How To Increase Sales With Instagram Reels
Why is it that anytime that you post an Instagram reel, it gets like five likes and 30 views, meanwhile Sally next door posts one and gets hundreds of likes and thousands of views. So what is Sally doing that you’re not. Okay, so here’s how you can harness the power of Instagram Reals, not only to get more likes and views and whatnot, but also to turn them into money making machines for your business.
But first, I have to say we are living in a pretty crazy, a pretty epic time in human history, and I strongly believe that it’s characterized by the Instagram reel, the Tik-Tok, it’s the demise of the human attention span. But we’re also living in a time where business owners can advertise to anyone, anywhere in the world, and that’s pretty huge, considering that all about a decade ago we were relying on TV commercials, and not all businesses could afford a TV commercial.
The Opportunity
But now anyone has the opportunity to have that megaphone. It’s exciting, but the truth of the matter is if everyone has the megaphone, can anyone really be heard. So it’s important that you make Instagram reels that are going to stand out amongst your competition, so that you can use them to actually make sales. That’s what we’re here for, we’re here for the sales.
Choosing Your Product
Product Selection
Okay, so first things first, you’re going to pick the product, or collection, or the service that you’re going to sell. This is what your reel is going to be based on. Now for me the product that I’m pick, your products going to choose is this water bottle tracker. It’s actually an Air Tag, but just for the sake of this, we’re just going to pretend.
It’s actually so crazy, the amount of water bottles I’ve lost, there is something clinically wrong with me. So I was like okay enough Michelle, enough, enough is enough, you’re going on a timeout, and I put an Air Tag on my water bottle. And then one day I was like oh I haven’t seen my water bottle in a couple of weeks, and I to go find it on my iPhone, and it was like your water bottle is at work, and I was like but where, where at work is it, I couldn’t find it.
The Hook
And then the next thing you know, I checked like a week after, and it was like in a waste management facility, like an hour and a half away from the city. I was so tempted to go there, and just to see how it works over there. You just see me banging on the door, I need my water bottle, and it’s just being crushed in a big compactor. So that was a long winded way of saying we’re going to pretend like we’re selling this water bottle tracker.
Creating Your Video Format
I’m going to be honest with you. We have our product that we’re going to promote in our real. Now, we have to choose a video format. You can do a customer testimonial. You could do a before and after video. Why not try a product demo. The list goes on. But today, I’m going to do a product feature video. Okay, cool, step one done, we have our chosen format. Now we’re going to write the script.
Writing The Script
And I know what you are thinking, you are like no I don’t want to write a script. I get it, I get it. Listen, it’s a lot of work, I understand it’s a grind. But what I will say is that I use this exact script template to write scripts for these. I used a template to write what I’m going to say. So it’s proven, it works, it’s going to be great, just hang in there, and it’s actually kind of easy.
Building The Layout
So what you’re going to do is you’re going to open a word document, and you’re going to make a table with two columns and five rows. Left column is the script, so we’re going to write that here, just like this. And right column is the visuals. Boom, done, easy.
Okay, now the reason why we have five rows is because every 3 seconds we want to hook our audience. So just as your viewers are about to swipe, you’re like but wait, there’s more. And just before your viewer is about to tune out, you want to hook them with something to jolt them awake, and get them engaged again. So we write hook in this row, information, hook, and so on. Okay, let’s start writing the hook.
Creating Engaging Hooks
So it’s going to open with me throwing my water bottle into the ocean. Listen, it’s got to be ridiculous, it’s a hook. So that’s the visuals.
Adding Information
Okay, then in this section is the information, right. So we’re going to sandwich it. I’m going to write the Woba Tracker, yes, our product is called the Woba Tracker, this is a next generation water bottle tracker for the chronic water bottle loser.
Building The Sandwich
Asking a question, or posing a problem, is a great way to hook your customers in. So I’m going to say, will it work if I actually throw this into the ocean. And then the visual is going to be of me testing this theory. Back to the information, the Wobba Tracker is waterproof, it has a 365 day battery life, and you can track it with your phone.
Perfecting The Flow
Okay, so you can basically see how this would work. It would go information, hook, sandwich, and you would do this for 15 seconds max. But me personally, I’m going to stop there. But for yours, you would want to include more layers to the sandwich. You might want to include product features and benefits. You might want to show the product and use, perhaps speak to the design, show it undergoing stress tests, for example. And definitely, you want to pose solutions to any reputations that you think your audience might have.
Call To Action
Okay, so the last layer to your sandwich can include a call to action, and this is going to be where you make your sale. Right, so I’m going to write voiceover on top of a product shot, free shipping until June 22. I basically used an iPod, and this little phone mount to self film, in case you want to get a setup like mine. I also use Adobe Rush to edit this, but hot tip, you can also use the Instagram app itself to edit your reels if you want to get all those added features.
Editing Tools
Anyways, if you want a breakdown of how to set up a photo and filming studio for yourself, as well as more in depth info on editing your videos, this is going to show you how to get started with the equipment, and how to get set up on basically a sho string budget.
