Can’t say we didn’t know this was coming!

Instagram has announced that businesses can now promote their Reels and turn them into ads via a new ‘Boost’ option. Boosted Reels will appear in feed, Stories, the Reels tab, and the Explore page (so, brace yourselves).

With Reels being Instagram’s fastest-growing format, the ability of boosting them will undoubtedly help brands reach new audiences and increase visibility and engagement. Instagram confirms this as follows:

‘Reels is our fastest-growing format and an important part of Instagram, as more people watch Reels to be entertained, go deeper with their interests or discover new businesses. Today, we’re announcing that businesses can now boost their reels to turn them into ads for the opportunity to reach new audiences and drive more engagement.’

Reels need to meet the following criteria for them to be eligible for boosting: 

• Must be less than 60 seconds.
• Must have a 9:15 aspect ratio i.e. shot vertically.
• Must not use third-party property (copyrighted music, GIFs, interactive stickers, camera filters).
• Must not be shared to Facebook.

While this can help brands reach new audiences, it’s worth keeping an eye out for any decreases in your Reels’ organic impressions in the coming months, to see whether Instagram will push businesses to spend more on Reels or not.

Learn more here.