Reel them in

Graphic designer and illustrator Karruna Valecha founder of DesignvaleCo had been shying away from Instagram Reels The thought of putting herself out there seemed daunting ldquoBut then I realised you have to play the gamerdquo She decided to up her marketing strategy by hopping on the Reels bandwagon ldquoPeople want to know the face behind the brandmdashthey want to know your storyrdquo But how does one get followers and nonfollowers excited about design logosValecha 31 oscillates between making funny memetype videos and showcasing her design process in cute sevensecond reels ldquoI do a mix because I want it to be relevant to my profession but also fun enough for anyone to watch I keep saving trending songs and writing down ideas and shooting all of them on one day in a weekrdquo she says adding ldquoI donrsquot care about the numbers but I care about getting work and that has increased manifold Thatrsquos why I will keep at thisrdquoLeft Tanish Shah makes 30second Reels to help his followers make easy cocktails and food at home Follow him on theghotalaguy right graphic designer Karruna Valecha says that if you need to grow you should play the Reels game Follow her on designvalecoInstagram launched Reels in India in July 2020 around the time TikTok got banned The millions of influencers and video lovers organically migrated to the app then and there has been no looking back In September there was a separate tab created for Reels Today it has become the most valuable and useful way to get traction on the social media app The key lies in being authentic real and consistentEarlier this month Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that video content was the way ahead ldquoWersquore no longer a photo sharing apprdquo he admitted On his official Twitter handle Mosseri wrote ldquoAt Instagram wersquore always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience Right now wersquore focused on four key areas creators video shopping and messagingrdquoSukriti Jindal Khaitan cofounder asa beautyFacebook the parent company of Instagram also announced on July 16 that they would be investing 1 billion on the apps just to support creators especially those who make video content In fact they plan to pay creators who make great Reels When we spoke to Instagram India Archana Vohra Director Small amp Medium Business Facebook India said ldquoReels is the best place on Instagram to reach people who donrsquot follow you and a growing global stage where brands and creators can be discovered by anyone For instance thequirkynaari a Gurgaonbased business which sells custom shoes as well as bridal footwear is leveraging trending music to showcase their products aachho a womenrsquos apparel brand from Jaipur is working with influencers to showcase its Indian apparel coral_blushh a Mumbaibased vegan bags and accessories brand introduced itself on Reels using the lsquosmall business owner checkrsquo original audio trendrdquo An average of six million Reels are produced in India every day For furnishings jewellery and clothing brand The Indian Ethnic Co Reels came at the right timemdashjust when they were planning to launch their sarees ldquoThe brand has always been about showcasing real women and we try not to professionalise the photographs We wanted to keep that in mind when making videos as wellrdquo says 29yearold Lekhinee Desai founder of the fouryearold business Desai who is a trained Odissi dancer got her sister Twara and her other dancer friends to wear the sarees and make a dance video on Reels ldquoWe got a million views in a few days and the sarees were sold outrdquo What worked for them feels Desai is that the girls all of different body shapes and ages looked comfortable moving in the ensemble Ever since they chose Reels as their primary tool for marketing on Instagram their following has more than doubled from 160k to 380k They keep the steps simple and choose songs that everyone enjoys like AR Rahman favouritesMeanwhile asa beauty has been making Reels that show influencers showcasing makeup looks from scratch which they say has helped them build an audience Cofounder Sukriti Jindal Khaitan says ldquoReels have given us a platform to showcase our brand associations the future creators and voices of purposeful luxury The lsquohow to applyrsquo Reels have gained the most traction Consumers or even potential consumers are interested in knowing how the product will look post application This has really helped our brand in terms of discovery visibility and follower engagementrdquoItrsquos not just brands that are milking the trend but personal creators too Tanish Shah 30 who is a mechanical engineerturnedchef uses Reels to share easy 30second recipes for food and cocktails ldquoI have a mantra keep it as easy as possible I help users make cocktails with what they have in their fridge no fancy liquors required And all of it is done in a fun format with a trending song playing in the backgroundrdquo In the end itrsquos all about finding a balance says Desai ldquoReels are a perfect mix of creativity sales and marketing Itrsquos a winwinrdquoUSD 1 BnThe amount Facebook will be investing on its apps to support creators especially those who make video content