Adding Captions
But it feels like something’s missing in our real. Well, it certainly needs captions, and captions throughout the entire video will help with retention rate. Retention rate is super important, because that tells the algorithm that people care, and so it serves your content up to a larger audience.
If you’re not sure how to add captions, do not stress, they’re easier than ever with Adobe Premiere’s newest version, and then there’s also mobile apps like Captions, and web apps like Cap Cut that you can use. And Instagram has its own automatic captions tool as well.
Choosing The Right Format
One, how to sell with Instagram reels, thing you should be aware of, this format of is kind of like a salesy, e commerce vibes, and not everyone has a brand that supports that style. Like, for example, let’s say you’re selling 115k diamond bracelets, this informational, almost kind of like infomercial style format probably isn’t going to work.
So there are other less explicit, more subtle ways that you can use reels to make sales. Simply just panning over your products for 8 seconds can be enough.
Testing And Learning
I know when I was working with a jewelry company, somehow these reels did the best for us in terms of engagement, whereas when we had the creative director sit down and talk to the camera about his design process, that reel absolutely flopped. So you never know what formats are going to hit with your audience, and testing, learning really is the big key here.
More Reel Ideas
Here are some Instagram reels format list, other formats that you can test and learn. Story time, like your founder talking about why he or she started the business. Manufacturing process, so let’s say you have a really special, or interesting, or unique way that you make your products, this could be perfect for you. You can do a before and after video that shows the incredible results that your product delivers.
Take It To The Streets
What about take it to the streets. I will never forget this from probably like a decade ago, that’s how long it was, and how sticky the idea was. So this makeup brand applied their affordable makeup on one side of the model’s face, and luxury makeup on the other side, and then they went to the streets and asked pedestrians which was the affordable side, and which was the expensive side, and people could not guess.
Making It Easy
So taking to the streets has definitely become a trend that has become popular, at least over the last several years, and it’s definitely something that you could do for your brand as well. If you’re using Reals to make sales, you should have your online store set up, and linked to your Instagram, just like this. Now, you want to make it as easy as possible for people.
Shopify And Selling
Why Shopify
So if you put text in your real, and just expect people to remember the URL, and then put it into their browser, it’s not going to happen. People want the links. So make it easy for your customers, and link the products in the real itself.
Okay, so you have an online store already, or maybe actually you’re thinking of getting one started, or maybe you want to switch. So if you are in the market for a new online store, I’m just throwing it out there. Have you tried Shopify. Obviously, this is a Shopify powered channel, so of course I’m going to say it’s the best. But like, to even my friends and family, I say it’s the best, because it is. The templates, fire. The checkout experience, unmatched. The price, too good. I love Shopify.
Final Advice
Tagging Products
If you can tell, I do love it. But if you’re not sure if you’re going to love it, and you want to give it a little whirly whirl, take it for a little test drive, I will drop a link for a free trial in the description box below.
The whole online store, how to use reels to sell your products on Instagram thing, it’s kind of the most important part of using reels to sell. So you want to do these two things, tag your products in your reals, and put your shop in the URL section.
Words Of Wisdom
Use Trends Wisely
Here are some words of wisdom that I’m going to leave you with. First, trends are your friends, hop on them. The more I see, the more I realize that success equals businesses just being at the right place, at the right time.
So put yourself at that table by utilizing trending sounds, and thematics to come across as more relatable firstly, but also to improve discoverability and engagement. But of course, ensure that the trend to with your brand and your target audience. Don’t just throw out your morals and values for a trend.
Quality Matters
Use high quality visuals and audio. If you can, invest in good lighting and clear audio. My last tip is to also consider paid promotion. Organic reach is super important, of course, but consider boosting your reels with paid advertising to reach a more targeted audience, and increase sales potential.
Conclusion
If you’re not sure how to run Facebook ads, there are resources that will walk you through how to do it.
Life Update
So my mom had this big birthday coming up, and me and my sister wanted to do something nice to surprise her, between going to the Caribbean, or having like a big dinner with all her friends, and her family in Toronto. So we were like okay, I think she’d rather see all her friends and family on her birthday, so we chose that. And then we were like, well, what if while we’re there, we plan like a cute cottage getaway.
Family Story
So we went on Airbnb, we booked this like cute little tiny home, on this beautiful farm, and we were like okay, this is going to be amazing, this is going to be so great.
Final Words
And actually, what was really funny was when I was telling my friend this story, he was like, well, the real red flag is why didn’t you check the location before you booked it. But actually, the joke is on us, because acting was absolutely stunning. We had such a nice time, the three of us together. And yeah, that is my life update, it feels nice to share stories with you.
Community Engagement
Also, tell me about your businesses, what brought you here today. Sometimes I get emails, Instagram DMs, even WhatsApp messages, just telling me about your businesses, which is so nice, but I would so much rather you tell me here, so that I could read it all in one place. So tell me what you selling, how long have you been running your business for, and are you having fun, which is the most important part.