How to Get Your Brand Ready for the Launch of Instagram Reels

How to Get Your Brand Ready for the Launch of Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels, the New TikTok?

TikTok has had a myriad of security concerns since launching, and the announcement of Instagram Reels has many marketers wondering if it will be enough to replace the viral video app.

How to Get Your Brand Ready for the Launch of Instagram Reels

The majority of concerns around TikTok came to light as major issues surfaced, such as hackers’ ability to control TikTok accounts, manipulate content, upload and delete videos, and reveal personal information because of a vulnerability in the web domain. It’s now been banned in India, Wells Fargo company devices, US Navy government devices, the US Air Force, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Department of Homeland Security, and TSA. With these growing concerns and the possibility of TikTok being banned in the United States, the Instagram Reels feature offers an opportunity to fill the space of TikTok and provide brands a new opportunity for social media marketing.

Currently, Instagram Reels is offered in Brazil, Germany, France, and India and is set to release in the United States early this month. NBC says Facebook will launch this in the United States and 50 other countries within a couple of weeks.

The creation of Instagram Reels is not the first time Instagram has mirrored a social media platform and provided similar services. In August of 2016, Instagram released Stories, a feature similar to Snapchat, enabling users to post a photo or video that will be visible for 24 hours. This became wildly successful for Instagram with Stories now having double the amount of daily users as Snapchat with 400 million daily Instagram story users compared to 191 million daily Snapchat story users.

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How to Use Instagram Reels

Using Instagram Reels is fairly simple. Here are a few easy steps for developing and publishing Reels content once it’s launched in your area.

  1. Open the Instagram app on your phone
  2. Press the camera icon
  3. At the bottom of your smartphone look at the given options and select reels and start creating a 15-second video.

Once a Reel is created it can be shared via direct message or within Insta Stories where it will be shown for 24 hours. You can also share your reel to the highlights section of an Instagram account. While the assumption is that during the initial roll out users will also be able to view Reels in the explore section of Instagram, NBC News recently reported that a new tab may be added to the bottom of the Instagram app that’s solely dedicated to Reels.

Similarities to TikTok include viral Reels being on a featured page, the ability to borrow and remix audio, Instagram music library, speed, effects, a countdown clock, ghost mode to improve transitions, and timer.

How Should Brands Prepare to Use Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels provides the possibility for brands to recreate or further their brand image and tone of voice on social media. Reels will allow for brands to have more features to produce the fresh, original content that users, particularly Gen Z, crave. This is an important time for brands to distinguish themselves and create a unique voice on social media.

With the Instagram Reels feature being added to Instagram there comes a consequence of Instagram’s reputation increasing. This would allow for increased success with influencer marketing and the possibility of finding new ways to draw in customers. This also allows for more opportunities to create video content, a particularly essential aspect of social media marketing.

The big question to ask though, is what type of content will work well with Reels? It’s common knowledge that TikTok’s content is raw, unpolished, and authentic, very different from the glamorous, styled shots of Instagram. Will Instagram try to also replicate TikTok’s formula and have Reels lead the way for more authenticity on the platform? The best way to know is to test and learn.

So keep an eye out for the official launch of Instagram Reels, coming this month. Well follow up with the latest news on the release in our bi-weekly newsletter, Social You Should Know, which you can sign up for using the form below.

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