Very like Gretchen desperately tried to get “Fetch” moving into Imply Women, Instagram is obsessed with attempting to make Reels occur.
Instagram has rewarded Reels customers with an algorithm enhance, prioritized Reels on feeds and the discover web page, and now, the platform has began what is actually a recycling program, permitting customers to simply repurpose Instagram Tales highlights into Reels with just some faucets.
However as we’ve realized from all kinds of shiny new social media options through the years (ahem, Twitter Fleets): Simply since you can do one thing doesn’t all the time imply you ought to.
We’re truthfully not satisfied that reposting outdated Tales as Reels will do us any good. However right here at Hootsuite Experiments, we let the info determine.
And so, as soon as once more, I’m donning my onerous hat and am descending into the social media analytics mines to dig up some solid-gold proof about whether or not or not bending to Instagram’s will is value it.
Does repurposing your Tales highlights to Reels really work? Let’s discover out.
Speculation
Reels made out of outdated tales don’t get as a lot engagement or attain as brand-new Reels
Certain, Instagram has made it extremely straightforward to repurpose your outdated Instagram Tales as new Reels — it simply takes a couple of faucets to show an outdated Story into ‘new’ content material.
Nevertheless, our idea is that model new, unique Reels will in all probability carry out higher and earn extra engagement.
In any case, Instagram’s objective is in the end to create an entertaining, partaking content material hub. (It’s what drives all the pieces about the Instagram algorithm.) Rewarding customers for recycling or rehashing outdated content material doesn’t actually appear consistent with the platform’s grand imaginative and prescient.
However, hey, we’re glad to be confirmed fallacious! It makes us really feel alive! So I’m going to seek out out firsthand if repurposing your Tales as Reels is one of the best factor to do for Instagram engagement.
Methodology
I made a decision to publish some “recent” Reels and a few repurposed Tales and evaluate their attain and engagement.
To make my new Reels, I pulled some movies and pictures from my digital camera roll, layered on a musical clip and a few results, and hit Publish. (New to Reels? Listed here are step-by-step directions for tips on how to make your individual!)
For my repurposed Tales, I adopted the directions outlined on this Hootsuite Labs video. That meant trying again by means of my archived Tales and including those I needed to a brand new Spotlight.
For this venture, I created 5 completely different new Highlights. I opened every Spotlight, tapped the three dots on the underside proper nook, and tapped Convert to Reel.
This then opened the Reels editor, the place I used to be capable of change the music or add any further filters or stickers. I additionally had the choice to delete scenes at this level.
I made my edits, added a fast caption to every, after which despatched my infants out into the world.
In whole, I printed 5 new Reels and 5 repurposed-from-Tales Reels. Then, I waited a couple of days to see how they did.
Outcomes
TL;DR: My repurposed Reels did barely worse than my unique Reels by way of attain. However general, Reels that featured private, genuine content material made the largest affect.
Keep in mind, I posted 5 Reels from Highlights and 5 unique Reels. Right here’s how the attain and engagement for every type labored out:
| Sort of Reel | Whole Views | Whole Likes |
|---|---|---|
| Repurposed From Spotlight | 120 | 4 |
| Model New Reels | 141 | 7 |
My hottest Reels from this batch of experiments have been ones that have been genuine and private: Certainly one of me having one of the best day of my life at a mascot competition, one other of me performing comedy, and a reveal of my current renovation.
The Reels with the worst success price have been impersonal journey movies I had thrown collectively. I assume it’s flattering to know individuals care about me greater than they care about endangered elephants or stunning seashores?
Total, there didn’t appear to be a definite profit to publishing Reels out of your Tales Highlights. It was the content material that mattered, not the tactic I used to construct the Reel.
What do the outcomes imply?
Am I humiliated that nobody cared in any respect about my chill beach-scape Reel? After all. However from the ache of this experiment got here some essential classes and reflections.
Authenticity is the last word algorithm hack
Whereas Instagram typically rewards customers for taking an opportunity on a brand new characteristic with an algorithmic enhance, it in the end comes again to this: Nice content material is the not-so-secret secret to success.
Content material your followers discover compelling will earn engagement greater than any algorithmic enhance ever may. So give attention to creating partaking, value-driven posts, Tales and Reels to get essentially the most out of Instagram.
You may’t get Insights from Highlights… however you can get Insights from Reels
When you can see the variety of views and likes of a person Instagram Story, it’s at present not attainable to see what number of views your Highlights get.
Meaning there’s one profit of making a Reel out of Highlights: You may really measure how a lot attain or engagement that specific mixture of Tales get.
Highlights generally is a useful compilation software
Utilizing your Highlights to collect content material over a protracted time frame may really be useful as properly.
As an example, I spent 22 lengthy weeks engaged on my condo renovation final yr and was including all of my reno-related posts to at least one Spotlight. As a substitute of digging round in my digital camera roll to make a dramatic Reel concerning the expertise, I may simply convert all that candy drywall-encrusted content material into one neat-and-tidy Reel with a couple of faucets. (Research have proven that setting your building trauma to music can soften the ache.)
All proper, that’s sufficient out of me! It’s time to cease in search of shortcuts to Instagram success and begin making wonderful Reels that mirror your model voice and delight your viewers. Dig into our tutorial for making profitable Reels, and you might by no means really feel tempted to hack the system ever once more.
Simply schedule and handle Reels alongside all of your different content material from Hootsuite’s tremendous easy dashboard. Schedule Reels to go stay when you’re OOO, publish at the absolute best time (even for those who’re quick asleep), and monitor your attain, likes, shares, and extra.
Save time and stress much less with straightforward Reels scheduling and efficiency monitoring from Hootsuite. Belief us, it’s reely straightforward.
