Instagram has officially announced that Reels, one of its most engaging and rapidly growing content formats, can now be boosted just like traditional feed posts. This new feature provides brands, influencers, and content creators with an exciting opportunity to amplify their reach and enhance engagement. Reels have become a major focus for Instagram, and this addition aligns with the platform’s efforts to compete with short-form video platforms like TikTok.
Boosting Reels can now take your organic content to a wider audience, increase your visibility, and help you achieve marketing goals more efficiently. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about boosting Instagram Reels, including its benefits, how to use it, and tips for maximizing your results.
What Does It Mean to Boost Instagram Reels?
Boosting Instagram Reels means turning an organic Reel into a paid ad that appears in the Reels feed, Explore, Stories, and directly on users’ Instagram profiles. Much like boosting regular feed posts, this feature allows you to target specific audiences, set a budget, and define campaign durations to achieve your objectives. Instagram is heavily pushing Reels content, and by boosting your best-performing Reels, you can make sure your videos are seen by more people who are likely to engage with your brand or content.
Why Boost Reels?
Instagram Reels already have an excellent track record for organic reach and engagement. Boosting Reels takes it a step further by providing additional advantages:
Increased Reach: Boosting a Reel ensures that it appears in front of users beyond your current followers, potentially reaching millions of new people.
Higher Engagement: Reels are an inherently engaging format, with short, entertaining videos driving more likes, shares, and comments compared to static content.
Drive Actions: Whether your goal is to generate profile visits, website traffic, or direct messages, boosting Reels allows you to customize the call-to-action (CTA) and drive conversions.
Maximize Trending Content: If you’ve created a Reel using trending audio, boosting that content can amplify its reach even further while the trend is still hot.
Select a Reel to Boost
Before boosting, ensure your Reel meets Instagram’s guidelines for promotion. Instagram has stated that boosted Reels must:
- Be less than 60 seconds long.
- Be filmed in the full 9:16 vertical format.
- Avoid the use of GIFs, interactive stickers (like polls), or copyrighted music.
- Once you’ve selected the Reel you want to boost, tap the Boost Post button that appears below the video.
Set Your Goal
Instagram allows you to choose between several goals when boosting Reels:
More Profile Visits: Ideal for growing your follower count or increasing visibility for your brand.
More Website Visits: Choose this if you want to drive traffic to a website, landing page, or online store.
More Messages: This option encourages users to send direct messages, which is great for customer inquiries or service-based businesses.
Define Your Audience
To reach the right people, Instagram offers three targeting options:
Automatic Audience: Instagram will find users similar to your current followers, which is useful if you want to attract a similar demographic.
Local Audience: If you have a location-based business, you can target users within a specific geographic area.
Custom Audience: You can create a tailored audience based on user demographics such as age, gender, location, and interests. For the best results, it’s important to target users who are most likely to engage with your content.
Set Your Budget and Duration
Instagram allows you to decide how much you want to spend on boosting your Reel and for how long you want the promotion to run. Use the sliding scales to adjust your daily budget and the total length of the campaign. The estimated reach will automatically adjust based on your budget, giving you a projection of how many people your Reel will reach.
Review and Boost
Once you’ve finalized your audience, budget, and campaign duration, review your settings. Instagram will display a preview of how your boosted Reel will appear. If everything looks good, tap Boost to submit your promotion. Instagram will review it to ensure it meets the platform’s guidelines and, once approved, your Reel will start reaching a wider audience.
Best Practices for Boosting Instagram Reels
Now that you know how to boost Reels, it’s important to understand some best practices that will help you make the most of this new feature.
- Choose High-Performing Reels
Boosting Reels that are already performing well organically can help maximize your return on investment. Look for Reels with high engagement in terms of likes, comments, and shares—this indicates that the content resonates with your audience and will likely do well when boosted to a wider group. - Use Trending Audio
Instagram’s algorithm favors content that uses popular or trending audio tracks. When boosting a Reel, try using music or sound clips that are currently trending. This can help you tap into the momentum of the trend and increase the chances of your Reel being shown to more users. - Keep It Short and Engaging
Instagram Reels are meant to be quick, bite-sized videos. Keeping your boosted Reels under 30 seconds can help ensure viewers watch the entire video. Focus on delivering a clear message or story within the first few seconds to grab attention and avoid drop-offs. - Add a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)
Boosted Reels can help drive specific actions, so make sure to include a compelling CTA in the caption or within the video itself. Encourage users to “Shop Now,” “Visit the Website,” “Follow,” or “Send a Message.” A clear, actionable CTA can help convert viewers into customers or followers.
- Test Different Reels
It’s a good idea to experiment with boosting different types of Reels to see which formats and styles resonate best with your audience. Try promoting tutorials, behind-the-scenes content, product demonstrations, or even user-generated content to determine what drives the most engagement. - Monitor Performance and Adjust
Keep an eye on your Reel’s performance after boosting it. Use Instagram Insights to track metrics such as reach, impressions, engagement, and conversions. If your boosted Reel isn’t performing as expected, consider tweaking your audience or budget. Testing and optimizing based on results will help you get the most out of your boosted Reels.
Conclusion
Instagram’s decision to allow the boosting of Reels opens up a new world of possibilities for brands, influencers, and content creators. By promoting your most engaging Reels, you can reach new audiences, drive more engagement, and achieve specific marketing goals. Following the steps and best practices outlined in this guide will help you maximize the effectiveness of your boosted Reels and take full advantage of this exciting feature.
Sandy D