A (6:07)
So let's get into the questions now, because I feel like a lot of my experience with trial reels and kind of how I'm experimenting with them will be answered when I answer all of these questions. So there's 26 of them. So go ahead and put it on 1.5 or 2 speed if you want, But I'm gonna get through these because I think they're all really good questions. And I think if you haven't started using trial reels or they're not working how you want them to, these questions will really help you. So question number one. When will everyone have access to trial reels, and is there a certain number of followers you have to have before they give you access. So I don't think so. I obviously, I don't know, you know, for sure on this, but I think they're just randomly rolling it out to people. Instagram likes to do this with new features, which is super annoying. Like the carousel feature where you can have more than 10 slides. It took me months to get that feature. Like, I just got it, I think, last month. So unfortunately, I don't have, like, a workaround. Some people have access to it, some people don't. I haven't seen a correlation between business or creator accounts. Like, some people have a business account, they have it. Some people have a creator account, they have it. I know I have a creator account and I got access to it. I want to say, like, five or six weeks ago. And, yeah, I wish there was a way to say, like, hey, do this to get access to it, but unfortunately, it seems like they're just, like, testing it and rolling it out to people. One thing I will say is just make sure your app is updated and make sure you don't have any violations on your page. Um, I don't. Again, I don't know if there's a correlation between that, but I will say just make sure your app is updated and if you don't have it, I'm so sorry. I hate that they do this. Okay, question number two. What is a trial reel and how do I start? Okay, so we went over this a little bit more in the past episode, so if you haven't listened to that episode, I would definitely go back and listen to that. But basically, trial reels on Instagram are a way for you to post content that doesn't go to your feed. Right? Like, it's not on your reels page, it's not on your Instagram main page, and it doesn't go to people that follow you. So it only goes to a new audience. Right. I'm. I'm loving it. I'm obsessed with it. In the last episode, talk about how or not the last episode in episode, I think it was 43 is the episode that I did with Nikki on this. I was very hesitant at first. I didn't like them. I thought it was another dumb feature. Now I'm, like, regretting saying that because I love them now. But, yes, anyone can start them if you have them. Some people don't have them yet, which is really annoying. But I would say for someone just starting out, just start posting content that has performed well in your trial reel and see how it does. Um, I think that the Algorithm takes a little bit of time. Like the trial real algorithm takes some time to learn who you're talking to. So don't be discouraged in the beginning if you have lower views or lower people, like, following from it. Mine were extremely low in the beginning. Like I'm talking, at first it was like 200 views, and then like one of them had two views for a really long time. And then it kind of grew after that. But it definitely takes more time for them to grow. So I would say go check and see if you have trial reels and listen to this episode and episode 43 of my podcast. Kind of see what you should start posting for them. Do you share them to your feed after a certain amount of time? So I feel like I've been doing it kind of backwards from how most people are. I am not using trial reels to test content for my page. I'm using it to reach new people. Right. So I haven't been posting any of my trial reels to my main feed. I am using trial reels to find new people using content that I've already created or that I created for my feed. It did well, and now I'm bringing it over to trial reels. So I think if you want to test that out, you totally can. I've seen some people, instead of pulling it to your feed, what they will do if a trial reel performs well, they will then go in and create the same exact reel for their Instagram and just post it instead of removing that other one from the trial reel. Because I do think trial reels, they take a while to take off. So even if something starts to take off, I don't know that I would want to pull it from the feed of people that don't follow me and bring it over to my main feed if it's performing well. I think what I would do instead is take that post and just recreate it. The same exact thing, same video, same text on the video, everything the same, same audio, same caption, and just create a new reel for my feed instead. Does it get better the more trial reels you create because the algorithm understands you and your audience better? I strongly believe so, because in the beginning, mine. Mine did not perform well at all. And I was feeling a little bit discouraged in the beginning. And the more that I post them, I feel like the more it understands my audience better, a hundred percent. Again, this is just, you know, from my experience, I don't