On the floor, Instagram Reels vs. Story is a debate that many social media customers have a tough time understanding. Each are common methods to share video content material along with your followers and enhance engagement.
So, are you able to choose one or the opposite?
No!
Regardless of their similarities, Instagram Tales and Reels are completely different of their attain.
They interact completely different audiences on the platform and completely different customers in your gross sales funnel.
That’s why it’s essential to grasp the variations between these two video codecs and the way to use them successfully in your social media strategy.
Fast Overview of Instagram Reels vs. Story
Right here’s a fast summarization of the essential variations between on Instagram Reels and Instagram Story in respect to an important standards.
| Instagram Reel | Instagram Story | |
| Visibility | Might be seen by all Instagram customers | Seen solely by followers except the profile is public |
| Avg. Engagement Price | 1.23% | 1% to three% |
| Discoverability | Extremely discoverable | Primarily discoverable by present customers |
| Retention | Might be saved by all | Can’t be saved |
| Shelf Life | Completely seen | 24 hours |
| Format | Movies | Photographs and movies |
| Size | 90 seconds | 15 seconds |
| Modifying Choices | Velocity, clipping, transition, AI filters | Interactive instruments like polls, Q&A, stickers, hyperlinks, and so on |
| Music & Audio | Might be added with “Use Audio” | Might be added utilizing the “Music” sticker |
| Hashtags | Allowed so as to add as much as 30 hashtags | Allowed so as to add as much as 10 hashtags |
Instagram Reels vs. Story: What’s the Distinction?
Now we will dive into every of our contender classes and dissect them to find out how they differ from one another.
Instagram Story
Instagram Tales are short-lived movies or slide exhibits hooked up to your Instagram show image.
They are often considered by your followers (or any consumer if in case you have a public profile) just for 24 hours and are archived after that. The enhancing options are typically minimal, and the size is capped at 15 seconds.
Tales are supposed to present a candid look into the day-to-day of your life or your model.
As a result of Tales are viewable out of your show image, they’re extremely discoverable by your followers. New Tales are displayed on the prime of the Instagram homepage display screen as quickly as you open the app.
Reels have their very own discovery advantages, however viewers have to navigate to the Reels tab to view them.
Instagram Stories are additionally extremely interactive. You’ll be able to incorporate polls and timers, embed hyperlinks, and extra to interact followers and encourage motion.
Instagram Reels
Reels are brief movies created for the only function of leisure (assume TikTok movies). They are often as much as 90 seconds lengthy (60 for many customers) and don’t disappear after 24 hours as Tales do. Reels templates can simplify your content material creation for this format.
Not like candid and real Tales, Reels are supposed to be prepped and polished.
Breaking Down Instagram Reels vs. Story
Now that you recognize the fundamentals of Instagram Story and Reels, let’s break down the important thing variations and let you know the way to use them to your benefit.
1. Codecs Allowed
- Reels: Solely movies
- Story: Photographs, movies, textual content, and so on.
Story: Instagram Tales seem to viewers as video clips, however you aren’t restricted to video when creating your content material. You too can use a collage of photographs, a single static picture, or different posts out of your feed to make your Story. As a result of Story creation is flexible, it’s best to create and publish Tales every day.
Reels: Reels are video-onlyas Instagram desires to compete with TikTok right here, in order that they received’t permit low-effort slide exhibits or pictures with textual content. As a result of Reels are extra production-intensive, you don’t must make Reels on daily basis like Story. However attempt to produce just a few Reels every week.
2. Audio
- Reels: Versatile audio enhancing decisions
- Story: Restricted choices
Story: You’ll be able to add persona and emotion to your Story by inserting background music from the music library. However that’s the one audio enhancing you are able to do.
Reels: You too can add background tunes from the music library to your Reels. And you may add a voiceover to relate your content material (one other approach Reels emulates TikTok).
Add authentic audio and voiceover to reels
3. Drafts
- Reels: Might be saved as drafts earlier than publishing
- Story: Not allowed to be saved as drafts
Story: Tales are supposed to seize fleeting moments, so saving drafts isn’t allowed within the app. Nonetheless, you possibly can create your Story off the app and use SocialPilot’s social media scheduling tool to publish them mechanically on the most cheap time.
Reels: Save your unfinished Reels as drafts straight within the app and return to them every time you might have time. This makes it simple to collaborate on Reels and preview them earlier than publishing.
- Reels: As much as 30 hashtags
- Story: Solely 10 hashtags
Story: You’ll be able to add as much as 10 hashtags to your Story, which must be sufficient, on condition that they’re restricted to fifteen seconds. Guarantee your hashtags are laser-focused on the worth your content material is supposed to offer. Obscure or deceptive hashtags will flip off your followers.
