Goldfish Generation

September 30, 2021
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When it comes to social media content, viewers attention spans are significantly shorter than they were 5 years ago. ... Cue instagram reels, a saving grace for your business. 


Did you know that it is theorised that now our attention spans are shorter than that of a Goldfish? Scary to think about really. We as viewers and consumers of media have become accustomed to short content that fills a fix that we have. The science behind it is really quite interesting. 

Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms that most people are aware of. It is a photo and video sharing platform which is owned by Facebook (another powerhouse of the social media).

Today I want to talk to you a little about Instagram, more specifically Instagram Reels and why you should be using them for your business.  

It was announced earlier this year by the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, that moving forward Instagram wants to put more emphasis on video content. What does this mean for you? Well if you want to keep growing your businesses presence and following on Instagram (which I am positive you do), you need to be creating video content that is short & catchy to match your audiences attention span. 

So... Welcome Instagram Reels. A strategic new way of uploading videos, inspired by TikTok but Instagram's version... which is much cooler (well so we think!).

Reels are a simple and effective way for you to post video content. For those who don't know what Reels are... I thought I'd share my top 3 favourite Instagram Reels right now from some of my favourite businesses (and yes, they will change in a few days time because millions of reels are made every day!).

Jean Jail

Florals and Fika

Gucci

Still confused? Well Instagram Reels are:

  • Short videos (usually 8 - 60 seconds long)
  • Made up of footage that is either filmed on the spot or pre-filmed (you can edit clips together)
  • Able to upload Reels to your Instagram story in addition to your Instagram feed and your Reels gallery
  • Easily shot on a mobile phone


We here at Hey Marketing recently put up some polls about Reels on our Instagram story which delivered some interesting results. A lot of people were not creating Reels because they thought it didn't fit with their business image, this is because they thought Reels are too "goofy" or "silly". 


This perception that Reels can only be used for goofy content simply isn't correct. In fact Reels can be a great tool to deliver information or a behind the scenes look.


When creating a Reel for your business here are some important things to remember:

  1. Create A Hook: Create a hook within the first 3 seconds to catch the viewers attention and hold it. 
  2. Use Trending Music/Sounds: When editing your Reel or Filming it, it is a great idea to use trending music/sounds as it helps with the discoverability of your Reel gaining more viewers and growing your audience. 
  3. On Screen Text: Once again when editing, you should take advantage of being able to use onscreen text. Use short words that you want the viewer to remember. 
  4. Short Captions: You don't want to overload your audience with too much information, this may scare them away from your content. Keep your Reel captions, short and to the point. The video should do the talking. 


The most important thing to remember is the catchier the better, you want to catch the audiences attention even though we all have such short attention spans now. Once you hook the viewer in make sure you are holding their attention, when you've got the gold fish don't loose him!


That's me signing off!

Happy Creating! 


- Taylor


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