The ‘T-shaped marketer’ is a term that describes a marketer with broad knowledge of different marketing channels and tactics, with in-depth knowledge of 1 or 2 areas.

For me? It’s SEO and content marketing.

Yes, I can create a welcome sequence or post on social media, but I wouldn’t necessarily know the strategy behind it. And without a strategy, why bother?

But unfortunately, Instagram plays a significant role in my business. So while I wouldn’t sell any Instagram services, I still have to use them.

We all know that Instagram has an identity crisis as its younger, cooler cousin Tik Tok overtakes its popularity, so reels are becoming more important for Instagram users.

In fact, according to recent statistics, reels get 22% more engagement than traditional videos.

Now, when it comes to adopting a new product, or marketing tactic, I’m a late majority/laggard.

When reels first came out, I would have rather licked a sidewalk than participated. I never liked drama class, and I could only dance if I had been drinking. You couldn’t get me to mime a song, dance or point creatively.

But a month ago, I picked up the phone and created my first reel.

Here’s what I learnt.

Practice makes…good enough

My first reel took an hour to create. I was so frustrated that I almost threw my phone across the room.

But, the more reels I made, the better I became.

Ok, so I won’t receive any awards, but I can now create a 60-second reel in 20 minutes, and I’m sure the more reels I make, the faster I’ll get.

Do anything enough times, and you’ll get better.

But if you don’t try, you’ll never get anywhere.

Creativity is a muscle

My first reel idea came to me in a hotel room. It wasn’t ground-breaking, just a reel about why recipe pages are sooooo bloody long. Hint: SEO and ad revenue.

But once I got over the first hurdle of “what the hell am I going to post”, the ideas started rolling in.

In fact, my reel idea list ended up being as long as my blog idea list.

“Creativity is the brain’s invisible muscle — that when used and exercised routinely — becomes better and stronger.” – Ashley Ormon.

Don’t compromise your brand

Like I said before, I would never be creating reels where I’m miming, pointing or dancing.

But, I did find a way to make reels work for my business without doing something that I knew just wasn’t me.

I talked. And I taught.

I didn’t realise until writing this blog that the reels I created aligned with our brand values. They say things like

We’re here to dispel misinformation and educate the masses.
Knowledge is power, and we want to use ours for good.
We freely share our knowledge so you can succeed.
Our strategy, content and everything we do is led by your brand.

And by staying “on-brand”, I felt more comfortable and confident, which led to creating more reels.

And I got some pretty good results.

Be spontaneous

The most recent reel I did was about this article on Search Engine Journal. I had shared it the night before and suddenly had an influx of people asking me what that meant for them.

I could have replied to each one and left it at that, but instead, I jumped at the chance to create a reel even though I didn’t plan on it.

It’s only been two days, but it’s now my second-best-performing reel.

This may be an oxymoron, but always be prepared to be spontaneous.

Helpful content is good content

It’s good to be entertained. But creating content you know will help your audience? That’s where you can make a big impact.

My best-performing reel had the headline “3 cool tools I use all the time that aren’t related to SEO”.

Look at the stats on this reel I created on June 2nd.

3344 plays
59 likes
5 comments
22 shares (hopefully not people going, “Look at this loser!”)
61 saves. Yes, 61 SAVES!

For some, these numbers might seem small. But for me, they are huge. Likes tend to be a vanity metric, but saves are what show you how valuable your content is. I had at least 61 people who thought, ‘this is helpful, so that I will save it for later.

So, did posting one reel a week for 5 weeks improve my Instagram metrics?

All those social media specialists were right.

If you want to get anywhere on Instagram, you have to make reels.

I had 87 new followers in those 5 weeks where previously my followers had stalled, and profile interactions were up 1000%.

So, if you’re one of those people who refuse to create reels, listen. I know it’s scary and annoying, but it will help your business. You’ll become more confident in front of the camera, more creative, and grow your Instagram a lot faster.

So to Tik Tok, the cooler younger cousin of Instagram, I know you’re the next step, but I think I’ll wait a biiiiiit longer before jumping on you.

I mean, I’ve only just learnt how to do reels.

Remi, Sunday Best Digital founder

What I learnt from posting 1 reel a week for 5 weeks