Like other veteran social apps, Instagram is pushing short-form video content across its platform. Instagram Reels are gaining immense popularity among the audience.
IG Reels are short videos of 15 seconds or less in duration, with handy editing tools to make them even more engaging and fun.
A recent study by “thesocialsprout” indicates that Reels get 2.5X more engagement than long videos. Reels are definitely the users’ favorite right now.
This opens a new opportunity for brands to tap into by getting creative and generating engaging content with this Instagram feature to grow brand awareness, win trust, and make sales.
Let’s dive into 20 Instagram Reel ideas for brands to win the game.
Reel Ideas For Fashion & Retail Brands
Since fashion and retail brands rely heavily on the visual presentation of the items they’re selling, short-form videos are a perfect medium to showcase the products and boost engagement and conversions.
Here are some of the unique ways for these brands to use Instagram reels to be creative;
1. Showcase Best-Selling Items
Promoting your hot products using Insta Reels is an engaging way to hook your audience and pique their interest. You may also add a little information about the brand and its story in the captions.
Fenty Beauty slays the Instagram Reels game just like their iconic founder. They're all about showcasing the Fenty Beauty world through creative Reels. Think quick makeup tutorials for killer looks on all skin tones, featuring their diverse range of products in action.
Plus, they enlist the help of beauty influencers we all adore, spreading the Fenty love and reaching a wider audience. It's a win-win for everyone – viewers get inspired with fresh makeup ideas in their reels, and Fenty Beauty's products get the spotlight they deserve.
To get the maximum engagement on your videos, you need to figure out the best time to post on Instagram as well.
This will give you maximum exposure in front of your target audience and trigger fast growth on the platform.
2. Process and Customer Reaction
If your brand is selling services instead of physical products, then you need to look at a different creative angle with Instagram Reels to market to your potential customers.
Taking your audience along the process and showing them the reaction of a satisfied customer can’t get wrong.
Alexis Gaines is a hairstylist who uses this technique to showcase her hairstyling process and the reaction of her happy customer. This builds insane credibility and boosts the desire factor as well.
3. Demonstrate Using Scenarios
The short video Instagram feature offers brands to explore their creativity by coming forward with interesting real-life scenarios which depict the characters using their products.
This is a smart way to instantly engage the audience by making them relate to the setting and imaging themselves on the other side of the phone screen, using the products themselves.
It can’t get better than this. Solostove does a great job with this and other Instagram reel ideas.
4. Social Media Contest
Running content using IG Reels is an interesting way to boost audience engagement. Brands can enter into a collaboration with influencers and content creators to capitalize on this Instagram feature.
People love to connect with social media contests and many such campaigns have witnessed a spike in engagement than it does normally do.
5. Sharing Facts
It’s always an effective way to share the facts about a social or economic issue your audience is concerned with.
Customers are 74% more likely to buy from brands that align with their values, a recent study by the sprout social index found.
Sharing the statistics and findings of authentic research is a great way to align business values with that of your audience.
Grove Collaborative is a great example of effectively implementing this strategy. They are an eco-friendly, sustainable household cleaning and recycling company and it’s a perfect fit for them to post facts about recycling.
They are also using the same strategy to tell their audience why they switched their packaging from plastic to aluminum and glass material.
6. Collaborate With Influencers & Creators Smartly
Brands can use Instagram Reels in a smart way to spread the word about a new product or service launch.
In October 2022, Krystal (a fast food brand) announced the launch of their new chicken slider, Side Chik.
They partnered with Brittany Renner, an influencer, to tell their customers that it will not replace their favorite Southern-style chicken sandwich.
Influencer collaboration can bring great results for your brand if you know how to pick the right influencers to showcase your product.
Reels For Higher Education Institutions
IG Reels can be used to show alumni different locations inside the institution to take them on a ride where they reminisce about their good old days.
The alumni of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill enjoyed a similar ride with watching the Tar Heels’ famous murals.
They were asked to comment about their favorite masterpiece as well, which attracted more Instagram Reel views and engagement.
