Instagram now isn't what it used to be when it just launched. What started as a photo-sharing app is now a platform where short-form videos, Reels, in particular, dominate. For musicians, artists, and creators, these bite-sized clips aren’t just an optional trend. They’re a direct route to reaching new audiences, building engagement, and, ultimately, growing a loyal following.
How Instagram algorithm favours short videos
Instagram wants people watching Reels. The platform prioritises videos that keep users engaged, that keep them on the app, pushing them into the Explore page and Reels tab, particularly as part of its strategy to compete with TikTok. Unlike traditional posts, short videos have a better chance of reaching users who don’t already follow you. The more engagement a Reel gets, such as likes, comments, shares, and saves, rewatches, the more Instagram boosts its visibility.
Besides, the algorithm now seemingly reduces visibility for reposted videos to promote authenticity and give smaller creators a better chance to be seen. This contrasts with In-Feed posts, which are also influenced by relevance but not as heavily focused on engagement metrics.
The algorithm takes into account users' past interactions with content. This means that if a user frequently engages with Reels, they are more likely to see similar content in the future. You've probably noticed that yourself when scrolling your Reels tab on Instagram.
What's more, Reels are designed for broad visibility across the platform, appearing not just in the dedicated Reels feed but also in the Explore section and even Stories which is pretty telling if we think about Instagram's intentions to push Reels as a primary video format on the platform.
The result of posting Reels regularly is more exposure, more followers, and more opportunities for you as a creator and artist!
How to Make Reels That Get Noticed: Ideas for Your Short-Form Video Strategy
Attention spans are short, and scrolling is fast. That means your video needs to hook viewers within the first seconds. As a musician and creator, you can experiment with different content styles:
- Tease a new song, share a live gig moment, or remix an old track.
- Show a glimpse of your creative process, from studio sessions to lyric writing. Showcase the raw, unpolished work and let followers feel like they’re part of the journey.
- Respond to comments with video replies, duet other users, or start a challenge.
- Use popular audio clips or video trends, like POVs, to boost discoverability.
- Whether you're creating artwork or recording a song, time-lapses are captivating to watch. You can compress hours of work into a few seconds for a fun and engaging experience.
- Showcase a song, mix, or project before and after it’s completed. The transformation is satisfying and shows your skill development over time.
- Share 15-30 second performance clips of your music, whether it's a live jam session or a rehearsed piece. Leave them wanting more, and invite followers to hear the full version on your profile or other platforms, like Spotify.
- Offer brief tutorials, like how to play a riff, compose a melody, or even how to mix tracks. Teach your audience something new while showcasing your expertise.
- Work with fellow musicians, dancers, brands, or visual artists to create collaborative Reels. This cross-promotion can help you tap into each other’s audiences.
- Put your spin on popular songs or cover tracks in your style. Fans of the original artist will find it intriguing, and your creative take could draw new followers.
- Jump on trending sounds or challenges and incorporate your own artistic twist. Create a unique version of a viral challenge to stand out.
- Engage with your audience by asking questions or hosting fun, interactive polls on music, art, or creative preferences. You could answer questions live, or feature responses in a follow-up video.
- Share the evolution of your song-writing process. Break down your lyrics, melodies, and instrumentation choices to help followers connect with your music on a deeper level.
- Talk about what inspires you, whether it’s other artists, nature, books, or movies. Sharing your influences can help your audience understand your creative vision.
- Post teaser clips of upcoming music videos or new releases. Build anticipation by sharing exciting snippets leading up to your launch.
- React to the latest trends in music or art (like viral sounds, beats, or techniques) and offer your own take or opinion. This positions you as someone on top of current trends.
- Share old videos or photos of early performances, projects, or works-in-progress. Showing how far you’ve come will inspire others and highlight your growth.
This list can go on and on. If you run out of ideas, you can use things like ChatGPT to help you overcome the creative block.
#1. Hook Viewers in the First 3 Seconds
With users able to scroll past videos in an instant, capturing attention right away is essential. The first three seconds should pack a punch—whether through striking visuals, sharp text, or a compelling statement. Give viewers a reason to stay by immediately showing what’s in it for them.
If your video doesn’t hook them fast enough, they’ll move on, and the algorithm won’t push your content. Low retention leads to fewer views, less engagement, and slower account growth.
Read also: How to Promote Music with YouTube Shorts in 2025: A Guide
#2. Come Up with a Posting Schedule Without Burning Out
Regular posting is key to growing a loyal audience on short-form video platforms. Uploading new content every 1–3 days keeps your profile active and engaged without overwhelming yourself. Sustaining a steady pace over time is more effective than posting in bursts and disappearing.
To make consistency easier, consider batch-recording multiple videos in one session. This way, you’ll have a backlog of content ready to roll out over the week or month, depending on your posting schedule.
