Short-form video content has taken over social media. It’s why Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have prioritized short videos over the last few years. But with more attention on TikTok and Reels, it has become increasingly more competitive to stand out on both platforms.
With 1.04 billion active users on TikTok and 2.35 billion monthly users on Instagram Reels, creating short-form video content that stands out can exponentially grow your community and engagement.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through 10 tips to help you stand out on Instagram Reels and TikTok.
How to Stand Out on Instagram Reels & TikTok: A Comprehensive Guide
Getting eyes on your Reels and TikToks is a win-win situation. Not only do you feel like the work you put into your content is paying off, but it also:
- Builds a stronger personal brand
- Helps you gain industry recognition
- Strengthens your content creation skills
- Engages with and makes a positive impact on your audience
- Exposes you to a larger audience
And you’re going to reap the benefits of garnering attention through your Instagram Reels & TikTok by…
1. Understanding the Algorithm
Before you create content that captures your audience’s attention, you need to understand how Instagram Reels and TikTok’s algorithm work on a basic level.
How The Instagram Reels Algorithm Works
Instagram Reels are deeply embedded in the platform’s ecosystem. This means Reels appear both on your explore page, your home feed, as well as its own Reels tab.
Instagram prioritizes engagement like shares and comments when determining the popularity of a reel. This impacts if a Reel is shown and promoted by the by Instagram’s algorithm.
This means creating Reels that focus on encouraging interactions, shares in particular, increases your chances of visibility. Additionally, Reels that are watched till the end are favored, indicating strong engagement and boosting your Reels’ reach.
How TikTok’s Algorithm Works
TikTok’s “For You Page” is the main content discovery feed where the algorithm personalizes a curated feed based on each user’s interest.
Interactions (likes, comments, shares) as well as watch time determine the types of content that’s shown to users.
With that in mind, creating TikToks that encourage longer watch times signals to the algorithm that your TikTok is worth recommending. Similarly to Instagram, TikToks with high engagement rates are more likely to get boosted by the algorithm.
2. Create High-Quality Instagram Reels and TikToks
A prerequisite you need to meet if you want your Instagram Reels and TikToks to stand out is quality. Focusing on creating high-quality content is a foundational step to creating Instagram Reels and TikToks that capture attention.
When it comes to quality, there are two areas of focus:
- Visual quality
- Content quality
As far as visual quality is concerned, you’ll want to ensure that your Instagram Reel/TikTok is well-lit. We recommend investing in a ring light or filming by a window that lets in lots of natural light.
You’ll also want to make sure that your sound quality is clear. While the mic on the iPhone performs well, you can enhance your audio by investing in a clip-on, wireless mic, or use the mic on your corded Apple headphones.
Content quality largely depends on the way you script, film, and edit your Instagram Reel and TikTok. Play around with creative transitions and styles, and don’t forget to use trending sounds.
3. Leverage Current Trends and Challenges
There’s always a trendy Instagram Reels/TikTok format or challenge buzzing around. With the rapidity of the platform, staying ahead of these trends and challenges can help you stand out before the space gets too crowded.
The key is to catch onto a trend before it goes largely viral. To do this, we recommend setting aside some time to scroll through your explore page or for you page. For Instagram Reels, you could spend more time on your TikTok for you page and adopt a trend you haven’t seen on Instagram. (Although this is a great technique, not all TikTok trends end up on Instagram.)
Staying ahead of trends can be time-consuming and difficult. That’s why we offer our Creator Bootcamp students the opportunity to subscribe to our Video Trend Report.
However, if you don’t have hours each week to sift through hundreds of Instagram Reels and TikToks, you can adopt an already viral trend with a unique twist/spin to shake things up and capture attention.
4. Being Authentic and Relatable on Instagram Reels & TikTok
*Snores* I know, groundbreaking advice that you’ve heard over and over again. But there’s merit to authenticity and relatability on Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Think about it this way – there are plenty of people who record short-form day-in-the-life vlogs that include clips of them waking up. This is an attempt to appear “authentic” or “relatable,” as if you’re witnessing the moment they wake up.
But everyone knows that the shot is highly curated and staged. The creator sets up the tripod in just the right spot before pretending to wake up for their Reel/TikTok.
Instead, you can make light of the absurdity of the process by calling it out in a voiceover, or showing a clip of yourself setting up the shot.
5. Stay Consistent
Another tip that you’ve heard a million times over. At the end of the day, content really is a numbers game. The more high-quality content you create, the more your content will be shown to your target audience.
“But Christina, don’t you always say quality over quantity?”
Absolutely. The quantity of your content only matters if the quality is there. Instead of aiming for 3 Instagram Reels or TikToks per day, find a posting schedule that doesn’t overwhelm you but allows you to show up for your audience consistently.
6. Engage with Your Community
Keeping engagement with your community is key to building relationships with your audience. This will encourage them to keep consuming your Instagram Reels and TikToks, while interacting with your content consistently.
If you have other creators in the same niche in your community, you could take it a step further and collaborate with them. This is a great way to get in front of a larger audience that aligns with your brand.
You can also use and encourage the use of the stitch/duet/remix feature on both Instagram Reels and TikTok. An easy way to do that is to ask your audience to stitch your video with a storytime, similar to this TikTok…
7. Use Your Analytics and Insights
Your analytics and insights are your most powerful tools. Track the performance of your content, by tracking your data and watch time. This will give you immense insight into what’s working and what isn’t.
It’ll give you a deeper understanding of your audience demographics and preferences, which you can use to adjust your content strategy.
If you want to dive deeper into how you can use your Instagram Analytics to improve your Instagram Reels, we’ve got a blog post that gives you all the nitty gritty details.
8. Experiment with Different Types of Content
From tutorials, Q&As, challenges, to an insane 20-part story series… experimenting with different types of short-form content will keep your page exciting and fresh.
Our approach at CreateHer Empire is to stay consistent, but to keep your audience on their toes. That means showing up consistently but changing up the way we deliver value. With the fast-paced nature of Instagram Reels and TikTok, you have the flexibility to experiment and play with new formats and ideas.
And when you do, go back to tip #7 to see how your ideas perform.
9. Promote Beyond Instagram Reels and TikTok
CreateHer Empire believes in a well-rounded strategy that stretches beyond social media. As great as Instagram and TikTok are for reach, the algorithm is incredibly finicky, and at times it hinders you from reaching a large portion of your audience that you’ve worked so hard to build.
That’s why we recommend our new and experienced content creators and online business owners to build a blog and email list. This ensures that your content can get in front of your audience when you want to.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about platform outages and algorithm updates in order to deliver your content.
10. Create with Sharing in Mind
What could you create that focuses on shareability? Instagram and TikTok rank sharing highly when it comes to engagement. If your Instagram Reel or TikTok is shared, Instagram and TikTok will push it out, giving it a wider reach.
Focusing on humor, insightful advice, and relevancy are a few ways to create a Reel or TikTok that’s shareable.
As always, rely on your analytics and insights to guide your content strategy and track the performance of your ideas.
How to Stand Out on Instagram Reels and TikTok
The 10 tips outlined in this guide are sustainable for long-term success, no matter how the algorithm changes. Instead of giving you a flash-in-the-pan strategy that loses its relevance as soon as you’re done reading this, I wanted to give you a long-lasting strategy that is applicable regardless of the year you’re reading and implementing these steps.
If you’re at a loss for Instagram Reels and TikTok ideas, you can always follow us on Instagram, where we host submissions and recommendations for Reels ideas for your niche frequently.
But if you’d like to take it a step further, I’ve got a free class that’ll covers the 3 steps to creating content that attracts your target audience and dream brands alike.
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