Why Creators & Brands Should Be Excited About the New Instagram Reels Updates

Instagram continues to make its play for TikTok creators' time and attention, but this time, we’re not mad about it. The new Instagram Reels features may save brands & creators time and effort.

Their official Instagram announcement states, “We’re committed to building more products to help you grow and thrive on Instagram, and today’s updates are just a few of the ways we’re investing in your success.”

The new feature updates feel almost so apparent that it’s hard to believe they are just now being rolled out for creator use. Let’s dig into them.

What are the new Reels feature updates?

Trends

Of course, it’s all about trending content, and Instagram might finally be listening with their  updates to Reels trends. Now, you can see which audio, topics, and hashtags are going viral on the platform. With this update, users can scroll through viral sounds, see how often it’s been used, use it in their content, or save it for later use. Yes, we’ve seen this before on “The App That Shall Not Be Named” at the Meta offices, but we love to see it! 

Why I care, and you should too: As a content strategist, this is an exciting addition to the platform as it will help inform content strategy for brands and creators moving forward.

Easier video editing

Are you ready to cut out your many video editing apps? Well, pun intended… Thanks to the new video editing interface on Reels, now might be the time. Creators can now edit video, audio, sticker, and text elements–all on one screen. The interface looks similar to other popular video editing apps like Splice, Videoleep, and InShot, so very easy to adopt for those familiar. 

Why I care: As we know, time is money, and this update will make editing a lot simpler by using on-platform features. 

Insight additions

For all of our data-driven friends, Reels insights just got much more informative. The new feature added data points to analyze your video content's total and average watch times. 

Why I care: This new feature will inform content strategy for brands and creators alike. Understanding how much your target audience consumes your video will produce compelling content and increase viewability.

Gifts

Lastly, supporters can send virtual gifts to their favorite creators to show appreciation for their content. Instagram lets users see who has sent them gifts to build more connections between creators and supporters. This is a heartwarming addition, as supporters will be recognized by their favorite creators for their contributions. To do this, all you have to do is tap the heart icon beside the gift sender's name, and they will receive a notification! 

Why I care: This is a great way to extend the bond between creators/brands and their fans. 

Most of these updates aren’t new to the social space, as we’ve seen all this on TikTok for at least the last year. However, with stiff social competition, it’s wise for Instagram to extend these features to their creators to make the creator experience more personal and appealing.

Important notes to consider:

These new updates are meant to facilitate better connections between Meta and the creator community, and creators should take full advantage of them:

• Increased community engagement through direct relationship building between creators and their most engaged followers, as well as brands and authentic fans 
• More accessibility to make edits in-platform without the need for outside tools & apps
• Better insights for more well-informed content strategy for brands and creators to more effectively engage with their followers

Can’t believe I’m saying this but, today, Meta gets a gold star from me, and we’re happy to implement these changes in our brand strategies.

As always, be prepared for social media platform changes, but we'll keep our eyes glued to our phones on this and report back here with any updates!