How to make Viral Worthy Reels on Instagram

Five different ways to make a Reel Instagram will push to your ideal audience.

I've been a creator on Instagram since 2020, and I remember when they first introduced reels thinking it was the worst idea ever. I did not want to use that feature, I did not want to learn something new, I loved my world of still photos... Did we really need reels?

Let me let you in to a little personal details of my life on Instagram. The account I started in 2020 grew to about 500 followers and I eventually deleted it in Spring of 2022. Part of me regrets deleting that account because I worked SO hard to get every single follower. I participated in the One Room Challenge and worked like crazy to network and hashtag and all the things. I got lucky once and someone with tens of thousands of followers shared one of my photos (that one gave me like 60 followers). I spent a lot of time DMing other creators asking if they wanted to do a story share (you share me, I share you, you know...). It was agonizingly slow growth. So yes, it was hard to say goodbye to that account.

But... I can now say that 2023 Allie has no regrets. I needed a fresh start, a new perspective, and clearer goals on my account. And... I've been working on my new account for only 7 months now, and I have ~500 followers. Do you want to know how I've been able to grow so much faster this time?? I bet you can guess it. I mean, it's in the title, right? Reels!

I get quite a few notifications saying so and so "followed you from your reel" and it makes me excited every single time. Because a person followed me because they saw my content, liked it, and they wanted to see more! It's not because someone told them to follow me for a giveaway, or because someone shared me to be nice, but because my content is good. And that feels amazing!

Reels have been an amazing addition to Instagram (IMO) because they've allowed more creators' content to be seen. Don't get me wrong - I love a good still photo and know there is a time and place for them, but reels are now my favorite. It's easier to love something you understand, and I truly feel like I understand reels now. I know what it takes for Instagram to push my reel to my ideal audience. I know what's going to make people want to watch. I know what will give people that connection they need to hit "follow". And I'm going to share my top tips with you right here, right now. Here we go:

1. Grab their attention in the first 1-2 seconds.

People will either swipe to the next video or they will stay and watch. And they make that decision in the first 1-2 seconds. So you need to add something to the very beginning of your reel that will catch them and make them want to stay. There are a few ways to do this.

• Visual hook - Show something unexpected. This could be a clone of yourself, you wearing clothes that don't fit the situation, you making your bed but it's outside in the yard... there are a million things that could get people to stop and want to see what comes next. Example HERE

• Text hooks - Ask something they are going to want to know the answer to. Paste words that make them want to know what's next. If you are able to use the correct words, it clues people in to what is going to happen in your video and they might give their time up to watch and get the rest of your content. Example HERE

• Fast Movement - Our brains are wired to pay attention to fast movement. It's related to our fight or flight instincts. So if you start with some fast movement - either the camera moving quickly, the subject in the frame moving quickly, or perhaps a series of fast moving clips - it will get people to pause and focus in on what your video is. Example HERE

2. Increase Re-watches

When someone re-watches your reel, it signals to the algorithm that you are good at keeping people on Instagram. People like your content. So it will show more of it to your ideal audience because they will most likely continue to give their time to Instagram when they see your videos. How to increase re-watches:

• Fun transitions - Create a transition or an illusion that makes people want to watch again to understand what happened. There is something satisfying about watching a seamless/interesting transition over and over. Example HERE

• Share valuable information or tips - If you share something interesting or valuable, the person watching your video might want to watch it again to take notes or to internalize what is said or shown. My most viewed reel HERE

• Seamless loop - Have you ever been watching a reel and noticed that you've just seen the same thing a few times? It's probably because the creator made a seamless loop, either with the video, the audio, or both. It's a good way to trick the watcher into staying longer because they want to see the whole video, when in reality, they've already seen it. Example HERE

• Make it short - The shorter the video, the less time has to be given to watch it. And sometimes if it's only a few seconds long, the video can play 3 or 4 times before the instinct to swipe takes over. I had so much more footage I could have used in THIS video, but I chose to make it short for this reason. I'm sure a big reason why it performed so well is because I kept it short.

• Interesting caption - If you can catch someone's interest in that first line of the caption, they might tap to read more. Then, while they are reading, your reel will continue to play. This works really well with things like recipes, instructions, or recommendations, but can also work with personal thoughts and opening up about something you don't usually talk about. You can also direct them to the caption in your video. Example HERE

3. Make it Shareable

If your content is something funny, helpful, entertaining, relatable... it might get shared. When someone shares your content, the algorithm marks that person as someone who really likes your videos and it will push your content to them more. Also, the more shares, the more views! But how do you make something someone wants to share?

• What do I share? - Ask yourself, what do I share? Go through your messages and see what you shared with someone. Take notes on why you shared that, and figure out how to incorporate those things into your own content.

• Helpful - People tend to share things that are helpful to them. This could be a hack, a recipe, something that helps them state their own opinion, or maybe something that someone they know is looking for. My most shared reel HERE

• Emotionally appealing - People love to share things they connect with emotionally. It makes them feel understood and like others they share with can understand them too. My second highest shared reel HERE

• Entertaining - Tell me you haven't shared something funny or cool just because you wanted someone else to enjoy it too.

4. Adapt Trends

There are so many trends always rolling through Instagram. All you need to do is take those trends and adapt them to your own niche. Here are my tips for trends:

• Jump on it - Try to notice if you see the same heading on a few reels, or if you hear the same audio. Chances are that is a trend starting. The faster you can jump on it, the better for you. I will often watch reels just to swipe through and look for these trends. Example HERE

• Find Audios - Look for reel audios that are under 10k reels made and have an up arrow. This means more and more people are using them, but the audio hasn't been too overused yet, so you are more likely to have your video seen by more people. You can see if any audio has an up arrow from a reel it's used on. You can also see trending audios when you go to create a reel in the audio section. Example HERE

5. Engage with Others

Engagement is the goal of social media, so the more you engage with others and others engage back with you, the better for you.

• Comment and Like - As soon as I post a reel, I immediately take 15-20 minutes to engage with people I follow and people who follow me. I scroll through my follows and those who usually comment on my posts and see if they've posted anything new, then I comment and like their content. The more notifications they get from me, the more they see that I support them, and they want to support me back. Now obviously there are always exceptions to this. Not everyone will engage back with you, and it's up to you to decide if it's worth it to you to continue putting effort into them. It's not always just about doing things to help people in order to get things in return. Sometimes it's the right thing to support people even if they don't do it back. Only you can make that call.

• Reply - Try to reply to everyone who leaves a comment on your reel when you can. And it's good to comment with something that might start a conversation or build a relationship. Sometimes the only reply I can think of is "thank you", and that's ok. But if you can think of more, write it out!

• Be authentic - In whatever way you engage - comments, DMs, stories... whatever - make sure you are authentic. Be you. Because if people feel like they see you and know you, they will want to stay for you. It's that person to person connection that keeps us coming back for more content.

Bonus Tip: Add a call to action!

Sometimes people need a little direction. When I'm on social media just to consume, I forget sometimes that it's helpful to people if I engage. So it's good to leave a little reminder in stories, in your reel, or in your caption to comment, like, or follow. Example HERE