Rhea Freeman asks - Have

I’M RHEA FREEMAN. I’M A PR, MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT AND COACH WITH A SPECIALISM IN EQUESTRIAN AND RURAL BUSINESS. I WORK WITH A NUMBER OF THE BEST BRANDS IN THE INDUSTRY AND MANY THAT YOU’LL SEE IN THESE PAGES...

Instagram’s Reels joined Instagram in August last year. Since that time, this type of content seems to have been prioritised by the platform with many people enjoying high numbers of views on the videos they create. But how can you get involved? Are they hard to do? Should you even bother?! I’m here to help… Have you seen Reels? The chances are, you probably have, but you might not have realised it as they have integrated them rather beautifully into the Instagram platform. In essence, Reels are short, fun, videos that last for 15 or 30 seconds (at the moment!). They can be set to music. You can add effects. You can have slow motion sections and increase the speed too, you can add timed text and stickers… there’s a whole lot you can do inside Reels. And the really good news is that you can create really good Reels inside the app, without having to use any additional software or apps. A win, right? Reels can be great for a variety of different content. I use them to share three points around a subject (I go for three as I can fit that in the time), to switch between things (I have done them where I click my fingers and the item below changes), but you can also do much more flashy Reels if you up your game on the ‘transitions’ (this is where you move from one thing to another). One popular Reel is where people jump in the air and when they land they’re in different clothes, for example. Don’t think that this is it - there are some incredible, technical Reels out there that show a lot more in a short space of time, and while it’s great to see these and feel inspired by them, I simply want you to consider giving them a go after reading this. And if you start simple, you can scale up and improve. If you’re overwhelmed by something super technical, you might not start! So, how do you do them? Open your Instagram app, go to Home (bottom left) and tap on the + icon at the top, then select Reels. When you open this up, you’ll be greeted by the main options down the left (audio (where you can pick music if you want), time (15 or 30 seconds at the moment), speed (you can speed things up or slow them down here), effects, touch up, and timer (this lets you decide how long you want to record a particular clip for)), and at the bottom you have the capture button (and next to this, you have different filters too). This is a good place to experiment and have a look at all the different options - find some music you like and then hold your finger on the capture button and it’ll start recording. You can record a series of short clips or you can do one long one. You also have the ability to trim clips as you go. Then, when you have some footage, tap Preview and you now have options across the top (download, audio controls, voiceover, stickers, line tool, and text). Again, experiment with these. When you’re happy, press ‘done’ (don’t worry, it will not post at this point!), and ‘Share to’ to move onto the final screen where you can add your captions, hashtags, cover photo, tag people, decide if you want to share to feed, etc. This is the point where, if you pressed Share, it would publish. But you could also decide to save as a draft for a time in the future, or publish as a Story instead. There’s a lot more I could say about Reels, but if you’re looking to grow your presence on Instagram, I would definitely consider giving Reels a go. Some are gaining huge traction on the platform with thousands of views for people with a relatively small follower count. www.rheafreemanpr.co.uk Twitter (@rheafreeman) Instagram (@rheafreemanpr) Facebook (/RheaFreemanPR)