Everyones wants to stay relevant on Instagram and photographers are fighting the ever-changing algorithm for their work to be discovered and seen.
If there’s one thing we know for sure, its this: video content is king and it’s here to stay. And Instagram Reels are leading that game.
Reels are a way for you to connect with your ideal clients and make your work stand out. Imagine this: A client is scrolling through Instagram, torn between three equally talented photographers. What sets them apart?
The story they tell.
People crave connections and reels are here to make your brand more relatable. Whether it’s a behind-the-scenes peek, a photo dump, or a vlog-style video, reels help you forge those emotional connections.
We chatted with our friend, Angela over at Social Templates Co and here are some of her top Instagram Reel Tips:
- Keep your reels short. Aim for 7 to 8 seconds per reel so that you’re giving your audience a reason to rewatch the video again or to explore your profile.
- Add a hook to your Reel to grab attention from the start and keep your audience watching till the end. Watch Time is one of the most important metrics for IG reels.
- Integrate Manychat to Instagram and automate your responses. Direct your audience towards a freebie, trial, website, etc.
- Capture those BTS snippets. It’s so easy to forget but I can’t stress this enough!
- Always, always film in 60fps when shooting videos on a phone. You don’t want blurry, unprofessional looking videos. 60fps will make your content look buttery smooth. (4K is also okay, but not necissary, 60 fps is plenty0
- Slow down when filming. Slow down your movements, slow down enough to frame the scene, slow down so your video isn’t shaky.
- Ensure that you crop images and videos appropriately for maximum visual impact. Use the ENTIRE screen. I’m talking 9×16 ratio.
- Prep ahead by organizing the photos and videos on your phone right after a shoot, this makes creating reels later so much faster and easier.
- Invite your client or the vendor team as a collaborator to your reel. This way you’ll have a chance to get in front of their audiences.
And if you don’t have enough time to create Reels from scratch, we have the perfect resource for you!
Social Templates Co provides Reel Templates for photographers in a private community within Instagram. Their templates will help you save time and create reels faster and easier… they literally do the tedious and hard work for you!
Here’s the best part — you can try them for free for a month, so you literally have nothing to lose. Head to socialtemplates.co/evolve and use the code EVOLVE at check out to get your first month free.
Cheers,
Jamie and Noella
