Instagram Reels Tutorial (2024): NEVER Repost TikTok Videos to IG Reels
Written by Andrew Lee @AndrewLeeReal
It’s 2024 and as we speak, TikTok and Instagram have waged full on war with one another… a war over your attention.
Both sides understand that it’s winner take all… where the loser will likely fade into oblivion and join the long list of failed social platforms that flopped (RIP Google Plus).
However, this is a huge opportunity if you’re looking to build your brand on one of these platforms.
Here’s why:
Both sides are trying to lure new users and cause people to switch to their apps instead of the others.
Here’s what you need to understand:
7 months ago, Instagram launched Reels… which was essentially a complete clone of TikTok.
Years ago, Instagram waged war like this against Snapchat… and won.
For those who might not know, Instagram came out with an exact clone of Snapchat (called Stories) and were able to neutralize Snap’s growth extremely effectively.
Here’s what’s clear:
Instagram wants to be the one and only place you create, edit, and post your content.
IG can’t stop you from using other apps… but they can incentivize and reward you for doing so.
Why this matters:
Instagram Reels (when done right) are currently the biggest opportunity to grow your brand on the platform.
At a time when IG is throttling page reach…they’re actively boosting content published to Reels.
The reason for this is simple:
Instagram wants to draw people away from TikTok and to get them used to Reels. This growth opportunity will absolutely come to an end… soon.
When will this window of opportunity close?
Maybe in a few months… maybe the end of this year.. but as of right now there is time to take advantage of this moment and fast track your growth.
Instagram came out on their official @Creators account on February 9th, 2021 and gave best practices for Instagram Reels:
In this article, you’ll learn:
What NOT to do when posting Reels
Why you should care about Instagram Reels
How to use Reels
What you need to avoid when posting them
How to post Reels that are going to give you the best shot at hitting the explore page
And other important information you need to know in order to take advantage of Reels while Instagram is boosting them
Important note:
Most of our readers are most advanced Instagram users, if you would like more on the backstory of Reels and would like to see the tutorial on how to use them, scroll to the bottom of the article.
Here are the top 7 most important Instagram Reels tips you need to know in 2024:
1. Do not use recycled videos from other apps (I.e. containing watermarks or logos).
You cannot repost TikTok videos or any other videos that have watermarks to your Instagram posts, stories, or Reels. Instagram wants high quality, unique content posted on their platform… not spammy reposts.
What happens when you share a TikTok to Instagram?
The short answer:
Your video isn’t going to hit the explore page, your reach will be severely limited with your followers in their feeds, and you’re most likely being labeled as a low quality account.
You could even get your Instagram account shadowbanned.
Again, Instagram is directly competing with TikTok… they don’t want their platform to be a place that everyone goes to rehash content from other platforms… they want to be the platform everyone goes to first to share original content.
Instagram will most likely crack down on accounts that upload TikTok videos even harder going forward.
If you’re wanting to be successful on Instagram:
Instagram’s algorithm is run by artificial intelligence… you can’t out smart it.
Follow the rules that Instagram has put in place and upload original, high quality content.
2. Music copyright rules for Instagram Reels
Can you use copyrighted music in Instagram reels?
Do not use music outside of the new Instagram Reels tool when editing and creating content for IG.
ONLY use music from the Instagram Reels music library.. or simply just use original audio.
Pro tip:
Choose a currently trending popular song in your Reels whenever possible.
Why?
When people tap on the song link in a Reel, it takes them to a feed of all of the other people who has used the song in their Reels in the past.
For example:
If your Reel is good enough, you can rank at the top of popular songs and you can rank at the top of the hashtags you use.
Pro Tip:
Even if you turn down the music volume to barely audible, Instagram will still place you in that song’s feed.
3. Do NOT upload Reels with any sort of border
4. Record, Edit, and Create your Reel entirely within the Instagram app
Again, Instagram wants to be the place you create and post everything.
Instagram knows when you’ve uploaded a Reel that was designed in their app.. and they’re rewarding you when you do by showing your content to more people.
5. Use vertical videos in Reels not horizontal
Be sure to always upload Reels as a vertical video - not horizontal.
Not only are you limiting yourself getting seen in the Instagram Reels grid by making it harder to stand out, Instagram has AI detecting dimensions of the videos you upload and automatically categorizes them as ‘lower quality Reels’ whenever you don’t upload in the correct format.
(scroll down for the sizes and dimensions you should be uploading your Reels in)
6. Make sure your Reels are in HD and not blurry
This one speaks for itself.
