The simple formula for viral Instagram Reels

I always thought I was “bad” at Instagram. I never knew what to post, and certainly didn’t when the Reels feature came out. I posted 10 reels to my Instagram with little results. Then, I posted this video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CH5ote8gsGh/

I didn’t think anything of it. In fact, it flopped so badly with my initial audience I contemplated deleting it. I’m glad I didn’t, because a week-ish later it hit the almighty algorithm. I woke up to a notification that it had 100k views. Then 200k. Then 5 MILLION. What?

Why did this happen? What was so different about this video? It took some experimenting to figure this simple trick out. Your Reels need a clear beginning, middle, and end. The beginning needs to be catchy and peak the curiosity of the viewer within 2 seconds. Incentivize them to watch to the end or watch it twice. If your content is keeping people on the app longer, Instagram will push it.

I’ve almost doubled my Instagram following in two months, and hope to continue to ride the Reels train. Follow me on Medium where I will be posting more of my social media tips!