10 Instagram Reels Hacks for Photographers with Jonathan Tilley
Instagram Reels launched in August of 2020 in 50 countries worldwide. Since then, photographers everywhere went scrambling to learn yet another social media trend—all while trying to keep their businesses open during the corona crisis and homeschool their kids. Who needs sleep, right?
But here’s the thing. Since Instagram was “strategically inspired” by TikTok and offered a short, hooky, video creation tool on their own platform, Reels have exploded, giving photographers a once in a lifetime opportunity to welcome thousands of new followers to their profile. To be successful with Reels, your followers don’t want to see your portfolio. They want to see your personality and what they’ll get when working with you. If you’re not creating Reels, then you’re missing out on the Instagram gold rush.
But where to start? What to do? And the most important question: Do you really need to dance and lip-sync at the same time? The answer to these questions and more are right here. So let’s go.
1. RESEARCH
What if your endless scrolling was transformed into guilt-free “research”? Now we’re talking! Click on the bottom middle button on Instagram to get access to the trendiest Reels. Notice what audio they’re using and if it vibes with you. Also notice what their Reels are about. What’s the theme? What’s the hook they’re using? By scrolling through everyone else’s Reels… I mean, doing “research”… you’ll find out what’s trending and how you can jump on that trend.
2. STEAL THEIR AUDIO
When you do your “research” and find audio that vibes with you, save it immediately. At the bottom left corner of that specific Reel you’ll see the name of the audio scrolling horizontally. Click on it and on a new page you’ll see the original creator of the audio and how many people have used it. If the audio has been used 1,000 times or more, then you’ve found a trending audio. Click the save icon at the top right to save that audio for later. Then get back to “research.” If the audio has been used less than 1,000 times then move on.
