This blog post is all about how to grow your Etsy shop using Instagram Reels, and no, there is no dancing involved!

There's been a lot of talk recently as I'm sure you've seen, that Instagram are using videos more and more. This has seen the rise of Reels on the platform.

Now, lots of us saw this and panicked. We're makers after all, we're passionate about our crafts not acting silly on Instagram in the name of increasing our reach.

I'm here to tell you that Reels are not as scary as they seem, and you certainly don't need to create dancing videos. In fact, you don't even need to show your face at all if you don't want to. 

So what are Reels for?

Reels are sort of like an extended version of Stories on Instagram. They're great for seeing a bit more of you, a bit of behind the scenes and a bit of humour too. 

Instagram have found that the users of the platform have very short attention spans. They don't want long form videos like on YouTube, they want a very quick 15 second snippet of a video that'll make them laugh or capture their attention long enough to make them pause and watch the video before moving on to the next. 

This is why I create Reels in a very specific way. I don't do the dancing Reels because I don't want to be an entertainment showpiece in my business. 

How Do People Use Instagram Reels?

One day I was just sat on the train and looking at people next to me on their phones looking at Instagram Reels. What I saw was them endlessly scrolling and scrolling. Not even clicking on the video or the profile or even giving much emotion to what they were seeing. 

So, this got me thinking. How could I capture the attention of my audience so they didn't just scroll past my video, without me having to do a ridiculous dance?

How Do I Create My Instagram Reels?

I create super short, super simple Reels that include a message. 

So, if you're thinking 'how on Earth can I get started and grow my handmade business on Instagram with Instagram Reels?', then this is what I would do.

I would start simply by sharing a message of the day, for as many days of the week as you possibly can. 

It can be something really short, something that is you telling a story or a message that you've heard or that you believe in, in a super short concise way. 

The reason why I do it like that and not the show time dancing Reels, is because it makes people remember you and trust you and makes people connect with you

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What Difference Has Reels Made For My Business?

I've been creating Reels this way on my Instagram for a few months now, and they have been invaluable for creating connection, because the consumers of my videos are getting something from the short videos that I create. 

This is the bottom line when it comes to all types of social media and all content that you put out there, but is especially true for Instagram Reels. The consumer of the content MUST get something out of it. 

Bear this in mind when you're creating all content forms - what will the consumer get from this piece of content?

Make It Memorable

This is the same when people are creating dancing Reels or funny Reels with children and pets - they create entertainment and that makes them memorable. Make sure that you create Reels that are memorable for your audience. That way, they'll want to click on your profile and investigate what else you have to offer. 

This is exactly what my message of the day Reels have done, they enable me to get my personality across, whilst giving the consumer a little bite sized nugget of information that is actually going to make a difference and add value to their lives, and it helps people to click on my profile which is exactly what we want them to do. 

So What's The Process?

There's nothing fancy or time consuming that I do beforehand, I literally just take my phone, head to Instagram Reels and literally just record my message (maybe put a filter on there if it's a dark and gloomy day. When is it not in the UK?), stop recording, add captions to it so that people can watch the video on mute (lots of people consume videos without the sound on, so this is worth doing for this reason, as well as accessibility reasons too), and then I upload it. 

That is it. That's all I do. I don't do transitions or music or anything fancy, but yet my Reels are still bringing me in new followers every single day. 

And this has meant that I don't need to post as much on my Instagram Grid because my messages of the day are doing the hard work for me.

What If You Still Don't Want To Do Reels?

What I want to leave you with is if you don't want to do Reels, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO.

You can try Stories instead, or Instagram Live or just stick to the simple still image which the platform was originally created for (and we all love and miss the old version).

Do not feel pressured into doing Instagram Reels, and especially if you don't want to do dancing/ show business Reels, you don't have to do anything like that. I promise.  

A Challenge For You To Try:

If this blog post has inspired you to give Instagram Reels a go, then give it a try! In fact, I'll challenge you for the next 30 days to post a message of the day on Instagram Reels for 4-5 days a week.

Keep a note of your follower number and your interaction number before and after this challenge, and I'd love it if you could let me know your results via Instagram DM or post in my super awesome Facebook group.

If you'd prefer to watch me visually teach this blog post to you, then you can watch my YouTube video HERE. 

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