Don’t upload low quality content. Not only does it make your brand look bad… but Instagram again, has AI detecting video quality and will automatically flag your Reel as ‘low quality’ and limit your reach.
7. Make sure that the majority of your video isn’t covered in text
Instagram has artificial intelligence to analyze each post, story, and Reel that you upload to it’s platform.
What does that mean?
Instagram has a good idea how well your post will do even before people have seen it.
You can have text in your Reels if it helps your content flow.
For example, this is ok:
Just don’t overdue it.
Make sure your text in your Reels is natural and isn’t spammy.
Instagram Reels Tutorial
What are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels are bite-sized 30 second video clips similar to Stories but they don’t disappear after 24 hours.
Why Instagram created Reels:
Instagram came out with this concept in order to directly impact TikTok, an app.
Why Reels are important:
Unlike Stories, allows Reels to hit the explore page.
The success of Reels directly correlates to the future of Instagram. Instagram needs Reels to beat TikTok just like Stories beat Snapchat.
Because of that, they’re going to incentivize and boost people who use the platform as they siphon market share from TikTok.
How to Create Instagram Reels:
Step 1:
Start to make a post just like you would do so to create a story or feed post
Step 2:
Scroll over to the ‘Reels’ option at the bottom of your screen to be taken to the Reels upload screen.
Here, you can edit your video, add music, and use all of Instagram’s normal editing tools.
What is the Instagram reels time limit?
Instagram Reels can be up to 60 seconds.
*Instagram originally only allowed Reels to be up to 15 seconds… then 30 seconds… and recently announced that Instagram Reels can be up to 60 seconds long (just like TikTok videos).
Instagram Reels 60 seconds not working
If you don’t have 60 second reels yet… just be patient and wait for the app update to roll out to everyone.
Instagram officially announced that 60 second reels are here to stay on their official Twitter account:
Reels. up to 60 secs. starting today. pic.twitter.com/pKWIqtoXU2
— Instagram (@instagram) July 27, 2021
When did Instagram Reels come out?
Instagram officially launched ‘Reels’, their short video TikTok competitor on August 5, 2020.
Instagram Reels video dimensions:
Viewed as 9:16 (1080 X 1920) or vertically full screen
How many hashtags can you use in Instagram Reels?
You can have up to 30 hashtags for Instagram reels (just like regular Instagram posts).
When did TikTok come out?
TikTok originally first launched on September 26, 2016 in mainland China
TikTok was launched in the US App Store in 2017
Tiktok acquired the app ‘Musical.ly’ on November 9, 2017, and completely merged the app into TikTok on August 2, 2018
How to post long TikTok videos on your Instagram Story
Again, Instagram will severely limit your reach if you upload a video with any kind of watermark (see rule #1), but if you insist on uploading TikTok videos anyway, here’s how to do it:
Step 1:
Open the TikTok post that you want to save and tap the share arrow (seen here):
Step 2:
Save the video to your phone’ camera roll.
Step 3:
Post your TikTok video to your Instagram Story or Reels.
Can you share a reel to your Instagram Story?
You can share Reels to your Instagram Stories.
Sharing Reels works the same exact way as sharing posts to your story.
For example:
Step 1:
Find the Reel you want to share to your story and press the ‘share arrow’ at the bottom right of your screen.
Sharing Reels to your Instagram Story, should you do it?
Yes and no.
If you’re trying to support someone else’s Reel, absolutely share it to your story.
Instagram algorithm looks at comments, likes, shares, and saves when it is deciding to increase reach for content posted to it’s platform.
If you’re trying to boost your own Reel… do not ever post it to your Instagram story.
Instead, just be sure to post your Reel also to your feed.
To do this:
Simply turn on the ‘Also Share to Feed’ button when you’re about to post your Reel.
When you turn this on, your Reel will be posted to your main feed as well as your Reels feed.
Why you should always post your Reels to your main feed on instagram:
This gives you two separate opportunities to hit the explore page.
If you don’t hit the explore page on your Reels feed, you could potentially go to the top in the regular explore page… and vice versa.
You can always remove your Reel from your main page later if you decide to do so.
Something to think about:
When you remove a Reel from your main feed, it still shows up on your Reels grid on your profile.
Important note:
Once you post a Reel, you can’t ever have it show up on your main feed again.
I recommend always posting to your main feed and if you decide later… you can always remove it.
Thanks for reading!
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