Posting a whole Instagram reel to your story is a great way to boost engagement. But if you want to share your reels in their entirety, you’ll need to know how to do it right. This guide covers everything you need to know to share your reels on your story without cutting off any of the action. Plus, we’ll share some creative Instagram Reel ideas that will help you connect with your audience and grow your following—whether it’s showcasing behind-the-scenes moments, hopping on trending audio, or sharing quick how-tos that reflect your brand’s personality and value.
Crayo AI’s clip creator tool transforms short video production, making it incredibly efficient. It can generate unlimited short clips simultaneously and automatically add captions, effects, backgrounds, and music.
Table Of Contents
- Importance of Instagram Reels
- How to Post a Full Reel on Instagram Story in 3 Ways
- Length of Instagram Reels and Stories
- 9 Tips to Create Instagram Reels
- Create Viral Shorts In Seconds With Crayo
Importance of Instagram Reels
1. Enhanced Visibility and Reach: Unlocking the Power of Reels
Instagram Reels utilize Instagram’s algorithm to boost your content’s visibility, thereby expanding your reach to a broader audience. If your Reels resonate, they could land on the Explore page, further amplifying reach and making your brand more discoverable.
2. Increased Brand Awareness: A New Era of Engagement
Reels offer an engaging way to showcase your products and services, creating immersive brand experiences that captivate your audience. The organic nature of Reels also provides opportunities for behind-the-scenes glimpses of your company, humanizing your brand and fostering personal connections with your audience.
3. Elevated Audience Engagement: Fostering Community Connections
Interactive features, such as polls, questions, and challenges, encourage active participation from followers. Reels also provide a platform for user-generated content campaigns that foster a sense of community and involvement, leading to higher engagement rates.
4. Efficient Content Consumption: Delivering Impact in Seconds
The short format of Instagram Reels caters to short attention spans, enabling brands to deliver concise, engaging content in various educational, promotional, and cultural formats.
5. Measurable Impact: Tracking Performance with Analytics
Instagram Reels offers analytics features that track key metrics and provide valuable insights into the performance of your content and overall strategy.
6. Time-Efficient Production: Authenticity Over Polished Perfection
The Instagram algorithm favors real-time, authentic content, enabling brands to create engaging Reels without lengthy production timelines.
7. Cost-Effective Marketing: Achieving Impact Without Big Budgets
The time efficiency of Reels extends to marketing efforts, with the algorithm rewarding organic content that achieves impactful wins without significant advertising budgets.
8. Cross-Platform Functionality: Expanding Reach Beyond Instagram
Reels make it easy to share content formatted for Instagram on other social media platforms, allowing brands to expand their reach beyond Instagram audiences.
9. Real-Time Audience Connections: Engaging Beyond the Feed
The social nature of Instagram Reels provides unique opportunities for brands to engage with their audience beyond the traditional consumer-provider relationship, fostering connections that build brand loyalty.
10. Opportunities for Creative Innovation: Experimenting With Content
Instagram Reels rewards creativity, experimentation, and unique content, enabling brands to explore dynamic and engaging ways to connect with their audience and showcase their brand’s personality.
How to Post a Full Reel on Instagram Story in 3 Ways
1. Use Instagram’s Built-In Sharing Option
To seamlessly share your Reel on your Story without any interruptions, Instagram’s sharing feature is your go-to tool. Here’s how to do it:
- First, post your Reel to your feed as you normally would.
- Tap the paper airplane icon beneath the Reel and select “Add Reel to Your Story.”
- This action generates a preview on your Story that highlights a segment of your Reel, complete with a clickable link that directs viewers straight to the full video.
Why choose this method? It preserves your entire Reel while encouraging your audience to check out the complete version on your profile.
2. Trim Your Reel Manually and Post in Multiple Stories
If you want your entire Reel to play directly on your Story, you’ll need to manually segment it into several 15-second clips to fit the Story format. Here’s how to go about it:
Download the Reel
Start by saving your Reel to your camera roll. Tap the three dots on the post and select “Save to Camera Roll.”
Trim the Video
Use a video editing app like InShot or CutStory to divide your video into 15-second segments. These apps help maintain smooth transitions.
Upload in Order
Head to your Story and upload each segment in the correct sequence. Your followers will see the Reel in multiple parts, but the flow will feel seamless.
A Pro Tip
Although this approach requires extra effort, manually splitting and posting your Reel ensures the entire video plays in your Story without omitting key moments. Plus, you gain more control over the visual flow and presentation.
3. Resize Your Reel for a Better Fit
At times, Reels may get trimmed because they aren’t adequately sized for Instagram’s Story format. If parts of your video are being cropped, resize it to align with Instagram’s 1080 x 1920 pixels Story dimensions. Here’s how to do that:
- Use a video editing tool like Crayo AI to adjust your video’s size.
- These apps allow you to customize the canvas to Instagram’s Story format, ensuring nothing important is cut off.
- After resizing, upload your video to your Story, and everything should fit perfectly.
Why does this method work? It’s beneficial if content is visually cut off rather than just time-wise. Resizing guarantees your video appears as sharp and straightforward as possible.
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Length of Instagram Reels and Stories
Instagram Reels: Length, Limits, and All the Essential Details
When it comes to Instagram Reels, the magic number for video length is 90 seconds. This gives content creators ample time to craft engaging, entertaining, and informative videos for their audience. Reels have their dedicated section on Instagram, making it easy for users to discover trending videos. They also appear on user profiles and within the Explore feed, further boosting their visibility.
