The advent of social media has drastically changed not only the way people all over the world interact with each other. It also changed the way business organizations market their products and services. Social media marketing is now an indispensable component of the marketing mix for small, medium, and large enterprises.
There are many social media platforms that a small business can use nowadays. One of the most popular platforms for businesses is Instagram. Its primary advantage over other platforms is its visual nature. Small businesses have plenty of Instagram reels content types to choose from. These short and entertaining videos are truly effective in increasing engagement.
What Are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels are entertaining and immersive short videos where small businesses can share their brand story, educate their customers, and get discovered by people who may benefit from their products and services. This feature is available on both iOS and Android. With Instagram Reels, users can shoot, edit, and share 15- to 30-second videos.
Instagram Reels share a lot of similarities with TikTok as the feature offers more advanced editing and video processing functions when compared to an Instagram story. Instagram users can overlay music, speed up or slow down video content, add special effects, and more. Instagram Reels appear in the Reels and Explore tabs as well as in search results using hashtags.
Why Are Instagram Reels Important In Social Media Marketing?
Creating Instagram Reels is a powerful marketing move for small businesses to publish engaging promotional content
. With today’s consumers preferring short and direct-to-the-point content, Instagram Reels allows you to showcase your business brand and your products or services through brief and catchy videos. With this, you can connect with a wider audience, even beyond your target demographic.
Another reason why Instagram Reels are effective in social media marketing is that they are fun to create and watch. Even when used for marketing purposes, Instagram Reels are meant to be entertaining and not salesy.
How Do You Make Your Instagram Reels Fun and Engaging?
Making fun and entertaining Instagram Reels is more than just opening your camera and breaking into dance. This is especially true for small businesses and social media marketers. After all, your goals are far greater than just merely increasing your personal following. First and foremost, you are creating promotional content for Instagram Reels to market your products and services.
Just like any marketing approach, creating effective and engaging Instagram Reels involves the right balance of being original and following the trend. Here are some tips:
- Use popular music.
- Add closed captions or on-screen texts.
- Include trending hashtags.
- Publish your Reels on your own feed.
- Utilize special effects creatively.
25 Instagram Reels Content Types For Small Businesses
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Showcase Your Workspace
This content type is perfect for successful small business owners out there. Showcasing your workspace is a great way to promote your startup as well as to inspire others to open their own business.
What’s more, you don’t have to do a lot to publish this type of Instagram Reel. All you need to do is pick up your phone and record a 30-second video showing your workspace. You can focus on areas you love the most. This not only provides your audience with a virtual tour inside your office but also gives them an idea of who you are.
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Work from Home
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the way we do things, and that includes running a business. Physical stores and offices had to close as public health is given more priority in these trying times. Although we are already in the process of going to the “pre-COVID normal” or at least the semblance of it, many businesses have already adapted to remote work.
The work-from-home setup indeed has advantages and disadvantages. A work-from-home Instagram Reel is a good way to update your audience on how you and your business are coping with remote work challenges.
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Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are short marketing videos used to explain what your business and your products or services are all about to your audience. Although explainer videos are often found on a website’s home page or the landing page of a specific product or service, you can also post them as Instagram Reels.
Explainer videos are a great way to help your audience understand your business purpose without the need to scroll through all your posts or visit an About Us page. Sharing an explainer video on Instagram Reels allows you to increase your following without Instagram growth services.
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Your Daily Life
“Day in my life” or daily vlogging has become so popular these days that we can’t really deny there is an audience for this type of content. Although this content type seems too personal at first glance, small business owners can actually take advantage of its popularity to connect with more people.
So how do you translate this trend on Instagram? It’s pretty simple, actually. All you need to do is to record different parts of your day. Remember, you only have 15 to 30 seconds. You can show them what you do and how you work. You can even show your audience what keeps you busy during your personal time.
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Business Anniversary Celebration
Celebrating your business anniversary is more than just about marking time. It’s about celebrating a milestone. This is especially meaningful for small businesses, because, as most business owners would agree, growing a business is not an easy feat. Also, it is a perfect opportunity to thank your employees, acknowledge your loyal clients, and attract new ones to do business with you. Of course, you can’t do all these with just an office celebration. You need to update your Instagram audience using Reels. You can capture snippets from the party or simply share a “thank you” message with your customers.
