If you’re on my email list, you saw and got a chance to participate in my 7-day reel challenge where I provided the ideas and all you had to do was execute it. I see you putting in the work every day and I’m so proud of you! I get a lot of feedback saying stuff like, “I made the reel and it didn’t perform like I hoped,” and getting discouraged and stopping. Don’t stop! Take it as a learning lesson of getting to know what your audience likes to engage with, and keep making the reels. Today, we are going to talk about how to go viral with Instagram reels with six mistakes you can avoid.
What Makes A Viral Instagram Reel?
A lot can be a viral reel, while TikTok is still a smorgashboard of anything from short vlogs, funny skits, etcetera, Instagram has a more niche-based audience. In fact, tons of people are watching once popular TikToks up to two months later on Instagram. It’s in its own bubble right now. It just depends on what kinds of content your audience likes to engage with. Do they prefer the aesthetic, moody videos? Do they like montages, tutorials, relatable skits?
Remember to always keep your followers in mind and think, would they enjoy this Reel? So knowing that tidbit in your back pocket, let’s talk about the
6 BIG MISTAKES YOU’RE MAKING WITH REELS
Your Instagram Reels are too long
Instagram may have released a new 90 second long reel option for everyone, but unless you’re replying to a comment for story time, do not use it.
5-7 long second videos are still the highest performing videos on IG (with there being some wiggle room up to 15 seconds), so keep your Instagram reels short and sweet.
You’re not utilizing text
Add text to the beat/lyrics of the audio, use different colors, include closed captioning for songs, and write out what you’re saying. If you aren’t keeping the people who watch with their sound off or you aren’t catering to the deaf & hard of hearing community, then you are ensuring people scroll passed your video to get to the next creator that does.
Don’t forget your Call To Action and have them leave an emoji or a favorite ice cream flavor in the comments instead of scrolling away. This will help tell the algorithm that people like the content to engage with it more and it will in turn push it out to more people.
Your text is cut off in your Instagram Reels
If you’re repurposing a TikTok into Instagram reels, or vice versa, be mindful of the text being covered up by the comment, like, follow options, as well as your name and caption. There are blue gridlines you can use when you are creating your reels so you can make sure your text is within frame.
Your lip sync isn’t actually syncing
And this can be super annoying to fix when Instagram messes with your audio after uploading, but people tend to scroll away when a video looks messy. It simply looks like not enough effort was put in, so if it’s not in sync, redo it.
You’re missing the trends
Batch shooting content is great for work life balance, but be mindful of how long it takes for you to upload, you don’t want to miss the sweet spot in going viral during a trend.
Instagram Reels Video Quality
People enjoy content that is visually appealing. The same way I’ve talked about picture quality in the past, I have to talk about video quality too. Always shoot in good natural lighting, try not to process it through too many apps, and keep that video quality high. Keep your video editing style cohesive too but using the same filters, same fonts, etcetera.
Now go find some viral sounds and viral trends. But first, tell me your favorite reel trend that you’ve done so far!