Campus and town tours are not only a great way to engage alumni, but it also helps attract prospective students to join the campus.
7. Showcase Students
Showcasing a student’s journey is a fun way to attract a lot of attention as it influences relatability. The University of Georgia knows the art of engaging storytelling.
They posted an Instagram Reel showing the journey of a third-year student, Hayden Swank. With picturesque shots and amazing voiceover, the Reel feels like a documentary.
Amazing storytelling and high-value production make it a great Reel for influencing prospective students who are on the fence to enroll in the campus programs.
8. Engage Your Students
Another fun way to engage Instagram followers for educational organizations is to ask them to share their best photo or video of the campus during a season and turn this activity into a contest.
Indiana University does this in style. They invite students to share their best shots and pictures of the campus during the Fall season and tell them that admins will shortlist the best ones and let other students vote for their favorite.
The winners were promised to get away with IU swag along with a chance to get featured across University’s social channels.
This concept will attract engagement from current students for a longer period.
It also encourages prospective students to have a glimpse of what it looks like on the campus and allows them to envision themselves there the next year.
9. Offer Resources For Mid-terms and Finals Week
Mid-terms and finals week are stressful for students. Your institute can help your students by providing them with valuable free resources and free meditation.
Arizona State University encouraged the students to participate in the #SelfImprovementMonth campaign to take a break from the stressful hours they’re going through currently.
ASU also provides resources on its Mindfulness Center Instagram page.
Reel Ideas For B2B Brands
Contrary to the popular belief, Instagram Reels can be a handy tool for B2B brands looking to market their products and grow their customer base.
10. Upcoming Event
Get your audience excited for an upcoming event using the IG Reels. Chemistry is an Atlanta-based creative agency that used this idea to create a Reel for the promotion of an upcoming workshop for professionals in digital advertising, media production, and public relations.
The Reel piques the interest of marketing professionals with a teaser of the thought leadership they’re looking for to get insights into the industry.
11. Fun Way To Showcase Brand Values, Culture
Chemistry uses Instagram Reels to showcase its values and culture in a fun way.
They feature Odie, a cute puppy, and friends seen in the office while Odie explains a core segment of Chemistry’s culture and values.
Odie greets the viewers for “Dogsplainiong with Chemistry”.
Chemistry truly gets creative with this out-of-the-box approach for telling about your brand’s values and culture.
Chemistry is proud to be a dog-friendly agency and it vividly creates that impression with the Reels.
12. Use Animation
While everyone’s Insta feed is populated with images and videos, using animation in your Reels will give a fresh look to your brand and attract more Instagram views.
The idea is that you should never stop with your creativity as a brand. Zoom used the animation to announce Zoom Team Chat.
Your animation doesn’t need to be super complex and bold to make the point. Even a simple animation that aligns with your brand’s voice will do the trick.
In fact, just like any marketing creative, simpler animations will make the message easy to understand and absorb. And that is the obvious point of any creative, right?
It should be noted, though, that creating simple and meaningful animations takes a little bit of work on the creator's side.
13. A Time-lapse Is Highly Satisfying
Posting time-lapse videos are so satisfying and get unusual engagement from the viewers.
You probably have seen time-lapse Reels for murals and cooking, they work as great for the brands as well.
Inventables is a CNC (computer numeric control) brand that has used time-lapse Reels to promote the launch of their 3D carving.
By sharing minute details about their product they’ve smartly conveyed the level of sophistication their products have. This gives a good reason for their prospects to do business with them.
14. Trending Sounds
Most of the time, content creators are considering coming up with eye-catching visuals to hook the audience.
Tapping on the trending sounds and adding them to your Reels could give your brand a big boost that you would miss otherwise.
This Instagram feature of trending sounds is quite a recent phenomenon for reels and it’s getting attention from more and more creators and brands.
Brands can generate impressive results if they know how to get the most out of this tool.
Inventables once again has done a remarkable job. They demonstrated, how to build an impressive sign with the help of a small bit, using the “Go Little Rockstar” trending sound.
