How to Use Instagram Reels For Business: Instagram Marketing for Business

Instagram Reels is a new way to build your community and grow your reach on Instagram. If you think Instagram is not for the business, let me tell you some facts. There are 1 billion active monthly instagram users as of 2019, and 33% of the most-viewed stories are from businesses.

It’s a fun and engaging way to share viral (and creative!) snippets with your audience. Even in its early stages, Instagram Reels is proving to be a space where both brands and creators can make waves.

To ensure managing Reels doesn't become a full-time job and to maximize marketing efficiency, remember that your Reels content doesn’t have to be brand new. You can use existing content on your blog, podcast, and social channels and just tune that content to work well on Reels.

We are sharing few of the ideas to give you direction.

1- Your Company Story

When is the last time you found a new product or someone selling a service, went to their website, clicked on their Pages and find out the services?

Yeah… it’s been a pretty long time for all of us.

Instagram Reels has the potential to make that bland brand story into a super interesting one. Instead of going to an About Page on a website and reading through a brand story, a prospect can watch a dynamic story on Reels.

This story can include music and old photos, case studies, and where you are today because of everything you experienced while getting here.

It’s personable, it’s relatable, and it builds relationships.

Like every other marketing strategy, the key is to test and check. Test new content and check the metrics to see how well your audience liked it. Improve and repeat. And then do it all over again.

2- The Portfolio

Unlike a company story which focuses on your journey, your portfolio on Reels is about showcasing specific skills, projects, or achievements. Think of it as a visual resume. You can highlight past projects with snippets of "old photos" or short clips that demonstrate your capabilities, and include brief case studies that prove your expertise.

3- Behind-The-Scenes Content

Behind-the-scenes content builds the relationship between you and your customer. Since you’re doing this to a larger audience, you’re building that relationship at scale.

For example, if you own an eCommerce fashion company you can use Instagram Reels to show the behind-the-scenes of you choosing your fabric and getting the samples delivered for approval. or if you are IT product or service based company, Reels can be used to show behind the scene development process or working culture.

These Reels can act as a bridge between brand and customer, making you more human and giving your customer avatar someone to relate to behind the scenes.

If you own a marketing agency, your Instagram Reels can be used to show the day-to-day life of a marketer. This gives you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and working style so your customer avatar can feel like they know, like, and trust you. We all know what comes after that… the sale.

4- Product Reviews/case studies

Your educational content will showcase your expertise around your product or service—your product reviews/case studies will show your happy customers.

• If you’re selling a physical or digital one-time product, then you’ll post product reviews
• If you’re selling a service, then you’ll post case studies

Instagram Reels is going to give you the opportunity to get really creative around how you show your reviews and case studies. You can use the effects, music, and countdown timer features to create native-looking reviews and case studies that entertain your followers.

For product reviews, you can use user-generated content as your product review (you can upload videos and photos as a Reel and take your own).

For your case studies, you can grab a past case study published to your blog or used in your sales process. Take the headers from each section, like "Problem," "Solution," and "Results," and use those as text overlays on your video. Then, explain how you achieved those results verbally. This format helps visual learners grasp the key takeaways quickly.

Brands on Instagram Reels

To illustrate the diverse applications of Instagram Reels, here are a few examples of brands successfully leveraging the platform.

1- Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton’s Instagram Reels are high quality, stunning, and super creative — and it’s working for them! Every single one of their Reels has gone viral.

The global fashion brand is using Instagram Reels to promote new collections. In their latest set of Reels, they’re showcasing the #LVCruise.

Each campaign Reel is very similar — all having the exact same caption just with a different model and #LVCruise bag.

Similar to TikTok videos on the For You Page, Instagram Reels appear on the Explore Page — which means that even people who don’t follow you will be able to see and engage with your Instagram Reels!

[Image of Louis Vuitton Instagram Reel - placeholder]

2- Red Bull France

With a strong, global community on Instagram, it’s no surprise that Red Bull France already has a handful of viral Reels.

Red Bull France understands their demographic and offers up heart-racing content that appeals to their audience — mainly outdoor sports.

Their most popular reel — the POV of a dirtbike on a super steep hill — has over 2M views!

[Image of Red Bull France Instagram Reel - placeholder]

3- My Paris Portraits

Instagram Reels success isn’t just reserved for mega-brands. Micro-influencers and small businesses have also started to see positive results from their first Reels posts.

For example, My Paris Portraits knows exactly how to capitalize on travel inspo and wanderlust locations trends using Instagram Reels.

In short and simple Reels, My Paris Portraits tells a story, taking her followers with her as she explores and enjoys summer in Paris.

4- FastandFood

Food videos on Instagram are satisfying and very addicting to watch — and FastandFood is taking advantage of it!

FastandFood uses Reels to share quick bites of content — posting high-quality food videos from restaurants all over Paris.

Not only is this a great resource for their followers but it’s also an awesome opportunity for the featured restaurants to gain traction.