is no one-size-fits-all!
Your audience may prefer 7-second reels, or they might enjoy you dishing out words of wisdom in a 90-second long reel.
You will need to try and test multiple formats to see which one works for you.
Give any format you try for a month. Analyze the performance, scrap what’s not working, and repeat what is.
No. 4 Keep an eye on trends
Make trends your north star!
Whenever something is trending, it gives you an insight into what the mass audience is into. At this point, it’s a numbers game.
Are these trending reels under 10 seconds or over 60 seconds?
Learn from it, and apply it to your strategy.
As Instagram & TikTok’s battle royale intensifies, it will be interesting to see which platform is the last one standing.
In any case, we, as users, need to adapt to the platform’s demands if we want to keep growing!
While you gear up to enter this wild wild west of video, here’s a quick guide that will help you understand how the reels algorithm works. – How Ranking Algorithm Works On Reels
It’s going to be an interesting journey here on out!
What do you think?