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Posted: Tue 2nd Nov 2021
Enterprise Nation adviser Rhea Freeman gets stuck into the topic of Reels, and how they can be of great use to your product-based business.
Be sure to connect with Rhea and request a free discovery call.
We all know that Reels are a big deal, I don’t need to convince you of that. And we all know that we should be using them for our business. But many people don’t, despite the obvious benefits. Are you one of these people?
There are many reasons why many don’t embrace Reels, and from speaking to a lot of different people, being overwhelmed seems to be one of the key reasons. If you ‘study’ Reels (yes, I’m calling it study!), you’ll no doubt have seen incredible Reels with clever transitions that have left you feeling a little bemused. Because you can’t see how to achieve anything similar. But the secret is, you don’t have to. Here are three simple ideas for product-based businesses that you can do today…
If you hand-make your products, take us on that journey. Show us the ingredients being mixed together in a big container. Let us see the mixer blending everything together. Allow us to see a time-lapse of you creating an item. Or maybe packing an order?
These don’t need clever transitions or editing software, you’re just sharing a video of you, doing your thing, to music. You might want to add some timed words, or GIFs, or even a voiceover.
If you want to take it to the next level, consider filming short clips of each part of the process that you can then set in time to the music when you’re putting your Reel together. Select audio with a strong beat and switch to a new clip each beat. And you can do this all inside Reels.
This was a trend a little while ago, but I still see it a fair amount now, but not always with the ‘I want it, I got it’ audio! This Reel focuses on a website, catalogue or even images and then sees the creator reaching into the website/image/catalogue and pulling out the item.
So how do you do it? Break it down into small clips showing you reaching into whatever you’re ‘pulling’ from, then another clip of you with the item moving away from the screen or page. To get a better finish, use a tripod, the align tool (inside Reels as this will allow you to make sure your hand is in the same place as the last clip) and a helper to hand you the products. Or at least have that item beside you to make it easier for yourself.
I recently did this at a workshop and it was really fun and surprisingly easy. It works well with clothing but can also work well with many other types of product.
With clothing, this can work by throwing an item of clothing at a person, and as it hits them, it’s all of a sudden on them - do you know the ones I mean?
As with the other two above, think of short clips. First clip, you throw the clothing and it hits the person and lands on the floor. The person then puts the clothing on and, using the align tool, you take another clip with them in the clothing. The trimming of each clip is the thing that makes or breaks this - you trim the clip from when the item starts to fall - but it’s still very do-able inside the app.
Another thing you could do is throw something else that is representative of what you sell, and the next shot is the finished article. Let’s say you make bath products, for example. You could throw a sponge at a bath, and the next shot is the bath complete with candles, fizzing bath bomb and glass of wine with a book.
Get creative. The whole point of Reels is to create engaging, entertaining content for your audience that gets them excited about what’s to come. The more Reels you produce, the easier the process becomes as you get to use the interface more, know what works and what doesn’t, and grow in confidence. And they’re still a very good way to get your brand, business and products in front of your people.
You can connect with Rhea and chat through Reels and various other areas of business support today!
