Instagram REELS… if you’re anything like me, when someone mentions them you straight away think of people dancing to some music. . .
. . . and you start to cringe and think “noooooo thank you I am NOT going to dance and post it on Instagram Deb!”
Trust me, at first I did the same thing—I’m not dancing and posting it on social media unless you give me a margarita!!
The good news is that there’s so much more to Instagram Reels than dancing, and you can absolutely use it without the dancing part—and reels in Instagram actually can be very effective for promoting your handmade products!
Today we’re going to take a look at how you, as a handmade shop owner, can use reels to connect and engage with your audience on Instagram, including:
So if you’re confused as to what Instagram reels are and how to use them to grow your shop, this is the video for you!
Ready? Let’s dive in!
I won’t be giving you a step by step tutorial of how to make a reel on Instagram, because there are many tutorials out there that show you that, and that’s not necessarily “handmade shop specific.”
Instead I want to show you how you can use Instagram reels as a creative and effective way to market your handmade products and connect with and grow your audience.
Let’s start with a quick summary of what Instagram reels are.
THIS FREE PLANNER WILL HELP YOU CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN FOR YOUR HANDMADE SHOP. KNOW WHAT TO POST, WHEN TO POST IT, AND WHAT TOOLS TO USE!
Basically, a reel is a 15-30 second video clip, usually with music playing in the background, that can be edited with creative tools like text, special effects, and stickers.
Of course, some people use them to create funny, entertaining dance videos . . . but they are also a great opportunity to create fun, engaging video content to share with your followers – with no dancing involved!
N.B. Reels aren’t available in all countries yet—but Instagram is still adding new countries once they get the legal rights & permissions squared away. You will know if they are available in your country if you see this symbol at the base of your screen:
So… now to the next question you might be asking yourself:
Some of you may be wondering “How are reels different from IGTV, Instagram stories, and Instagram feed videos? Let’s go through a quick explanation of each.
In short, reels are short but creative videos meant to entertain the viewer in one way or another, ENTERTAIN really being the key word here 😉
Now—the best way to show you how to use reels in Instagram is to show you how other makers are using reels—
so I’m going to show you some great examples across a variety of products and with a variety of approaches.
First though I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has allowed us to use their reels and see their creative ideas and really nicely made videos!
By showing you their reels I want you to see that you can really do different things—you don’t have to be on camera if you don’t want to, you can if you want, you can be pretty serious with your reels, or you can do funny reels—anything is possible!
Let’s start with two “behind the scenes” reels showing part of the handmade process—
As you can see, there’s a lot you can do with your reels based on what you want to do or showcase and how comfortable you are – you can do reels without being on camera at all, be in the video showing one thing or another, or you can be the star of the reel and dance to your heart’s content – whatever you like!
So as you can see, reels in Instagram are a HUGE tool for handmade shop owners to create product awareness and increase sales—you just have to know how to use it!
. . . Are you looking for more Instagram tips?
I have a great HQ course that teaches you the ins and outs of Instagram marketing for handmade or Etsy shops, as well as articles about 3 keys to grow your shops on Instagram and how to craft the perfect Instagram bio for your shop and get more followers, be sure to check them out!
Thanks for reading, and until next time, aurevoir!
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