As mentioned numerous times on this blog, Instagram Reels have become the hottest, most popular, and trendiest feature on the platform. Their effectiveness in driving growth and engagement makes it crucial to determine whether you should share them to your Feed.
The question of whether to post Instagram Reels to the Feed or not has been a subject of discussion between me and my partner, Panagiotis, for years. We used to advocate for sharing Reels to your Feed without hesitation, considering it almost a rule in the world of social media (although we avoid speaking in absolutes due to the ever-changing landscape).
However, our perspective has recently shifted, and we now suggest not sharing Reels to the Feed. Allow me to explain the process of posting Reels briefly.
Upon reaching the final step before posting your Reel, you'll encounter a Share button with a tiny on-off switch, also known as a toggle. By default, this switch is set to "Also share to Feed," meaning that when you share your Reel, it automatically appears on your Feed.
(Note: Regardless of whether you share a Reel to the Feed or not, it will always be shared to your Reels page.)
So, when someone visits your profile and taps on the Reels button, they can access all your Reels right there. Additionally, all Reels are shared to the Reels Explore page, where they have the chance to rank highly, regardless of being shared to the Feed.
Now, the decision whether to post Reels to the Feed or not and explore page views becomes significant. While your followers can still view your Reel if it's not shared to the Feed, sharing it to the Feed offers several advantages:
It increases the likelihood of your followers seeing it.
It ensures it reaches more of your followers.
It gives your Reel an initial spike in engagement.
By posting to the Feed, you're taking a more proactive approach, rather than relying solely on Instagram's algorithm to display your content to the right audience. However, recently, we've observed a change in trends based on feedback from our audience and our clients.
Many have reported that when they only shared their Reels to the Reels page, the performance improved significantly. This intriguing insight led us to conduct further tests on the 20 different Instagram pages we manage, giving us a unique and extensive opportunity to survey and experiment with various niched-down IG accounts.
As we tested this new theory of posting Reels exclusively to the Reels page, we witnessed a notable increase in views and engagement.
While this strategy is not yet conclusive or foolproof, it is undoubtedly worth paying attention to. But why do we believe this change is happening?
Comments