If you’ve been following me not even for a while but just for a bit, you know how much I love to rave about Instagram Reels. And it’s for a good reason! I wouldn’t advocate for a tool so heavily if I knew it couldn’t give you a true return on your investment.

And guess what? Creating Reels costs you $0 and you don’t even have to rack your brain every week to think of new content, yet these short videos are super effective for increasing traffic to your brand and click-throughs to your website. While today we’re not going in-depth on strategy (you can learn more about that here), we are going to talk about how to use Reels. Both the logistical steps on how to create one and what kinds of topics you should cover.

Why do I love Reels so much? (And why should you use Reels to grow your wedding business?)

Honestly, where do I begin? First and foremost, as wedding industry entrepreneurs, we have this unique opportunity to get creative, show off our services (and the results we get for our clients), and express our personality all in a super fun and quick video!

It’s also Instagram’s newest feature, so you bet they’re doing everything they can to create that social pressure by pushing Reels content to the Discovery page. This means the algorithm is going to (finally) work in your favor and get your content and brand in front of new eyes!

OK, but I know what you’re probably thinking: Brandee. This sounds great in theory, but I have so many other things on my to-do list right now. There’s no way I can ever add another thing to my list. I completely understand where you’re coming from, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t groan a little when Reels first came out. But I’ve already made all the mistakes, spent years studying social media strategy, conducted a ton of experiments, and helped dozens of wedding pros show up online and grow their business. So I immediately recognized the value in this new tool, jumped on the Reels train, and haven’t gotten off since.

And honestly, it’s not as intimidating as you think. That’s why today, I want to show you step-by-step how you can use Reels as a wedding professional and make you feel empowered to incorporate them into your social media strategy.

And if you’re ambitious and eager to get started, check out my Reel Traffic Toolkit that includes over 150 simple Reels prompts to help you grow your business as a wedding pro, a Reels creation course, a content hacking guide, batch training, and so much more.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

How to create Instagram Reels

First, we’ll cover the logistical aspect: how to physically create your Reels.

1. Access Reels: Swipe to the right or click the plus button on the top right-hand corner on Instagram to access your camera. Scroll until you’ve selected Reels.
2. Set a time limit: Choose how long you want to create your Reels. Right now, they allow 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and 60 seconds.
3. Record! Pro Tip: You can record short clips, so don’t feel pressured to nail your whole video in one seamless take. Once you record a clip, you can hit the back arrow (next to the record button) to cut that segment. You can cut clips after you’re done, but it’s best to do it right away so you know exactly how much time you have left.
4. Add music: You can keep your original audio or click the music note symbol on the recording screen to choose a song.
5. Add any extra effects: From there, you can add extra special effects like adding a filter, slowing down or speeding up clips, and touching up your video with the magic wand tool.
6. Write or draw on your video: Once you’re done, click “preview” to look at your video. This is when you can add text or draw on the video.
7. Publish! Once you’re finished with all your edits, click “share to,” write your caption, tag other people, and then publish to your feed!

More of a visual person? (So am I!) The Reel Traffic Toolkit includes a creation course that shows you how to create Reels step-by-step in video format.

The content to focus on in your Reels as a wedding professional  

Now that you know how to create Reels, we can brainstorm the type of content you’ll create for them. If you’re nervous about how to create creative Reels on Instagram, don’t worry. I’m not going to tell you that you have to dance. In reality, the angle you take is going to be completely up to you. Some people love to dance and get silly, some like to use memes or trends, and some love providing helpful and educational content. So make Reels that speak to your personality and also your ideal clients.

No matter how you approach it, as a wedding professional, you’re going to want to focus on two key types of content for your Reels: education and inspiration.

Educational content is valuable pieces of information you can share with your audience that teach them something. That can look like showing your audience how to pick a venue, your favorite local vendors, how to create a wedding day timeline, 3 questions to ask your photographer, etc. Inspirational content on the other hand usually evokes emotion. This can look like heartwarming testimonials, behind-the-scenes content, sharing personal stories, and more.

The reason I recommend focusing on these two pillars is because your followers are more inclined to share and save those types of content. This not only means that you’re establishing your credibility in the field and building that rapport with potential clients, but the Instagram algorithm is also going to notice that people are engaging with your content and push it to get in front of more people’s (clients’) eyes.

How Reels can help you grow your wedding business

Did you know 74% of marketers say video has a better ROI than static imagery? And 68% of marketers say video has a better ROI than Google Ads. That’s huge! And I can definitely say I’ve seen a difference in my businesses, as well as my clients’ businesses. This is because fun Reels can educate your new and old followers on how you’re the perfect pro for their big day.

Not enough wedding professionals are taking advantage of Reels so by being the brave one and stepping into space, you can distinguish your brand from others.

You’re ready to crush it on Reels

Now that you know how to make Reels, what kind of content to post, and how Reels can grow your wedding business, how are you going to implement them into your social media strategy? Let me know in the comments below! 

If you’re feeling motivated to get started but need some direction, check out my Reel Traffic Toolkit that includes over 150 simple Reels prompts to help you grow your business as a wedding pro, a Reels creation course, a content hacking guide, batch training, how to repurpose your videos for other platforms, and so much more.