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While many retailers are getting into back-to-school mode, planning for the holidays is picking up too.
In addition to stocking inventory and scheduling sales and events for that busiest shopping season of the year, retailers might consider changing up or enhancing their marketing efforts—and that includes social media. To that end, Instagram recently shared Reels tips in its Professional Dashboard, which is available to the app’s business accounts.
As seen in a series of screenshots posted by Lia Haberman on Threads, Instagram offers guidelines to users looking to improve their Reels performance. Some are fairly obvious, but they all serve as a good reminder of what businesses should be concerning themselves with as they create their holiday-related content.
Leading off the list of tips is “Make your first 3 seconds count”—that is, share something funny, relatable, or unexpected at the start of a Reel to snag audiences from the get-go. Instagram also recommends that a Reel last between 30 and 60 seconds; the apps says Reels of that length get better engagement and are shown to more audiences. Practice before recording to ensure the correct timing.
Another suggestion from Instagram: Use relevant hashtags with your Reels. CEO Adam Mosseri said in a recent interview that hashtags don’t offer much benefit to users, though they can help them connect with certain target communities, so it doesn’t seem worthwhile to get too hung up on hashtags (and including too many is definitely a no. But a few relevant ones couldn’t hurt.
The next tip is universal, especially for the jewelry industry—high-res is a must. All uploads should be in the highest resolution possible, as users (and readers) like to engage with good-quality content.
Instagram further recommends replying to all comments within seven days (that seems like a generous amount of time, right?), and sharing your content across all platforms at the same time for the most consistent reach.
(Image via Instagram)
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