Let’s Get Reel: The Pros & Cons of Short Video Content

By now, you’ve probably heard the buzz about social media’s trendiest new feature: the Reel. But how much do you really know about Reels?

A Quick Intro on Reels

Originally launched as an exclusive Instagram feature, Reels are short video clips—often under a minute in length—that feature some kind of trending audio or music. 

Meta, Facebook’s parent company who purchased Instagram back in 2012, introduced the concept for Reels in 2020 as a way to compete with the massive spike in TikTok’s popularity. 

Today, Reels can be made using a wide variety of content: DIY hacks, comical or informative shorts, behind-the-scenes footage. There’s countless popular categories within this trendy term. But they all have one thing in common: they’re short—typically only a few seconds in length, though platforms like Instagram currently allow up to 90 seconds.

The Pros

If you’re thinking of investing in short-form video content, here’s a few pros and cons to keep in mind along the way…

It’s what the people want!

While there’s no one answer to which Reels will perform best and why, we do know people love them! At one point, the most viewed Instagram Reel accumulated around 290 million views. These quick videos perform so well on social media because they’re able to capture attention and hold it. 

When done right, Reels offer followers tailored content that gets right to the point. In turn, this helps create a deeper, more authentic connection between the brand and the customer. Pre-social media, it was much more difficult (and costly) to maintain such a personal, close-up connection with a large number of people.

Video content encourages action.

To an extent, any video content is better than no video content. Of course, there’s exceptions to any rule… But over the past 40 years, we’ve found that time and time again, consumers in many industries prefer to digest “bite sized” information on one topic at a time.

This kind of tunnel vision can help hold attention and encourage your audience to take action, hopefully leading to a conversion for your business. And even if a sale isn’t made as a direct result of Reels, this content is still great for your brand image. It shows your audience your brand is keeping up with consumer trends and adapting as needed.

Reels can be cost effective.

Keywords here: can be. No matter how long or short, a lot of factors and moving parts go into creating strong video content, but there can be easy ways to make it more affordable. Capturing one strong brand video that can be edited into multiple shorter “clips” is a great way to maximize your investment in video and produce Reel-ready content at the same time. The key to success is strategically using that content to save on costs, too. We can help with that!

The Cons

Short videos are… short.

The flip side to Reels and short videos is that they don’t offer a lot of time to get your message across. To make a lasting impact on your audience, you’ll likely need to get creative, as there’s just not much time to entertain or inform viewers.

Keep in mind, social media video content in general is also short-lived (sometimes only viewable for 24 hours). Though there are ways to help extend the life of your content, the brands that thrive on platforms like Instagram and Facebook are the ones that constantly produce fresh content. It can be a lot to keep up with, which is why we highly recommend appointing a dedicated internal person to this role or partnering with an experienced marketing agency.

They reely are everywhere, aren’t they?

There’s a lot of competition in the Reel world. Social media has become its own marketplace, and right now it’s a crowded one that runs on Reels. In almost any industry, most of the top players are probably on social media and producing Reels or video content of some kind. 

We’re not saying it’s all amazing content… But it’s out there. And you have to be in it to win it! Our job is to help you win with video content tailored to your platform, audience, and goal.

Reels thrive on creativity.

It takes a special eye (or team), constant inspiration and strategy adjustments, and a lot of up-keep with current trends to create high-performing Reels and video content. As a rule of thumb, they should include some sort of emotional pull or “wow” factor. 

When capturing the content, you’ll want to be aware of things like lighting, setting, and background noise. In the editing phase, you’ll want to consider things like trending audio, trimming the length down, and adding fun or surprising transitions. 

Finally, your strategy should include a concise, yet captivating message with a clear call to action. The numbers will tell you if it’s working from there! We understand this is a big ask for busy business owners… That’s where we can help! If you’re looking for a social media strategy, strong video content, and help monitoring ongoing campaigns, we’re the partner for you.
Ready to reach new heights? We’d love to connect and learn about your goals. Let’s chat!