#3. Keep It Brief
Shorter videos tend to perform better in the fast-paced world of short-form content. Attention spans are limited, and keeping things concise makes it easier to hold viewers’ interest from start to finish. While longer clips can work, maintaining engagement is much simpler with a quick, to-the-point video. For instance, the recommended video length for an Instagram Reel is 7–15 seconds.
#4. Learn from the Leaders
Identify leading short-form video creators within your field and analyse their approach. What types of content are they excelling with? How do they craft their openings and calls to action? Use these insights to develop your own unique and engaging content. Trending videos can often be spotted on explore or discovery sections.
#5. Repurpose Your Best Content
Review your analytics to pinpoint the highest-performing videos. Break down what worked; whether it was the topic, format, or delivery, and use those insights to create new versions with a different perspective or updated details. Transform one successful idea into a format you can repeat to boost engagement.
You can also enhance your viral videos by adding more context. This could involve expanding on the topic, sharing what happened after it went viral, or simply re-editing the video for a fresh take.
#6. Connect with Your Audience
Respond to comments, ask questions to encourage interaction, and showcase user-generated content to make your followers feel appreciated. Instagram now allows you to reply to comments with videos, so you can make more Reels to keep your profile active effortlessly.
#7. Maximise Search Visibility
Increase the chances of your short-form videos being discovered by optimising titles, descriptions, and hashtags. Add relevant keywords and take advantage of trending hashtags to extend your reach. Many platforms, including Instagram, now function like search engines, enabling viewers to find content by searching for specific terms mentioned in your videos.
#8. Add Captions to Your Videos
Including captions in your videos and stories works for both accessibility and engagement. The more people who can follow your content, the greater your reach. Plus, many users scroll through social media with the sound off, so without captions, they might quickly skip past your video.
#9. Don’t Rely on Descriptions Under Your Videos
Most people don’t read descriptions on short-form videos. On Instagram, Reels only show a snippet of the caption in the feed and explore page, requiring users to click “more” to see the full text.
Given the platform limitations and user habits, it’s best to add as much information as possible directly into the video and/or on-screen captions. You can do this by adding text on the screen in short bursts or using voice-overs to provide context and address potential questions. Always include your call to action in the video itself, either through text or narration.
If you still need to include additional details, encourage viewers to check the caption by adding a prompt, like “For more info, check the caption!” either in the voice-over or on-screen text.
How to Create More Short Videos with Less Effort
The biggest challenge here is consistency. Regularly posting high-quality short videos is, let's be honest, quite complicated, especially for musicians who are already juggling recording, performing, and promoting their work. That’s where AI Video Cut comes in.
Instead of manually editing long videos into bite-sized clips, AI Video Cut does the work for you. It scans footage, detects key moments, and generates short-form videos automatically from your longer footage. Whether you need highlight clips from a live performance, quick takes from a podcast interview, or engaging snippets from a behind-the-scenes vlog, AI Video Cut speeds up the process while maintaining quality.
Key features include:
- The tool finds the most engaging parts of a longer video.
- Lets users choose which moments to focus on.
- Easily identifies speakers without cropping faces and heads which is useful for interviews, podcasts, and Q&A videos.
- Captures the best moments of a live set or jam session.
For musicians and creators looking to stay active on Instagram without spending hours editing, tools like this can be a lifesaver.
Powered by OpenAI, this tool allows you to make different types of short videos, always tailored to a specific social media platform, be it Reels, TikTok, Shorts, X, LinkedIn, and more. Here's how it works:
- Open AI Video Cut in your browser.
- Paste the link to your YouTube video you want to clip or upload it directly from your device.
- Choose one of the prompts or come up with your own custom prompt.
- Choose the required aspect ratio for Reels. It's 9:16.
- Choose the video length.
- Choose the style of the auto-captions or turn them off completely if your original videos has them.
- As soon as you’re happy with your clip, export it and download the video to share it on Instagram.
Tips to Avoid Posting the Same Content to Instagram Reels, TikTok & YouTube Shorts
Musicians and content creators constantly switching between social media platforms know the struggle: posting the same video everywhere feels repetitive, both for the audience and the creator. But there’s a way to keep things fresh without doubling the workload: small but deliberate adjustments tailored to each platform.
- One of the easiest tweaks is music. Platforms have different trending sounds, and the same track can carry a completely different vibe depending on the audience. Swapping background music to fit the app’s culture can make a clip feel more at home on a given platform.
- Typography is another subtle but effective tool. The same video with different fonts, or even variations in capitalisation, can shift perception. A bold, all-caps overlay might work on TikTok, while something more understated fits Instagram better.
- Captions and on-screen text also offer room for variation. The core content remains unchanged, but the wording can be adjusted to match each platform’s tone. This way, the message speaks directly to each audience without feeling like a copy-paste job.
A few small changes can go a long way in keeping content engaging across platforms, without stretching production resources thin.
When to Post Reels on Instagram to Grow Steadily?