They have capitalized well on the attention they got using the trending sound. They have included a well-written caption that tells the story behind the tool in the Reel.
Moreover, they’ve included two call-to-action mentions as well as answered a frequently asked question.
When your brand shares a story inside the caption of an attention-grabber Reel video, you get a lot of brand acknowledgment and engagement.
This is one of our favorite Instagram Reel Ideas for 2022 and beyond.
15. Industry Tips
Sharing industry-specific tips with your audience show that you know your stuff very well and you are perceived as the industry thought leader. It also depicts that you care for your audience and prospects.
ClickUp is a team management software that uses this technique in a perfect way.
They have used the #WorkBestie series to share helpful productivity tips with their audience.
In a Reel, they have shared what should be done while creating a meeting, and what shouldn’t.
Talking head stories are a fun way to engage your audience, share valuable information, and share your brand’s personality and voice.
16. Holiday Season Marketing
The holiday season marks the beginning of a fun time with a lot of buzz going on in households, outdoor spots, and everything in between.
Brands are no exception to this popular end-of-year trend. Since this is a time to create memories, brands can create festive-specific Reels to engage their audience and even expand upon their existing fanbase.
This is because a popular Reel can instantly get a lot of visibility and spark conversations. And while everyone relates to the ongoing seasonal festivities, it can grow your brand’s following.
LaunchDarkly is a feature management platform that has used the same concept and created a Halloween-themed Reel. The video shows a jack-o-lantern animation with the pumpkin having the company’s logo.
Posting these Reels is an effective way to share your brand’s voice and personality. Plus, it provides a window for your audience to talk about the things they would love to engage around.
Reels For Non-profits and Government Agencies
Here are a few Instagram Reel ideas for non-profits and government agencies to achieve their respective goals.
17. Recap Of An Event
You can keep your audience by posting a recap of a past event. Those who attended will reminisce recalling the good old memories, while others will get excited to attend the next one.
Green City Market posted a recap of their recent annual Chef BBQ Festival, featuring vendor stalls, dishes, and a lot more.
Content like this one may inspire donors to come forward and support the cause after seeing what you, as a brand are doing for the community. It’s all about thinking differently and inspiring viewers with your own flavor and personality to an event or cause.
Ideas For Tourism Brands
18. Relatable Travel Frustration
People on social media have a tendency to follow and engage with the content they can relate to.
They even spend more on brands they think are connected to them with their brand stories and posting content around the pain they’re facing. This is because creating relatable content builds brand authenticity and inspires sales.
This is a massive opportunity for brands to dig deep inside customers’ minds and read out what they want to hear or listen to.
A lot of viral memes or content pieces revolve around a specific problem or trouble the customers face while using a product or service.
Travel app hopper posted an Instagram Reel about the troubles passengers face after buying in-flight wifi to chat with friends and family and never getting a response.
Reels For Healthcare
19. Spotlight Frontline Professionals
Appreciating the frontline people in the health sector- the paramedical staff and doctors - is the best way to acknowledge their contribution to the community.
This gives them the motivation to keep contributing while feeling pride in what they’ve achieved so far.
These are the people who are frontline soldiers against any pandemic or outbreak when everyone is taking desperate measures to stay away.
The Grady Health System celebrated #EMSWeek to appreciate the paramedics who have been serving selflessly.
20. ASMR
ASMR videos are also doing very great on Instagram. Figo (a pet insurance brand) has used ASMR as a call to action in their Insta Reels.
They asked the audience in the video about their favorite ASMR sound using text overlay and reminded the audience in the caption as well.
The Reel received a lot of comments as people mentioned their favorite ASMR sound.
This is a great Instagram Reel idea to take Insta traffic to your brand’s website and landing pages.
Final Words
This marks the end of this comprehensive list of Instagram Reel ideas for your content calendar.
You can pick as many ideas as you want that align with your brand voice and brand personality.
While we have covered a lot of content creation ideas in this blog, the list will never be exhausting. You need to keep exploring new ideas that come to your mind and put them into action to see what works and what doesn’t.
Have a safe day!
