Digital Direction

The growth of short-form video continues, with Instagram Reels now the latest player in the market. PB’s social media editor Chris Halpin explores how salons can use these tools to promote their services

As it has been for some time, video remains a winner on social media - and it’s causing some competition between the different social channels. With TikTok’s huge growth so far in 2020, it was little surprise to see Instagram launching its Reels service as a rival platform.

For those who haven’t seen Reels yet, it’s a new video function on Instagram launched at the start of August, which is being heavily promoted through its own tab on the explore and profile pages. It allows you to post videos up to 15 seconds in length with multiple clips, audio and text - effectively, the same format as TikTok videos.

Instagram Reels

Much like when Instagram debuted its Stories feature to combat the rise of Snapchat, Reels seems to be a direct rival to TikTok. While there’s not a huge amount of data yet, early reports suggest that it’s doing a good job of disrupting the short-form video market. In a survey of TikTok users by social content company Whistle, 61% said they would spend more time on Instagram as a result of Reels being introduced.

If you’ve got a good set-up on your Instagram already, then there’s no reason not to try out Reels. For starters, Instagram is heavily pushing the feature, which means early adopters are likely to see a significant boost to engagement and reach on these posts early on, compared to traditional videos and posts.

The other advantage of Reels is that is plays to your existing Instagram audience. While TikTok’s audience demographics did change to some degree in the lockdown period, it’s still a primarily younger audience. By keeping these short videos on Instagram, you’re already playing to people that are much more likely to be your target market.

Making the most of 15 seconds

15 seconds might not seem like a very long time to get a message across. The key thing with Reels is to not try to cover too much. Have one focus for your video and keep it simple. For example, if you’ve got a new product in your salon, then you can do something easy like taking a 15-second still video shot. Use the text options on Reels to highlight some of the key features, adding in a new line of text every two to three seconds. This way, you’re not having to worry too much about setting up different camera shots or having to rush through talking about a product in a limited time frame. Similarly, you can use many of the tools available in Instagram Stories (such as Boomerangs or Timelapse) on Reels as well.

Obviously, much of this advice applies to TikTok as well. While there’s a lot of confusion at the moment as to TikTok’s future, with the threat of it being banned in the US, the service continues to add new users at a rapid rate. If TikTok continues to operate, there’s a real chance that it will become a major social channel for all businesses going forward. PB