Every minute, people around the world watch nearly 139 million Instagram Reels.
Reels is Instagram’s fastest-growing feature, offering enterprise brands the highest engagement rates.
Whether you’re new to making short-form videos or you want to step up your strategy, this guide will help you get the most out of Instagram Reels.
Key Takeaways
- Instagram Reels are the platform’s fastest-growing feature, offering higher reach and engagement than other post types.
- Reels are versatile: Mix formats like tutorials, behind-the-scenes, and shareable content to educate, entertain, and engage your audience.
- Timing and consistency matter: Post when your audience is most active to boost views and interaction.
- Use CTAs like “save this for later” or “tag a friend” to help drive engagement and signal to the algorithm that your content is valuable.
- Experiment and analyze: Track performance to see what resonates, then iterate to grow your audience over time.
What is an Instagram Reel?
An Instagram Reel is a short-form vertical video shared on Instagram. You can record, edit, and stitch multiple video clips and photos together, then add extras like:
- Original audio or trending sounds
- Voiceovers
- Text overlays and stickers
- Effects and transitions
What’s the difference between a Reel and a TikTok?
Reels and TikToks are both short-form video platforms, but they differ in audience, reach, content type, and video specs.
Here’s a breakdown of the main differences between a Reel and a TikTok:
|
Platform |
Instagram (part of Meta) |
TikTok (standalone app) |
|
Maximum length |
3 minutes |
10 minutes for in-app videos, 60 minutes for uploaded videos |
|
Audience |
Broader demographics, most users are 18-34 years old |
|
|
Content type |
Polished, aesthetic-focused |
Casual, raw, experimental |
|
Audio & effects |
Original audio, smaller music library, often sound-off by default |
Original audio, larger music library, sound-on by default |
How long can Instagram Reels be?
As of January 2025, Reels can be up to 3 minutes long (previously 90 seconds).
What video sizes and specs work best for Instagram Reels?
Like TikTok, Reels should be vertical, full-screen videos. Here are the exact sizes and specs for recording and uploading Instagram Reels:
- Aspect ratio: Between 1.91:1 and 9:16
- Resolution: Minimum of 720 pixels
- Frame rate: Minimum of 30 frames per second (FPS)
What can you use Instagram Reels for?
Instagram Reels are versatile, letting you educate, entertain, and engage your audience.
You can experiment with a range of formats, including:
- Before and afters: Show transformations and results to highlight the impact of your product or service.
- Behind-the-scenes: Give your audience a peek into your processes or company culture.
- Educational content (tutorials, how-tos, etc.): Share actionable insights, tips, or step-by-step guides.
- Trending audio: Tap into popular sounds to increase discoverability and engagement.
- Day-in-the-life videos: Humanize your brand with glimpses of your team’s every-day life.
- Announcements: Share product launches, updates, or company news.
- Shareable content: Create videos that viewers are likely to save or share.
- Interviews: Spotlight your experts or customers.
- User-generated content (UGC): Showcase content from customers to build trust.
- Showcasing products: Share your product features, top benefits, or use cases.
Pro tip: Mix trending formats for quick wins with evergreen content to drive long-term audience growth.
How does the Instagram Reels algorithm work?
Instagram’s algorithm is based on an AI system called Reels Chaining to determine which Reels appear in users’ feeds and in what order. The system gathers around 100 Reels and ranks them based on how likely you are to comment, share, or follow the creator, for instance.
For social media managers who are regularly creating Reels, these ranking factors can feel a little hard to pinpoint — we get it.
Here are five quick tips from Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, on how to get more reach from your Reels:
- Don’t use watermarks or logos
- Keep Reels less than 3 minutes long
- Use audio and trending music
- Post consistently
- Experiment by using trial Reels, which first show your content to non-followers and can later boost it to your profile if it performs well.
Watch his full breakdown below:
How to create an Instagram Reel
Follow these five steps to create and publish an Instagram Reel from your mobile device.
Step 1: Select or record a video
From your feed or your page, tap the + button to create a new post. Then, select Reel from the options to create a new Reel.
From here, you can either hit the record button to create a video directly within the app, or choose a premade video from your camera roll.
Reminder: You can upload a video up to three minutes long.
Step 2: Edit your video
Next, you can use the built-in video editing tools to add layers, transitions, and effects to your recording.
Your editing options include:
- Cut out silences
- Add and rearrange multiple video clips
- Add voice overs
- Adjust the speed
- Crop the clips
- Add audio or visual effects, like text and stickers
Step 3: Browse trending audio
Choose from the list of curated audio from the For you tab, or see what’s trending.
The green and red arrows let you know which sounds are gaining or losing popularity among users. You can also save audio to use later.
