Grow Your Business with Instagram Reels

Did you know that you can grow your party business with Instagram Reels? Yes, it's true!

According to YansMedia, 90% of vertical videos have a higher watch completion rate than horizontal ones.

In addition to that, businesses can reach 58% more people with vertical branded video content!

So, where can you start? In this article, we'll go over all of the details. 

Grow Your Business with Instagram Reels

Check out these stats:

• Brands receive more engagement on Instagram Reels than on TikTok by 387,000 more likes.

• Instagram Reels video provides 8% more real estate than TikTok does.

• In March 2021, people spent longer watching Instagram Reels over other social media short-form video streaming sessions. 

The proof is in the pudding. Vertical video content, especially Instagram Reels, is king!

Now, let's get into some specifics. Here's how you build a successful Reel strategy.

Step 1. Generate Great Video Ideas

Don't know what Instagram Reels to create? If this is your first reel or you're looking for more reel ideas, the following list is for you!

Great Reel Ideas for FECs:

• Introduce yourself and your team
• Create individual Reels for each team member. Keep it short by asking your team no more than three questions. For example, 1. What’s your name? 2. What’s your role? 3. What’s your favorite attraction at our facility?
• Behind the scenes
• Show off how you make pizza or other special foods, special drinks, etc.
• Facility cleaning or prep
• Setting up party rooms
• Day-in-a-Life of a staff member (have them run through their routine and film it as they go, first-person)
• Showcase what your facility has to offer
• Attractions
• Menu
• Special events
• Party rooms
• Get in on the trends
• Check out trending videos (and audio) to see if a trend or style of video might help you highlight something at your facility!

We highly recommend and encourage you to get your staff involved with this process as it’s a great way to “coach up” and give staffers a chance to grow their marketing skills. If you have young team members, they are likely using this platform for personal use so their expertise can help!

Host a “Reel brainstorming” session with your team members to see what they come up with. You could even offer an incentive. If a video generates a certain amount of views, you could offer the staffer that had the idea and helped create the video some sort of gift card or other benefit.

Step 2. Determine a Posting Time

Your Instagram Reels can be posted at various times. Use the first few days, weeks, or months of posting Reels as an opportunity to figure out when it is best to post for your account. 

First, try posting once in the morning and once in the afternoon, between 9-10 am or 2-3pm, for example. Monitor views during the first two hours. It might not be the best time if growth (views) appears to be slow. Compare the data at different times. 

One strategy to try is to post other content first before you push out a new Reel.  This strategy is proven to work because Instagram’s algorithm rewards those who have active accounts. For example, you may want to create an engaging Story (that encourages people to look at your profile), then post the Reel, then close the app for an hour. Come back to see your results. Did the Story, having been posted first, encourage people to view your Reel? 

Step 3. Be Consistent

Make a schedule for yourself and follow it. Even if you can only post once a week, that’s better than not!

The best results, however, will be achieved if you post at least once every day. It's important to keep in mind that building up to this ability will require time and great planning.

In the beginning, you might only get a few hundred views, but if you post consistently, these views will increase over time. Note that sometimes a video might catch on a few weeks later and suddenly start growing!

Additionally, by using hashtags, you'll teach the algorithm to recognize the types of videos you're posting and encourage it to show your content to users who may be interested in the topics you address!

How to Make an Instagram Reel

Posting Reels is a great way to expand your reach. Their viral nature make them an ideal tool for boosting engagement and building a stronger brand.

Learn how to create, edit, and post Reels by downloading our newest resource below!

The PCS Marketing Team has been posting to Instagram consistently for the last few years, but our experiment with Instagram Reels only started in early 2022 when we decided it was time to maximize our use of the new feature.

Being consistent on Instagram will generate helpful insights that will allow you to determine what content generates the most buzz for your business and increases traffic to your online booking. 

From our experience, posting on a consistent basis and tracking our insights helped us determine what the best time to post was and what type of content to share with our audience. 

Instagram Insights offers an overview of total accounts reached, accounts engaged, and the total number of followers.

Keep in mind that to have access to Instagram Insights, your account needs to be a business or creator account on Instagram.

To view your Account Insights, go to your Account Profile and tap the menu located on the top right-hand corner. Tap Insights to see an overview of all metrics.

Accounts Reached

• This section shows all of your top Reels based on reach (views). It also shows which reels have the most views.

Accounts Engaged

• This section shows all Reel Interactions and your top Reels based on likes, comments, saves, and shares.

Total Followers

• This section shows your follower growth, new follows, and unfollows. It also reveals:
• Top locations (where most of your followers are located)
• Age range and gender
• Most active times for your following (popular hours or days) 

The metrics above will help you determine what content followers engage with the most, your following demographics, and so much more. 

In our experience, we found the most success posting on Mondays and Wednesdays between 12-3 pm EST because that is when our followers are most likely to be active on the platform.

Naturally, we experienced a lot of trial and error when it came to what type of content to post, but over time, we discovered our audience loves trade show reels, inspirational content, and business growth tips. We also discovered that our audience prefers viewing content with people in it, likely because we’re in a people-focused industry! 

We then took this information and created a content posting schedule based on our following’s active time and based our topics on what viewers were looking to hear more about.

Our findings may not apply to your FEC, but the overarching point is that if you post consistently and track your insights, you can easily determine what content works best for your business and what you can do to continue to grow your following (and bookings!).

Don’t be afraid to switch things up, too. If viewers gravitate towards something specific, try to experiment with incorporating the content that wins most into your schedule. Or, try new ideas to see if they will stick.

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