Today I’m going to be sharing with you 3 killer tips on how to create a viral Reel.
I have been uploading a daily Reel for the past two weeks. Guess what? My reach has exploded and increased by 335.3%. It means that with an increased reach, there’s going to be more profile visits, website taps and great visibility.
The reason why I’m more focused on the reach instead of the follower or the growth is that the followers is just a vanity metric.
Now imagine this, if you have 1000 followers but nobody buys from you, that simply means that they are probably not your ideal clients. Whereas if you have, for example, 250 followers and you are getting the sales and the engagement. You have to understand that the number of followers doesn’t equal to sales.
As an entrepreneur or a new coach, you want to be visible to as many people as possible, especially your ideal clients. It is starting to get harder to be visible organically on Instagram but there is still a way.
That way is by doing Instagram Reels. Instagram is pushing this feature out in the hopes that more people will start using this new feature. I challenged myself to upload a daily Reel just to see the outcomes of what uploading a daily Reel can actually do for my account.
I must say I’m mind blown with the results because the numbers that I see with Reels is 10 times more than what I achieve on a normal post. By doing this, I’m reaching more new people, which means more eyeballs and visibility in the Instagram land.
Now, before I share the three killer tips based on the observation of the daily Reels that I’ve been uploading in the past two weeks, I need to clarify what viral means.
To most people, viral means getting 100,000 views or a million views. But if you’re a small account, it’s definitely going to be hard to achieve that. Though it is possible, I still want to set realistic numbers in front of you so that you don’t get disheartened and stop creating Reels.
Viral is when your video is seen by a number of people within a short period of time. For me, it means that I saw that my Reels went viral within a few hours. I’m talking about 500 views within an hour or 2000 views within a few hours.
If your account is small, that’s considered great but if your account is bigger, you are going to reach more people.
Let’s say if you were to have a physical store and 500 people walked in within an hour. Can you imagine how much sales or how much visibility or brand awareness you’re creating with those customers? So as with 500 people viewing your Reels. It’s great!
Don’t get disheartened by the number of people viewing your Reels as we are living in a world where instant gratification is what we want. Don’t lose your confidence in creating more Reels for the future.
Going back to the three killer tips on creating viral Reel:
#1: Headline
I cannot stress enough on creating catchy headlines because headlines can actually stop the scroll. With the Reels interface, people are constantly just swiping up and scrolling. The one thing that can actually stop the scroll is your headline.
There is an option to upload a cover photo, so create one with your headline on it that’s big enough to stop the scroll. When you share this on your feed, people will see the headline and it’s up to them to decide whether they want to watch more.
Have that same headline on the caption as well. It depends on how many characters you’re using, it’s usually about one or two lines before it gets truncated and there’s “See More”. That has to also stop the scroll, just in case people are viewing it from the feed instead of the Instagram Reels side of it.
I know the next question that you’re going to ask me is, “Kelly, how do I create a catchy headline?” Here are my three tips on how to create a catchy headline:
- Arouse curiosity. For example, one of the headlines that I used was somewhere along the lines of “I had a lot of work to do today.” But instead of that, this is what I did. Now, a lot of people want to know what exactly I do, even though I had so much work to do.
- Educational sort of tip that solves a problem. One example is how to 10x your reach in 15 seconds. “Wouldn’t you want to watch and read more about what I have to say when I share something like this with you? I’m sure you want to.” This is a sort of headline that actually stops the scroll.
The headline has to be catchy, but yet at the same time, it has to work. Don’t just put a headline just to stop the scroll because that will be considered clickbait.
- Mistakes or debunking myths. People want a faster way to succeed most of the time, right? They want to know the mistakes and what not to do to avoid them at all costs so that they can get to their destination faster. One example is 6 mistakes you’re making on Instagram.
#2: Cover Photo
You don’t have to feel it’s going to mess up the entire feed by uploading a cover photo that follows the aesthetics of your feed. You can also create one that looks like the Reel itself. You can have the headline there and some of the valuable information that you want to share for them to arouse their curiosity in order to watch more.
#3: Transitions
You will want to include different types of transitions, because that makes the Reel more interesting and fun. Yes, that’s what I noticed, the Reel that I created with different transitions went viral as well and it’s easy to incorporate that into the Reel.
Here are some different types of transitions that are easy to do. You can try the hair flip, jump, head on the camera, a finger snap or just simply swirl around and you swirl into a different outfit. You don’t have to do it for all of the Reels, as it can look boring when every Reel looks the same.
One super tip that I would love to share with you is that if you are doing transitions, and words that are popping, according to the beat, don’t do both at the same time because it can be distracting.
You can choose either or so if you want to share all of your valuable information. You can put them all on the screen and you can do your transitions according to the beats. Remember not to have your words popping out at the same time while you’re doing your transitions according to the beat.
There you have it, the 3 killer tips on creating a viral reel.
PS: If you need help with your content on Instagram especially with creating a viral Reel, send me a DM.
