5 Top Performing Instagram Reels for your Business

It’s no surprise that short-form video content has taken the world by STORM. 

SO many of my followers, peers and clients have been asking me a ton of questions about short-form video content.

“What makes a good reel?”

“Do I actually NEED to show up on video on my IG page?”

“How do I make videos that will genuinely engage and serve my audience?”

And because you’ve asked  - I will answer. ✅

This week I’m giving you all the juicy deets about Instagram reels.

I actually come from the world of TikTok first and foremost, so short-form video content is my JAM. 💃🏻

And I get it - video content is not in everyone’s comfort zone, but I know firsthand how vital it is to show up on video if you want to grow your audience online.

Luckily there are a bunch of highly effective ways to make kick-ass reels for you to choose from to suit your particular style and business needs.

So - how about I give you the total rundown of the 5 best performing reels? 

Let’s get into it.👇🏼

Short Form Educational Reel

I’m kicking off the list with my absolute favorite reel.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that this type of reel makes up a bulk of my posts.

I just LOVE this style. 😍

In an educational reel, you get to dive into one very specific topic that relates to your business.

What’s important is that you show your face on camera and teach a mini-lesson.

If you are cringing thinking about showing your face in a reel, I’m literally BEGGING you to hear me out.

Content that shows the face behind the brand is *essential*.

Showing my face in my reels and TikToks makes them perform a million times better. 

Your audience really feels like they are getting to know you.

⚡ Do NOT underestimate the power of an educational reel. ⚡

You can deliver some seriously high-value content in 30 seconds.

Choose a topic that will have your audience leaving feeling like they can implement that trick right away. Give them a mini win! 

And remember: you don’t have to go too deep or make it too complex. Save that for your YouTube channel! 🎥

Just show up, show your smiling face and give them a tip that can change the game. ✅

Visual Tutorial

This is the type of reel where you can go a little more in-depth.

Rather than just showing a quick tip, in this reel, you walk your audience through a tutorial of the exact steps to achieve something.

I often do walkthroughs of my fave #LifeHack features on my favorite software.

But you can choose anything that might appeal to your particular audience.

The important part is that you show a screenshot or screen recording to guide your audience through the process step by step. 📱

To be honest friends, any visual element will do, but you have to include something for your viewers to refer to. ✅

You might find this surprising but tutorials are the reels I get the MOST engagement on. 

I always get tons of DMs and comments saying, 

“OMG I’ve been needing this tutorial! 🙌🏻”

“Saving this NOW! 😍”

“Can you record one about XYZ? 👍🏻”

And the best part?

People often take what they learn from these reels, go implement it themselves, and tag me.

This is a perfect way to grow organically because people are shouting your name from the rooftops.

You’ve got people raving about how much they appreciate your tutorials which drives more and more traffic to your page and your work. ⚡

Listicle

Yep!

You guessed it. ✅

A listicle reel is all about giving your audience a list of business-related must-haves.

For example: 

⚡ “Three softwares that every social media manager needs.”

⚡ “Three MUST HAVE apps for every content creator.”

⚡ “Three websites I cannot live without”

All you have to do is list them.

That’s really all there is to it! There’s no need to overcomplicate it, folks. 

Of course, you can give more info in your caption or direct them to a blog or Youtube video, but the reel itself can be super simple.

When I do listicle reels, I still show my face and list the ideas out loud with some tunes in the background.

But if you’re feeling a little camera shy and you don’t wanna talk in your reels, there is a solution!

This type of reel is often done with no speaking and just pointing to the items on the screen while a catchy song plays overtop. All you need to do is use the text feature on Reels and time the text bubbles to appear as you point to them!

This is what I mean when I say there is a reel for everyone.

Get creative and show up in a way that is most authentic to you, your strengths, and your brand. 👊🏻💥

Trends

I’m gonna be real with you, this is probably the toughest kind of reel to really nail. 😬

Don’t get me wrong, a ton of content creators jump on trends super well, but to be honest I generally stay away from this type of video content.

Social media trends that are often coming from TikTok are meant for everyday people to be comedic and entertaining.

I often find that these trends can be challenging to tie back into my business and provide value to my audience.

But - these reels do have the power to go SUPER viral. ⭐⭐⭐

If you jump on a trend while it’s hot there’s a chance your video will be seen alongside all the content creators and influencers sharing their take on it.

There are two things to watch out for with trending reels:

• Reels using copyrighted music can sometimes get taken down from Instagram. 

Imagine if your reel was totally popping off and then it got removed because of the audio you chose?!

🙅🏻‍♀️ Not cute.🙅🏻‍♀️

• You still have to provide value for your clients. 

With funny and entertaining trends, you not only have to work hard on the video itself - BUT you also have to take your caption to the next level and provide all your info there.

Sounds like a lot of extra work to me - but it CAN work for the right people. 

Lip Synching Reels

TBH these are NOT my forte. 

Who knew lip-synching was so hard! 🤣

Props to you if you’ve mastered the fine art of lip-synching reels... and please teach me your ways. 

This type of reel is when you lip-synch to a song or clip from a YouTube video or TV show.

Now sometimes, this fits PERFECTLY with the message you’re trying to communicate with your audience, and other times - well… it’s a bit of a stretch. In those cases, you have to add a ton of captions and maybe the joke doesn’t land quite like you wanted it to.

It can be….a little...messy. 😬

And again, even though reels are super entertaining - it’s important to remember that it’s always about providing high-value content and information for your clients.

So if your message is getting lost in a messy lip-syncing disaster, maybe skip this one! 

If you are a total lip-synching pro and have a reel you’re super proud of, I’m not joking, tag me! I wanna learn from the best👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

And with that, we’ve come to the end of the top 5 performing reels that have worked for me and the creators I admire most.

If you’ve been wondering when was the right time to start taking your reels seriously on Instagram, the time is NOW. ⏰

Pick the reel that sounds the most fun (or let’s be honest, the easiest) and give it a go!

Video content is the *it* thing to be doing right now, so it’s worth it to start figuring out what your strengths are when it comes to Tik Toks and reels.

And like I said, TAG ME! There’s nothing I love more than watching what my audience has created from my tips and tricks and y’all are always teaching me new things.

And - I’m serious about the lip-synching thing...if you’ve got it mastered...help a girl out! 🙈

If you are looking for more short-form video content ideas, tips, and tricks, or even just to check out a few examples of my best reels follow me on Instagram @a_creativeco

⚡ Tag me in your new reels and show me what you’ve got! ⚡ 

See you next week! 👋🏻

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