Reels: You’ll be able to add as much as 30 hashtags to your Reels, so don’t be afraid to go wild. Reels are publicly discoverable and searchable by way of hashtags, so utilizing the proper tags can each outline and develop your viewership. Hashtags are way more vital for Reels than Tales if you need extra followers, so use them correctly.
5. Placement
- Reels: Discover tab, feed, and Reels tab
- Story: On the prime of customers’ screens
Story: Tales are shared solely along with your followers. They’re hooked up to your show picture, which seems on the prime of customers’ screens. That is a number of the finest actual property throughout all social media platforms, so even when your Tales don’t get as a lot engagement, they might have a greater likelihood of participating high-value followers.
Reels: Reels have their very own tab on the app. Customers navigate to the Reels web page once they need to scroll by means of some entertaining TikTok-style movies. The Reels tab isn’t as discoverable because the Tales bar, however your Reels content material is extra discoverable than your Tales.
6. How Viewers Interact
- Reels: Extremely participating for entire Instagram neighborhood
- Story: Largely participating for followers
Story: Tales make it simple for followers to interact along with your model—-but not with the neighborhood.
This is sensible as a result of Tales are personal. Nonetheless, they make up for his or her lack of attain with depth of engagement.
Whenever you put up a Story, you possibly can ask a query, make a ballot, provide a reduction, hyperlink to your touchdown web page, and extra. This interactivity makes Tales invaluable for CTAs and analyzing data. Your followers also can interact by leaping into your DMs.
Interactive options make Instagram Story extremely participating.
Reels: Reels are public, so is its engagement. Viewers interact by commenting, which may be good or dangerous, relying on the standard of your Reel.
If you wish to increase engagement additional, you possibly can put up your Reel as a Story, making it extra more likely to be considered by your followers. Reels do double obligation right here and take the cake for engagement potential.
The way to Skyrocket Engagement on Instagram: Story vs. Reels
Story and Reels are invaluable instruments in your Instagram arsenal, however they serve completely different functions. Every format communicates finest to a specific viewers.
Story is often personal content material meant to interact your loyal base of followers. Reels are public movies that appeal to non-followers (a.ok.a. potential new followers) with entertaining clips and catchy music.
Right here’s the way to use every format to your biggest benefit.
Use Reels for
1. Boosting Total Engagement
In relation to total engagement, Reels is the clear winner. Analysis exhibits that Instagram feed engagement has dropped by 44% since Reels was launched, with Reels selecting up the slack.
Reels are additionally a stronger search curiosity on Google in comparison with Story. Reels are discoverable by all the Instagram neighborhood, and you’ll repurpose them as a Story.
2. Getting New Followers
Reels are discoverable by non-followers, making them a strong software for rising your Instagram base. A research discovered that Reels end in 22% extra new followers than movies in your feed. So, in the event you’re nonetheless curating your Instagram feed like 2015, it’s time to shift your sources to producing Reels.
3. Going Viral
The common visibility of Reels, and the truth that you possibly can put up them in all places (on the Reels tab, in your feed, as Tales), provides them huge viral potential. Simply keep in mind to schedule your Reels to drop on the proper time, or a viral hit may get misplaced within the shuffle.
Use Tales for
1. Sustaining Your Base
Conserving your present followers engaged is arguably extra essential than searching for new ones, as present followers are additional down the gross sales funnel. When making a Story, goal your base with personalised precision to domesticate loyalty and construct a robust connection. Put up usually and encourage interaction with polls, timers, affords, and so on.
2. Selling Merchandise
Your followers are literally fascinated with your model, so capitalize on that by selling your merchandise/providers in your Story.
Present how they profit customers with real-world demonstrations and outcomes. Watch out to not make your Story appear too sales-y. No one likes commercials.
Interact your followers by telling them to take motion. Tales are interactive, so get them to click on by means of for a particular deal or problem them to repost> and share. Be sure to present clear incentives for each CTA.
When you’ve realized to harness the ability of Story and Reels, you’ll be rewarded with a deluge of engagement.
Now, you might have a brand new problem: following up along with your rising fanbase.
It may be almost inconceivable to handle conversations on posts, DMs, feedback, shares, and extra, particularly as they pour in in any respect hours of the day and night time.
Fortunately, SocialPilot makes it simple to handle your interactions in a single place.
Instagram Inbox, you possibly can handle all of your Instagram accounts and maintain monitor of invaluable insights with detailed analytics experiences.
Summing Up
Between Instagram Reels vs. Story, you will discover a ton of engagement to benefit from. Every function offers manufacturers with exact instruments to succeed in new and current followers.
When focusing on top-of-the-funnel clients (non-followers on Instagram), use Reels to let your model’s persona shine. For these decrease within the gross sales funnel (your followers), obtain a deeper connection and elicit motion with Tales.