Posting at the right time helps, but consistency matters more. The best approach is a steady flow of content. Posting three to five Reels per week keeps your profile active in Instagram’s recommendations. Sharing your Reels in Stories and collaborating with other creators can further extend your reach. And don’t forget to engage—reply to comments, interact with followers, and keep the conversation going.
Track What Works
Not every Reel will take off, and that’s fine. The key is learning from what does. Keep an eye on Instagram Insights:
- Which videos get the most saves and shares?
- What type of content keeps viewers watching till the end?
- Are certain times of day leading to more engagement?
Testing different styles and approaches will help refine your content strategy over time.
Bonus: Top Apps for Editing Short-Form Videos
InShot: A user-friendly app, InShot makes it easy to trim, cut, and add captions to your videos. It's perfect for both beginners and more advanced users.
CapCut: Known for its simplicity and powerful features, CapCut allows you to add captions, stickers, and effects to your videos with ease.
Kinemaster: A professional-grade editing app, Kinemaster supports multilayer editing on both iOS and Android. It's ideal for adding captions, music, and other elements to your videos.
Submagic: Allows you to add captions, B-roll, zoom effects, and sound effects to make your content more captivating.
Clipomatic: This app uses voice recognition to turn your speech into captions, making it a great choice for quickly adding text to your short videos.
Magisto: Powered by AI, Magisto can automatically add captions to your videos, offering an effortless, hands-off editing experience.
💡Good to Know
Do short videos do well on Instagram?
Yes, short videos perform really well on Instagram, especially in the form of Reels. Instagram prioritises Reels in its algorithm, making them more likely to be seen by people who don’t already follow you. Because they’re designed to be fast, engaging, and loop seamlessly, they tend to keep viewers watching longer, which signals to Instagram that the content is worth promoting.
People generally interact more with short-form videos than with static posts, and features like trending sounds, effects, and remix options make Reels easy to engage with. Since Instagram is competing with TikTok, it actively pushes short videos in the Explore tab and users' feeds, giving them more visibility than regular posts or even Stories. If you're looking to grow on Instagram, consistently posting Reels is one of the most effective strategies.
How to go viral with short-form content?
Going viral with short-form content isn’t an exact science, but there are key strategies that boost your chances. First, hook viewers immediately—the first 1-3 seconds are crucial. No matter how: be it an unexpected statement, a bold visual, or a quick-cut edit, you need to grab attention fast.
Trends play a huge role in virality. Using trending sounds, challenges, and effects can push your content further because platforms prioritise content that aligns with current trends. However, simply following trends isn’t enough—you need to put a unique spin on them to stand out.
The viral formula is different for everyone, but if your content is entertaining, relatable, or provides value in a way that grabs attention fast, you’re already on the right track.
Do people prefer short or long videos?
It depends on the platform, audience, and type of content, but in general, people tend to prefer short videos for quick entertainment, while long videos work better for in-depth storytelling and detailed explanations.
On social media platforms like Instagram Reels, short videos perform better because they’re fast, engaging, and easy to consume. These platforms are designed for quick scrolling, and shorter content fits perfectly into that behaviour. People are more likely to watch a 10- to 30-second video all the way through than a several-minute-long one, which boosts engagement and visibility.
However, long videos still have their place, especially on YouTube and streaming platforms. If viewers are looking for tutorials, deep dives, documentaries, or storytelling, they’re willing to invest time in longer content. Podcasts, vlogs, and educational videos often perform better in a longer format because they provide more value and detail.
So, it’s about context.
Is a one-minute Reel too long?
Not necessarily. It depends on the content and how engaging it is. While Instagram allows Reels up to 90 seconds, shorter videos (between 7-15 seconds) often perform better because they align with fast-scrolling behavior and are more likely to be watched in full.
That said, if your one-minute Reel is engaging from start to finish, it can still perform well. The key is to hook viewers in the first 1-3 seconds, keep the pacing dynamic, and ensure every moment adds value. Tutorials, storytelling, or behind-the-scenes content can justify the length, while quick trends or entertainment clips might work better when kept shorter.
If you find that people aren’t watching your full Reel, try breaking it into shorter, more digestible clips or making the first few seconds even more compelling to hold attention.
Do longer Reels get less views?
Again, not necessarily, but shorter Reels often get more views because they align better with Instagram’s fast-scrolling behaviour. Longer Reels (30-60 seconds) can still perform well if they hold attention from start to finish.
Does rewatching an Instagram Reel count as a view?
Yes, rewatching an Instagram Reel does count as a view. Instagram counts a view each time the video starts playing, even if it's from the same user watching multiple times. This means that if someone loops your Reel or rewatches it, each play contributes to the total view count.
However, engagement factors like watch time, likes, comments, shares, and saves play a bigger role in how Instagram's algorithm promotes your content. A Reel with high retention and interactions is more likely to be pushed to a wider audience than one that just racks up views from loops without engagement.
