Okay by now you’ve seen them. Short, sharp, and quirky bite-sized videos all over Instagram. Some have dancing, some are more educational, but most importantly, they’re everywhere. It’s no surprise that video is growing on Instagram and right now, Reels are the best way for Yoga Teachers to grow organically on Instagram.
The thing is, just posting for the sake of posting a Reel is a sure-fire way to burn out quickly, so understanding how it all comes together and adds value to your messaging can be game-changing for you and your audience. That’s why today I’m sharing everything you need to know about Reels so that you can incorporate them into your Instagram feed.
Why Should Yoga Teachers Be Using Instagram Reels?
- The most obvious reason is that Instagram keeps emphasizing video. Working with the app instead of against it will help keep your content in front of your audience and working with the algorithm.
- It’s an opportunity to connect with your audience so that they can see all sides of your personality, not just you as a yoga teacher.
- Reels allow you to be discovered by people who may not be following you yet.
- It’s more engaging! Your audience is getting bored of yoga poses and inspirational quotes, we need to evolve our content to stay relevant and continuously serve our audience in the best way possible.
How Yoga Teachers Can Create an Instagram Reel?
- When creating a Reel, you can either choose to film video clips on the spot or upload a pre-edited video from your camera roll.
- When you’re happy with your video then you can use the text tools and Instagram stickers.
Check out this video to get you started.
Pro Tip: upload a video from your camera in case your Reel drafts disappear.
How To Add Music To Your Yoga Reel?
You can either add music when you create your Reel and make a selection based on what Instagram offers or you can save audio from a Reel that you liked.
My top tip here is when you’re scrolling lookout for an arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen, that lets you know the music is trending. Trending music gives you a better chance of being discovered. Once you find audio you like, click on it and click “use audio” and start creating your Reel.
Check out this video to see how you can find trending music.
Pro tip: Always try and use the audio from Instagram instead of uploading your own so that you have a better chance of reaching more people.
Side note, if you want to film a Reel and use your own choice of music, make a mental note that the Instagram Reels music feature may not work for all Instagram accounts. Don’t panic! If you are using an Instagram business account then change your category to Entrepreneur and you’ll have access to the music. Check out how to do that here.
What Makes A Good Instagram Reel For Yoga Teachers?
Like any piece of content, your main goal needs to have your audience in mind. You’re creating for them (not you) so here is a checklist you can use to make sure you’re operating from a place of intention and service.
When creating a Yoga Reel, the best way to grab your audience’s attention is with a juicy hook like 3 ways to do Down Dog or My secret hack to relieving back pain. Keep it short and sweet, pack in the value, and finish with a strong CTA so that your audience knows what you want them to do next.
Here are some other ways to make your Yoga Reels better:
Incorporate entertaining and fun elements into your yoga Reels (i.e. excites people, grabs their attention, makes them laugh, or has a fun surprise or transition).
- Are inspiring (i.e. includes an inspirational message or even a trend that others can easily hop on).
- Use creative tools like text or filters.
- Use vertical video over the landscape option.
- Use music from the Instagram music library or audio that find on Reels.
- Be experimental! It’s not about being perfect, it’s about starting and finding your way with what works for you and your audience.
How To Batch Create Reels?
Batching is the art of creating a few pieces of the same type of content at one specific time. With the short-form nature of Reels you’d think they would be super easy to batch. Um, not exactly.
Often Yoga Teachers make the mistake of recording on the fly, in drips and drabs and that makes the Reel recording process much longer. Here’s my exact process to batch Reels and create an organized workflow:
- Brainstorm: Choose topics that lend well into short-form video based on your content pillars and trending audios that your audience would appreciate. Click here for some Yoga Reel ideas.
- Outline: I created a spreadsheet that outlines the main points of the Reel like the main point of the Reel, the type of audio, text, and any transitions.
- Film and Edit: I get all my props and outfits ready and batch film my Reels. I also edit my Reel straight after filming while it’s still fresh in my mind.
- Prep to Post: I create my Reel cover in Canva, store my edit into my phone and Reel drafts and write out my caption.
It may seem like a mission to do, but I can create 3 Reels and have them ready to post in 2 hours (insert happy dance here).
And there you have it. This is the ultimate Instagram Reel guide for Yoga Teachers because here is everything you need to get started and start creating some amazing Yoga Reels!! So now it’s time to start mixing up your yoga content and have some fun!
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