Step 4: Add or edit your Reels cover
Your Reels cover is the first thing users will see when they’re browsing your feed. You’ll want to use a graphic that grabs their attention and lets them know what the video is about.
You can select a cover image from the video — let’s say, a frame with text overlay that describes what the video is about. Or you can choose a specific image from your camera roll you want to use for the Reel.
In this step, you can also see what the cover will look like in your profile grid.
Step 5: Publish or save as a draft
Finally, it’s time to get your Reel ready to publish. Here you’ll see a preview of your Reel cover, and can edit it if necessary.
You’ll also need to add a caption. Instagram Reels captions can be up to 2,200 characters long (the same as an Instagram post).
You can also add:
- Hashtags
- A poll or prompt
- Location tag
- User tags if you’re collaborating with another account
On desktop
While you can’t record an Instagram Reel on desktop, you can upload, edit, and publish one.
The steps are mainly the same, with the exception of the full suite of editing options.
- From the left menu, choose Create, then Post
- Choose select from computer to upload a prerecorded video
- You can trim the beginning or end of your clip
- Add a cover photo from your device or by choosing one from the clip
Bonus: Free Instagram Reels templates
Templates make the process of creating and sharing engaging Reels a lot easier. Here’s a bonus from our team that will give you a jumpstart: fully customizable Reel templates that will help you stand out in busy feeds.
Bonus: Claim your pack of free animated Instagram Reels templates created by Hootsuite’s professional designers. Easily customize them in Canva, and take your Reels game to the next level today.
How to schedule an Instagram Reel: 2 ways
Scheduling your Instagram Reels makes life easier for busy social media managers and creators.
You can either:
- Schedule your Reel directly in the app
- Use an all-in-one scheduling tool like Hootsuite.
Here’s the step-by-step process for both options.
Schedule an Instagram Reel on Instagram
You can create your Reel by following the steps we shared above.
Once you’ve made it to the publishing step, instead of hitting Share, scroll down to More options.
Next, toggle on the option to schedule this Reel.
You can schedule your Reel up to 75 days in advance.
You also have the option to edit or reschedule your Reels.
From your profile, tap the three lines to get your settings. Then go to scheduled content. You can manage all of your scheduled posts here, including Reels.
Schedule an Instagram Reel with Hootsuite
Hootsuite makes scheduling Instagram Reels (along with the rest of your Instagram content) easy.
Here are the steps to follow to schedule a Reel in Hootsuite:
- Save your video to your device.
- In Hootsuite, tap the Create icon, then tap Post.
- Select the Instagram Business account you want to publish your Reel to.
- If you add a single video to a post, it will automatically publish as a Reel. You can also select Post in the Content section to be extra sure.
- Upload your saved video. Videos must be between 3 seconds and 15 minutes long and have an aspect ratio of 9:16.
- Add a caption. You can include emojis and hashtags, and tag other accounts in your caption.
- Preview your Reel and click Post now to publish it immediately, save as draft, or…
- Click Schedule for later to post your Reel at a different time. Manually set a publication date or choose one of the recommended days and times to post.
Why schedule your Reel using Hootsuite instead of Instagram? There are three main reasons:
- Your Reel will show up in the Hootsuite Planner, alongside all your other scheduled social media posts, making it easy to see how it fits into your larger social media content calendar. From there, you can edit, delete, or duplicate your Reel, or move it to drafts. It will automatically publish on your scheduled date.
- You can use Hootsuite to schedule your Reel for the best time according to your unique audience.
- Once you publish your Reel, it will appear in both your feed and the Reels tab on your account. You can also measure its performance, along with the rest of your social media content performance, in the Analytics tab of Hootsuite.
What are the best practices for creating Instagram Reels?
Creating a Reel is one thing, but making it engaging? That takes experimentation.
Here are three tips that social media managers recommend to create engaging Instagram Reels.
1. Focus on the intro
If you want to stop people from scrolling and increase your chances of engagement, hook your audience as quickly as possible.
Engage people right away with whatever you’re sharing. The setup is important — don’t use title cards or slow intros, or you’ll lose an audience used to a quick content style.
– Jeannie Assimos, Head of Content and Communications at mainelove
Here’s an example Assimos shared of one of the brand’s high-performing Reels, which announced their sponsorship of Maine’s first professional soccer team, The Portland Hearts of Pine.
Assimos shares, “This video did extremely well because the subject matter is interesting to our target audience in Maine, and we broke the news within five seconds. We have 30k views on this video for a very new Instagram account which has been around less than eight months — and it’s all been organic reach.”
2. Don’t be afraid to think outside the (industry) box
Your audience isn’t only interested in your products or services. Creating Reels on topics that aren’t directly tied to what you do — as long as they resonate with your audience — can help you reach new viewers.
