How do I go viral on Instagram Reels?
In a recent podcast, the CEO of Instagram Adam Mosseri, said that the most important metric for Instagram reels is the number of shares per impression (1). Instagram reels with the highest share per impressions ratio receive the highest amount of views on the platform. But why is that?
Why are Shares important on Instagram?
The more content you share with your friends, the more money that Instagram makes. It’s that simple.
The main goal of Instagram is to bring you closer to the people and things you love. It’s their mission statement and why the platform was ever created in the first place. So, of course the Instagram algorithm will push content to people’s feeds that get them to interact with their friends more. Instagram wants people to send videos to their friends and start conversations about the content. This not only keeps them coming back onto the platform the interact with people, but it keeps users on the platform longer, which means they will see more advertisements; and therefore, generate more revenue for Instagram’s holding company, Meta.
That’s why you want to create content that people WANT to share with their friends, family, co-workers, etc.
Here are two content ideas to implement in your Instagram strategy to grow rapidly and start seeing more results:
How to I create Instagram Content that People will Share?
Identify your Target Audience
You need to know who you want to reach before creating your content. If you begin creating content, but are unsure of who you want to have consume your content, then you won’t get the desired results you’re looking for. Make sure you take time to understand your goals of posting on Instagram and then who you need to reach to achieve those goals.
Use Websites to Find Frequently Asked Questions from Your Audience
A lot of content that performs well (garners millions of views, likes and shares) helps the target audience in some way or another. Maybe the content makes them feel good or gives them an excuse to text their friend. Beyond that, viral Instagram reels answers questions that people have perform the best.
Humans are curious beings that have a LOT of questions. If you’re able to answer those questions in a video format, they are more likely to share and replay your video, helping it to reach more people.
Resources to find frequently asked questions:
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Semrush
Be Consistent
Most importantly, you must remember that results take time. Most people reading this blog won’t just post 1 video and get millions of views right away.
It could take 6-8 months before you begin to see the results that you’re looking for.
The best thing you can do to set yourself and your account up for longterm success is to be consistent with your content. Pick a posting schedule and stick to that schedule!
Ask People to Share your Video
Outside of creating valuable content, you can create content that people have to share. This may sound simple and you might be wondering why we even included this tip in our blog, but there are a couple clever ways to integrate this call-to-action into your content to increase your video performance.
Surround your Content around ’Sharing’
A popular trend on Instagram reels is to ask a question or give a scenario in a video and tell people that they should share it with a friend. Some prompts include:
“Your first @ owes you X.”
“Share this with someone that owes you X.”
“First person that pop-ups when you hit share wants to X with you.”
“You win a $1M if your friend does X… share this video with the friend who is making you rich.”
“Share this with a friend who X.”
These are only a handful of potential prompts and tools such as ChatGPT can help you brainstorm more general phrases that you can then attribute to your industry and customer base.
Produce Interactive Content
Maybe you don’t want to directly ask viewers to share your videos or you are trying to mix up the content that you post, but would still like people to share it with one another. You can create interactive content that makes people HAVE to share the video. Here are some examples:
“This Initial Owes You…”
These types of videos are the most popular on Instagram right now, racking up millions of views like we have for our clients. Similar to the ‘sharing’ prompts, one of the best ways to subtly get people to share your videos is by giving them a situation where they can’t resist.
These types of videos prompt the user with an opening line such as, “This initial owes you a trip to Hawaii.” When the music has a change in tone (i.e. a beat drop), the text on the screen disappears and a letter pops up (Some of the most popular first name initials are ‘J’ and ’S.’). Let’s say you have a friend named Julia: you are going to want to send this video to her now that she owes you a trip to the beloved island.
Although not literal of course, these videos propel content to be shared rapidly and offer fun thoughts to for duos.
“The X person does Y”
Another subtle way to get people to share your Instagram reels is to use personas that could relate directly back to people. For example, a video we made that is north of 15 million views, writes “You want to get drinks, but the shorter one pays.”
With over 150,000 shares, many people sent it to their friends and group chats as a joke (or for reals) to spark conversation and even make plans.
Will I got Viral right when I implement these tips?
The short answer, no. It depends on what your definition of ‘right away’ is. As mentioned above, it could take 6-8 months after you start posting, prior to seeing the results that you’re looking for.
What Do I do Now?
Now that you’re equipped with some Instagram secrets, give content creation a shot for yourself. There is a never perfect time like right now to start!
If you’re still feeling weary about giving it a go yourself, the Build You Marketing team is happy to help! Book a free consultation or check out some of our results we have gotten for our clients.
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