How to Create Powerful Instagram Reels Quotes to Boost Engagement
Oh, Instagram Reels… love ‘em or hate ‘em they are here to stay!
And lately, there has been a huge surge in seeing traditional Instagram quote posts that performed SO well the last few years, re-created as Instagram Reels.
And honestly - they are some of the TOP performing posts we see across Instagram.
You get the power of inspiring your audience, combined with a video format, this is a perfect formula for a quick boost in engagement!
But, we see a lot of creators and business owners do a few things wrong when it comes to creating this type of Reels content.
So, without further ado, let’s talk about the 5 components you need to keep in mind when you are creating Reels in order to maximize your engagement!
NUMBER ONE: Use a 7-second video clip
Now this isn’t just some trend, there is a little bit of psychology, science, and math behind this tip. Ok - that is a bit dramatic, but you’ll get the point here in a second! You don’t want to have a video clip that is too long or too short when you post an Instagram Reels quote post.
It’s like Goldilocks and the three bears - you want something JUST right!!
By using a 7-second clip, the viewer isn’t overwhelmed with fast movement, but there is also a high likelihood that the video will play all the way through, and even repeat a few times. Which, hint, this is GREAT for engagement, and Instagram rewards this!!
7 seconds is just enough time for the viewer to read most or all of your quote, while also making sure that your watch time and percentage are as high as possible. Math and statistics are boring, I know, but this really does work when you put it all together!
NUMBER TWO: Use a trending sound
It’s not always possible with a business account on Instagram to have access to the latest and greatest new release from your favorite music artist. But - you can still tap into trending sounds for your quote Reels.
First - the importance of using a trending sound is to give your audience something entertaining. Whether it is a catchy song, a remix of their favorite song, or a funny talking audio that they might resonate with. And bonus - you have a higher chance of showing up across different parts of Instagram (i.e. if someone clicks on that trending sound and sees your video at the top of examples under that sound).
Second - you can find these sounds as you scroll through Instagram. If you tend to hear the same audio over and over again, it is likely that it is trending - so you can save it for future use. Or, Instagram has made it even easier now, when you go and add a sound to your Reel you can see the audio that is trending indicated by an arrow pointing up!
NUMBER THREE: Make the font big enough
This is by far the thing I notice most frequently… font that is WAY too small or WAY too hard to read. When you design your Instagram Quote Reel in Canva it is hard to tell what it will look like on a phone screen. But don’t you worry, here is a quick video tutorial showing you EXACTLY how to adjust the text on your Reel to optimize it for mobile viewing.
NUMBER FOUR: Screenshot your tweets
Tweet graphics perform obnoxiously well on Instagram, which will ALWAYS be a little funny. And Tweet Reels perform even higher on the platform now! And you have two options when it comes to creating this type of video for Reels.
OPTION ONE: find a high-performing tweet, screenshot it, and add a stock video to the background. Easy peasy. You can even do this all inside of Reels by copying and pasting your screenshot image into Instagram if you have an iPhone. Of course - if you don’t have this option you can use a mobile video editing app or use Canva.
OPTION TWO: If you don’t have Twitter you can easily use a Canva template like THESE to create the same effect without having to download and post on another app!
NUMBER FIVE: Be aware of the caption cut off
Even though you have a quote post, with text already on your video, you still want to have powerful captions for viewers to read. BUT… and this is a big BUT… there are different formatting rules for Reels captions.
Other Instagram post captions have about 2-3 lines of text before you see that “MORE” button that will expand the text so you can see up to 2200 characters. While you still have the same character limit, the caption gets cut off much sooner.
When looking at the Reel full screen, the caption is cut off on the first line. So basically, you need to get to your point and have a great hook within the first 30-50 characters.
How to Create Powerful Instagram Reels Quote Posts in Canva
Now that you know the ins and outs of designing a Reels Quote post… how are you going to create it?
Easy - Canva!! And we make it EVEN easier for you by giving you some AMAZING templates that are custom designed to maximize engagement with your audience. Oh - and they are so easy to create, truly a plug-and-play experience!
And if you want to make content creation easier for Instagram, check out some of our best-selling templates in the shop… yes - including Reels Templates!
P.S. If you are a member of Your Template Club, you can find all of these templates when you log in to the portal.
check out our best-selling Instagram reels canva templates
You can grab our favorite Canva Templates inside of the shop that you can customize for your business to help you batch create Reels content!
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Manu Muraro is the founder of Your Social Team, an Instagram training membership and template shop that help social media managers and Instagram-savvy small business owners to grow engagement and sales using Instagram and content marketing, without the overwhelm. Born and raised in Brazil, Manu moved to the U.S. in 2000 right out of college to work for Cartoon Network, where she made an award winning career in creative and strategy. In 2021, Manu started Your Template Club, a Canva template subscription service to help social media professionals and Canva-savvy business owners to create content that performs on Instagram, add more Instagram features into their strategy, such as Instagram Lives and Reels, and save time.