If Reels are part of your digital marketing strategy, you want to get the best performance possible from your efforts. New research data has pointed to new strategies for building your brand and improving direct performance. 

Meta says that that over half of the time spent on Instagram is spent on Reels, and time spent on Instagram videos is up 30% over the previous year. As a result, marketers need to think more about crafting meaningful viewer experiences as opposed to simply “making a good ad.”

For brand advertisers, Meta suggests these tips for creators:

• To improve purchase intent ranking:
  • Your brand and main message should appear early in the Reel, ideally within the first 5 seconds, to make it more likely to rank in the top one-fifth for purchase intent.
  • Display the brand more than one time in various scenes and/or positions.
  • Show people engaging in everyday activities.
• To improve brand interest:
  • Include both speech and music.
  • Combine audio and visual uses of brand to improve brand interest.

For direct response advertisers, these tips are recommended by Meta to improve purchase intent ranking:

• Show the featured product or service more than once.
• Include your brand while featuring your product/service, but not for more than 25% of the Reel.
• Boost your primary Reel message with additional related context, such as unique selling points or other features.
• Include a CTA visually and/or via audio.
• Use speech and music concurrently.
• Incorporate native elements in your Reels.
  

One final tip: Deliver your hook using both sound and visual elements to improve ranking for purchase intent.