Since Reels are often seen by people who don’t already follow you, tapping into larger conversations on the platform is a smart way to increase your reach.
This approach can be particularly helpful for the more “serious” brand accounts in industries like financial or professional services, education, healthcare, B2B, or the nonprofit sector.
Silvija Kemeraite, Social Media Manager at software company Omnisend suggests thinking outside of your industry to engage your audience.
“Don’t be scared to post content that’s not directly related to your business,” says Kemeraite. “This doesn’t mean completely ditching your area of business expertise, but always think about your audience and what would be interesting for them to watch.”
– Silvija Kemeraite, Social Media Manager at Omnisend
3. Include engaging CTAs
Unlike other post types or marketing channels that direct users elsewhere (e.g., “visit our link in bio” or “subscribe to our email list”), your Reels CTA should focus on keeping viewers engaged with the video itself.
Saves and shares are indicators that let the algorithm know your content is engaging, so the more shareable your content is, the better.
Your CTA can be as simple as “send this to a friend” or “leave a comment letting us know what you think.”
Need inspiration? Here are some CTA ideas:
- “Save this for later”
- “Tag someone who needs this”
- “Drop a comment if you agree”
- “Send this to someone who should see this”
Remember, not every Reel needs a CTA. For example, if you’re using a trending audio then that should be the focus.
CTAs are great for educational or informative Reels that share valuable information, spark a conversation, take users through your process, or showcase your products.
4 inspiring examples of Instagram Reels marketing
Looking to see Reel-life inspiration (see what we did there)? These creative videos illustrate how to make the most out of your Instagram Reels marketing.
1. Kosas: Product tutorials
Beauty brand Kosas regularly shares Reels demonstrating how its products work. These videos are not only helpful for anyone curious about trying the brand, but they’re also a great way for Kosas to showcase new and signature products.
Plus, the videos often feature Kosas’s founder, which helps personalize the brand’s content.
Pro tip: If you don’t have a founder or spokesperson who’s comfortable getting in front of the camera, consider working with influencers or content creators. You can also repost organic UGC videos that showcase your brand or product well.
2. Penguin Random House: Shareable content
The key to creating shareable content is to keep it short. Focus on one key message and pair a short video clip with a trending audio.
This Reel shared by book publisher Penguin Random House is a great example of shareable content. Not only is it relevant to the publisher’s book-loving audience, but it also includes a CTA in the caption, prompting people to share the Reel with their friends.
3. Framebridge: Customer interviews
While short-form videos perform best on Reels, that doesn’t mean you can’t produce something more substantial.
Framing company, Framebridge used Reels to produce an interview series for Mother’s Day to highlight the different ways moms have framed their memories and milestones.
This campaign is a great example of how to incorporate your customers while showcasing your products.
If you have the budget to create produced videos like this, make sure to keep the clips on the shorter side so they’re optimized for the most engagement and reach.
4. Notion: Tiny mic moments
Whether you’re interviewing employees or targeting strangers in the street, a tiny mic moment can be an engaging way to educate or entertain Instagram users while also letting them know what your brand does.
In the case of software company, Notion, this Reel highlighted a hot topic — the number of unread emails in our inboxes — and positioned the company’s upcoming email tool as a solution.
Instagram Reels FAQ
Can you see who watched your Reel?
No, you can’t see which individual users watched your Reel, but you can see how many views your Reel has received.
Can you download an Instagram Reel?
Yes, you can download a Reel from public Instagram accounts if the account has enabled downloads. If you don’t want users to be able to download your Reels, you can change your settings by toggling off the Allow people to download your Reels option.
How many Reels should I post?
The amount of Reels you should post depends on your brand’s average engagement rate and the posting frequency within your industry and among competitors. Best practice is to create a consistent schedule and use a scheduling tool like Hootsuite to maintain your posting frequency.
When is the best time to post an Instagram Reel?
According to Hootsuite research, the overall best times to post on Instagram are:
- 3 pm to 9 pm on Mondays
- 5 am to 8 am and 3 pm to 7 pm on Tuesdays
- 5 pm to 7 pm on Thursdays
But, you should really use a tool like Hootsuite to find the best posting times for your unique audience.
How do I get more views on my Instagram Reels?
To get more views on your Instagram Reels, optimize your content for the algorithm. Create Reels that align with the algorithm’s ranking factors by making them less than three minutes long, using trending audio, not using watermarks or logos, and posting consistently.
How do I delete or archive a Reel?
Go to Options (the three dots) in the bottom right corner of your Reel. From here you can permanently Delete the Reel or go to Manage then Archive.
Save time managing Instagram for business using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can create, schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance and run all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.
The post Instagram Reels for business in 2025: Best practices + examples appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