Instagram Stories: Length, Limits, and All the Essential Details
Instagram Stories allow for a maximum video length of 60 seconds. If you try to post a video that exceeds this limit, no worries. Instagram will automatically trim your video to fit within the 60-second timeframe. This ensures a seamless viewing experience for your audience.
A Quick Note on Size and Aspect Ratio for Reels and Stories
One of the keys to creating engaging content on Instagram is ensuring your videos are the right size and shape. For both Reels and Stories, the ideal dimensions are 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 9:16. This full-screen format helps your content look its best, whether viewers are scrolling through their feeds or watching videos in the Reels or Stories sections of the app.
9 Tips to Create Instagram Reels
1. Harness Crayo AI for Exceptional Content Creation
Crayo AI streamlines the process of generating high-quality short videos. It allows users to produce an unlimited number of short videos simultaneously. The tool automatically creates captions, effects, backgrounds, and music, saving you time and effort. To use Crayo, simply outline your video concept, customize its style using the platform's free templates, and export your finished product. The result? Quick and easy generation of viral shorts that can help you earn money through programs like TikTok's creator fund. Test Crayo’s free clip creation tool today. No account needed.
2. Stay Current with Trends
Instagram Reels now closely resemble TikTok in terms of format and functionality. Users frequently upload videos that align with viral challenges, trends, and other shared elements. By creating content related to popular topics, you can increase your views and engagement. To identify current trends, check Instagram’s Explore page or explore Google Trends.
3. Capture Attention Immediately
To keep viewers engaged, start your Reels with a hook in the first few seconds. This can include a close-up shot of your subject, a surprising visual, or eye-catching text. Longer videos risk losing your audience’s engagement, so prioritize brevity and impact.
4. Post Consistently
To grow your following and increase engagement, develop a regular posting schedule for your Reels. If you struggle with frequency, start with one video per week and adjust as needed. Quality should always take precedence over quantity, so focus on creating valuable content regardless of how often you post.
5. Focus on a Specific Niche
Targeting a specific niche or topic helps you create content that resonates with your audience. The more relevant your Reels are to your viewers, the higher their engagement will be, which in turn boosts your visibility on Instagram. To identify popular topics, use Instagram’s search function and explore trending hashtags.
6. Incorporate Popular Music and Sounds
Music can enhance your Reels by setting the mood and energizing your audience. Use trending songs or sounds your viewers will recognize to increase your content’s shareability. Additionally, consider incorporating relevant sound effects to enhance the engagement of your videos.
7. Optimize Hashtags for Discovery
Hashtags improve the discoverability of your Reels, making it easier for users to find your content. To identify the best hashtags for your videos, explore Instagram’s search function for trending tags. You can also use tools like Hashtagify and RiteTag to refine your search.
8. Ensure Correct Sizing for Mobile Viewing
Reels are designed for mobile consumption, so prioritize vertical formatting when creating your videos. The ideal aspect ratio is 16:9, with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. Aim for a length of
15 to 30 seconds to maximize your chances of engagement. Editing tools can help you optimize your videos for various formats and platforms.
9. Analyze Your Competitors
To improve your own Reels strategy, observe your competitors’ content. Analyze their engagement and view counts, and take notes on their use of music, captions, special effects, and hashtags. This research can reveal new approaches to experiment with in your content.
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Create Viral Shorts In Seconds With Crayo
Understanding the Instagram algorithm can feel like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. It’s complicated, ever-changing, and frustrating. But here’s the good news: You can crack the code. Or at least get a better handle on how the algorithm works. This will help you optimize your content strategy for maximum reach and engagement. So, what does the Instagram algorithm prioritize in 2023? Here’s what we know:
1. Relationships
The more a user interacts with your content, the more likely it is to appear in their feed. Engage your audience and their friends to boost your content’s visibility.
2. Recency
Newer posts are prioritized over older content. To maximize your reach, experiment with posting at different times and track when your audience is most active.
3. Frequency
The frequency at which a user opens Instagram affects what they see. If they check the app daily, they’ll see a mix of new and old posts. If it’s been a while, the algorithm will prioritize newer content.
4. Following
Users who follow many accounts will see a wider variety of content. This may limit the reach of your posts, at least initially.
5. Content Type
The algorithm learns what each user prefers — reels, Stories, photos, or videos — and prioritizes that content accordingly. Experiment with all formats to reach new audiences.
6. Engagement
The algorithm favors content that sparks comments, shares, and saves. Focus on creating posts that resonate with your audience.
7. Keywords
Captions, alt text, and hashtags help the algorithm categorize your content. Optimize these elements to improve your visibility on Instagram.
8. Trends
The algorithm rewards timely content, such as trending sounds and challenges. Stay ahead of the curve to capitalize on viral moments.
9. Ads
Instagram is a business. Paid content will appear in users’ feeds, regardless of prior engagement.
10. Bots and fake accounts
The algorithm detects and limits the reach of inauthentic accounts. Focus on building real engagement to boost your visibility. The Instagram algorithm is complex and constantly evolving. But by understanding its key factors, you can optimize your strategy for improved reach and engagement.
Try Crayo’s free clip creator tool today. Click the ‘Try Now’ button on our homepage to get started. No account required! Go from prompt to viral short videos in minutes with Crayo.
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