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Asking Your Followers for Instagram Reels Content Ideas
Consistency is important in any marketing strategy. As you post Instagram Reels on a regular basis, you will find that you will eventually run out of creative Instagram Reel ideas for small business. When this happens to you, you can always turn to your Instagram followers for help. Yes, it works. It’s also a great way to increase customer engagement. By sharing a story or post and asking your followers what they would want to see on your next Instagram Reel, you will also get more comments. Take note of content ideas that you find interesting and save them for future use.
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Product Unboxing Videos
As a small business owner, you will have to order your basic materials on a regular basis. When unpacking your orders, you can take advantage of the opportunity to film the process so you can show your Instagram followers the materials that you use, the brands that you prefer, and the storage location where you keep them. What’s more, Instagram Reels allows you to tag products. Use this feature to tag your products so your followers can buy them directly from your Instagram Reels. This is an effective strategy to increase your sales conversion rate.
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Small Tips and Industry Secrets
The best and most effective marketing materials don’t only promote a brand and its products or services. They also provide value to consumers. This applies to video marketing as well. What this means is that your Instagram Reels shouldn’t be too focused on advertising your products or services. You have to make sure your audience should get something out of them, too. You can do this by sharing information through your Instagram Reels. For instance, if you are a small business that sells handmade creations using polymer clay, you can share tips on how to work with the material efficiently.
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Before-and-After Short Videos
When marketing on social media, one of the most important things to remember is that your content should be something that people will enjoy and can hold their attention. After all, consumers turn to social media platforms to be entertained and not to be bombarded with ads.
This is especially true with Instagram Reels. As a small business owner, your content should be enjoyable and elicit a positive emotional response. Before-and-after short videos are great for this purpose. Whether it’s a product redesign or a workspace makeover, a before-and-after Instagram Reel allows you to share your sense of achievement with your audience.
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Tutorial Videos
Did you know that how-to articles and videos are among the most searched content on search engines? Nowadays, you can learn almost anything with the help of the Internet. Tutorial videos are among the most effective ways to learn how to do something because they show exactly how it is done.
Although you only have 15 to 30 seconds, you can pretty much share how-to videos on Instagram Reels. In fact, when done correctly and properly, the short video length can be used as an edge because Internet users nowadays prefer brief and direct-to-the-point content. So the next time you run out of Instagram Reel ideas for products, you can share short videos on how to use them.
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Short Introduction
Since we are all consumers in one way or another, we can all agree that it is difficult to trust a brand we know nothing about except, well, its name. For this reason, it is important for small business owners to introduce themselves to their customers. In social media marketing, this means dedicating a post or video that tells your audience who you are and what your business is all about.
When you are just getting started on Instagram Reels for business, share a short introduction video before anything else. This is a great way to attract followers, increase brand awareness, and build consumer trust.
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Stories About Your Brand
As mentioned earlier in this article, content for Instagram Reels should be entertaining and engaging. One effective way to catch and hold your audience’s attention is through storytelling. We have been telling stories since forever. Our brains are hardwired to enjoy stories. So why not incorporate storytelling into your Instagram Reels?
You don’t have to look far for storytelling ideas. You can tell your audience stories about your brand. It can be about the time when you were just getting started and how you dealt with insecurities or that time when you encountered a major setback and what you did to overcome it.
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Inspirational and Encouraging Messages
We all need a little encouragement from time to time. During the times when we feel down or discouraged, an inspiring Facebook post or tweet that we randomly stumble upon as we scroll down our feeds can go a long way in uplifting our moods. Give your followers the encouragement they need through your Instagram Reels. You’ll never know, one of them might just need them badly.
Conversely, asking your followers for support isn’t something to be ashamed of. If you are new to the business or launching a line of products, don’t hesitate to reach out to your followers.
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Frequently Asked Questions
As a hands-on small business owner, you will notice that there are recurring customer questions in your comments and direct messages. Although unintentionally, you may overlook some of these questions since you also have other important things to attend to. Replying to comments and responding to direct messages one by one will take so much time, not to mention being inconveniently impractical. What you can do instead is to take note of these frequently asked questions and answer them one by one in a short video through Instagram Reels. Aside from responding to inquiries, FAQ short videos will also show your followers that you are reading their comments and direct messages.
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Trending Challenges
One of the benefits of social media marketing for businesses is that it allows you to make your brand more relatable to modern consumers. Small business owners don’t always have to act like professional digital marketers on Instagram. In fact, you are not fully utilizing the platform if you don’t keep up with what’s in. Participate in trending challenges because this is also a great way to make your brand more visible on the platform.
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Reacting to Business Copycats
Competition, when it is healthy, is a positive thing for any business or industry. It encourages industry players to improve their products and/or services and provide more options to their customers. But when your competitors start to copy your business ideas, that’s another story.
