Instagram Releases New Reels Features via @sejournal, @BrianFr07823616

Instagram rolled out new features in Reels today, providing users with more ways apply their creativity to short video clips.

These features are intended to help content creators engage with their audiences, attract viewers, and express themselves in new ways.

Currently, the social media platform’s video is its fastest-growing feature worldwide, with more than 675.3 million users.

This means more than one quarter of Instagram’s more than 2 billion users are using this functionality.

Additions Include New Audio Options, Interactivity, & Templates

In addition to refreshing its collection of sound effects, Instagram Reels now allows users to directly upload their own audio files.

Suitable for commentary, jingles, or background noise, creators can import sound from any video in their camera roll that is at least five seconds long. These recordings will then be available for use in Reels by other accounts.

Another update is the new length restrictions. Previously, all videos were limited to 15 seconds, but Instagram has now extended that by 600%, allowing users to post up to 90-second clips. Reels ads now have a maximum running length of 60 seconds.

Interactive stickers that were previously only available for Instagram Stories are now also available for use in videos. This provides new opportunities for audience engagement via polls, quizzes and emoji sliders.

Instagram now also allows creators to use another video as a template when creating their own Reels. By pre-loading audio and clip placeholders from source videos, users will only need to add and trim their own unique clips.

Reels Provides Value To Marketers, Advertisers, & Branders

As the amount of views online videos generate has nearly doubled since 2018, it has become an important tools in many marketers’ arsenals. This is especially true of Reels which has been proven to help attract viewers.

According to Instagram, public accounts with more than 10,000 followers who posted at least five reels over a 60-day period gained 250% more followers than those in the same category who did not post reels.

Instagram video posts currently generate an engagement rate of 1.5%, which indicates people are doing more than scrolling through. Additionally, 86% of consumers say they are more likely to purchase a product with Instagram content rated as “shareworthy.”

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Source: Instagram

Featured Image: Screenshot from creators.instagram.com/blog/, June 2022.