Social media giant Instagram has announced it’s introducing a new boosted post option for Reels.
Reels are the platform’s version of TikTok videos – short-form, portrait videos that can be used for anything from dances, recipes and tutorials to stories, education and so much more. Now, users who post Reels will be able to boost these posts.
The boosted Reels will appear in users’ feeds, within Stories, the ‘Explore’ page and the Reels tab. To be eligible, Reels must be no more than 60 seconds long, have an aspect ratio of 9:16 – meaning they’re portrait and full-screen – and contain no third-party content like copyrighted music, filters and effects, stickers or GIFs. As well as this, any Reels that have been shared to Facebook also won’t be eligible for boosting.
To boost a Reel, all users need to do is click onto the Reel in question on their profile and then click the blue ‘Boost Post’ button.
On Instagram, which is a highly visual app, boosting Reels will undoubtedly result in them getting seen by more people, and potentially people will receive some more profile visitors and perhaps the odd extra follower or two. This new option does bring into question whether Instagram is following in the footsteps of Facebook, introducing paid ad options so that it can reduce the organic reach of accounts, and therefore sway businesses towards shelling out money on ads.
What’s more, like with Facebook, you should NEVER boost a post if you want to get something tangible out of it – such as purchases or enquiries.
Why?
Boosted posts are just that – a regular post that’s been boosted and shoved in front of a load of people. When it comes to advertising on both Facebook and Instagram – both of which are done using the exact same process via the same Meta-owned platform – you need to ensure your ads are optimised correctly to get results. This involves your ads being targeted at the right people, the right placements being selected and the right ad objective being chosen, not to mention then the more visual elements like the imagery and text.
General posts on a business’s social media page could and should look very different to an ad, as posts on your page are put out to people who already know your business, whereas ads are put in front of new people and should educate them on, and entice them to try, your products or services.
Boosted posts, unless your aim is to simply get your post seen by a lot of people – who may or may not (likely not) be interested in what it is to do – are a waste of time.
If you’d like to know how to craft Instagram and Facebook Ads that really work, sign up to our free online Facebook Ads Masterclass today, or get in touch with our team at Engage Web to discuss our Facebook Ads management packages.
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