There are many ways in dealing with copycats in business. You won’t be able to avoid them as your brand gains recognition. For starters, you can reach out to them directly, especially if they are using original photos from your Instagram feed. You can also share an Instagram Reel and show your followers that everything is okay. You are the original, and you have more fresh ideas to offer them.
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An Overview of the Tools You Use
As already discussed in this article, among the best sources of content ideas are your followers. When the well has run dry and you can’t think of anything fresh and new to share with your followers, you can always turn to your comments and direct messages. Chances are you will find inquiries on what tools you use to create your products and/or services. Your followers may even ask you what applications you use to promote your brand online. So why not give them an overview through Instagram Reels?
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The Process of Packing Orders
One of the best ways to foster customer engagement is to provide your clients with plenty of opportunities to feel involved with your business. Some of the content ideas discussed above already do this, but there is one more strategy—showing your customers the packing process.
This content idea for Instagram Reels is a perfect strategy for small and starting businesses since they deal with fewer orders and they can be more hands-on on packing orders. You can also kick it up a notch by making soothing sounds as you pack your products, thus turning your Instagram Reel into an ASMR video.
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The Process of Making Your Products
Aside from showing your Instagram followers the packing process, you can also share with them how you create your products. It falls under the “how-to-make” kind of videos that many people from different demographics enjoy watching. This is a great marketing strategy for businesses that sell food and handmade accessories. What’s more, these Instagram Reels are very easy to make. You just have to video the whole process and speed it up using a video editor so you can fit everything in a 15- to 30-minute length video.
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Look Upgrade Using Your Products
This content idea for Instagram Reels is perfect for small businesses that are in the fashion and arts industry. For instance, if you are selling fashionable clothes and accessories, you can create Instagram Reels that show your followers how to upgrade their daily look using the items you sell. It is an effective strategy for increasing sales conversion because it will show your customers that you are a thought leader in your niche.
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Expectations vs. Reality
When asked how a small business is defined and how it operates, we can all agree that most of us will have different ideas to share. The average consumer, after all, is more concerned with addressing their needs than classifying businesses according to size and whatsoever. This is a good source of content ideas for your Instagram Reels.
You can get started by addressing misconceptions about your brand through Instagram Reels. For instance, if you are selling handmade accessories and jewelry, most of your clients may assume that you have a fully equipped studio and an arsenal of tools to create your products—when in reality you only work in a small room and use few basic tools.
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Throwback to When Your Business Was Just Getting Started
As you start your small business, your ultimate goal, of course, is to grow it. Success in today’s competitive market will not come easy—you will need to put in a lot of effort and resources—but it will come eventually. As your business grows day by day, don’t forget to involve your customers in your progress.
This makes a great content idea for Instagram Reels. You can show the evolution of your small business to your followers through photos and videos from back when you were just getting started and now that your business is doing well.
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Repost Your Older Instagram Reels
Not all your followers will see your Instagram Reels on the day that you post them. We all have different social media habits and not everyone is on the platform 24/7. Chances are your Instagram Reels will be buried under newer content, causing your followers to not see them. What’s more, Instagram Reels can be viewed even by non-followers, so you will be missing a lot if you just post your short videos only once. Yes, it is perfectly fine to repurpose your Reels. Just make sure to tweak a little on your captions and don’t overdo it, and you should be fine.
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Behind the Scenes
Showing your followers what’s happening behind the scenes is another great way to foster customer engagement. Whether you are working on a new marketing campaign or collaborating with an Instagram influencer, don’t forget to give your audience a glimpse of how you are doing off camera. Funny outtakes make great content for Instagram Reels, too.
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Meet the Team
If you work with a group of people to come up with our products and/or services, then letting your customers get to know them is a great way to recognize their efforts. People always love to see the creative minds behind their favorite brands. You can share a short video depicting what a typical day in your office looks like or how you spend your breaks together.
What’s The Takeaway?
To sum it up, Instagram Reels are more effective and versatile in growing your business following on Instagram when compared to Instagram posts and stories. With Reels, you can connect with more people, even those who are not following you. If you are consistent in posting Reels and are up-to-date with what’s trending, you will attract more customers. There are a lot of content types to choose from so you’ll never worry about running out of creative ideas.
Do you need help in managing your social media platforms? You don’t have to look far because Proweaver is here to assist you. Aside from creating custom websites, we are also offering social media management services. Let’s talk about how we can boost your online presence. Call us now at +1 (877) 216-0852!
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