have, like, written data from Meta saying that this is true, but that has been my experience. Yes, so the more I post them, the more specific I get in them. The more I'm like using keywords for people that would want to follow me and buy from me, the better that they are performing. My trial reels have reached non ideal people. Lots of spam, mean comments, and horrible views. Okay, so if this is happening to you, what I would probably recommend is getting really, really specific in who you are talking to and really just trying every single day, like create the same reel like five times a day and post it for a trial reel. And I'm talking like create the reel once, get your caption right, get the audio, get everything done, and then duplicate it and then post it multiple times as a trial reel and see if getting a little bit more specific helps. Like I said in the beginning, I think it takes time to figure out who you are talking to in your algorithm. I've had some mean comments on mine. Like one of mine went viral. It's at 1.7 million views right now. And I have maybe 10 mean comments from people that are clearly not my ideal follower. But I also have a lot from people that are my ideal followers. So I think that it just takes time reaching that person and getting a little bit more specific. And like I said earlier, like leaning into the content that's a little bit more vulnerable and storytelling and like deep connection being made in that trial reel. Because you guys have to remember that a trial reel is going to people that have no idea who you are, right? So this is like your handshake with them. This is your top of funnel content. This is where you're saying, hi, this is who I am. This is what I've gone through, this is what I can help you with those types of things. So I think getting more specific into like the storytelling, what you've gone through, and a little bit more vulnerable, I'd say try that and see how that does. And again, just give it time. I feel like a lot of people are writing things off because like the first few weeks are not going how they're going for somebody else. And you have to remember that everyone has different timelines and that features like this, it's a new feature, right? Like they're. I bet they're still learning how to make sure that the content is going to the right people. So I'd say give it time, spend maybe 10 minutes a day, create one reel for a trial reel, duplicate it, post it five times, maybe change the music on one, the caption slightly on another, a different B roll video, like make it very simple. Set a timer, 10 minutes, and then be on your way. Um, I don't spend a lot of time on these. Uh, I. I would say maybe 15 minutes a day. I took almost the whole week off when we were at Disneyland last week because I was just, you know, if. If you watch my stories, you know that there was some. There was some things that happened at Disneyland that made it a little stressful, and so I wasn't super consistent with it. But now I'm getting back into it, and I'm trying to just post five a day, but I'm like, okay, take 10 to 15 minutes. That's it. Okay. I had trial reels, then they went away. Any way to get them back? Oh, my gosh. I hate when Instagram does this to us. Not that I know of. I would say just keep making sure your app is updated. Keep. And make sure that you don't have any violations on your account. Super annoying when they give you something and then they take it away. It's like giving candy to a baby and then taking it. How did you learn what to try and what worked? Did you buy Nikki's guide? Okay, so Nikki is the guest, and she's one of my friends that I had on in episode 43 talking about trial reels. I had seen her having success, and for me, I didn't buy her guide just because once the information is, like, in my brain, I wouldn't want to, like, share anything that's, like, her, you know, intellectual property. So I did not buy it. But I think Nikki's amazing, and I think if you want a guide with, like, more specific hooks and her, you know, education, which. She's super smart, I love her. I would definitely recommend it if you want it. But for me and my brain, I am like, I am the type of person that I like to figure things out on my own. I am very stubborn. I am very, like, okay, my brain needs to figure this out. So for me, it was just a lot of trial and error and testing things and not really putting too much thought into it. I feel like anytime a new feature is launched on Instagram, people spend so much time trying to test things. And for me, I was like, okay, I'm gonna set aside 20 to 30 minutes in the beginning. Like, 20 to 30 minutes a day creating different things, seeing what works. And then after about. I'd say, like, a week of really focusing on it for, like, 30 minutes a day. Now I'm like, okay, 10 minutes a day. I'm just testing things. I am not, like, Spending hours and hours trying to figure it out. So for me, I just tried things right? And I knew that these reels would be going to people that had no idea who I am. And to me, I follow a lot of people based on content. That's them being vulnerable and them kind of showing up and saying this is what I've been through. And I love that type of content. So that's what I leaned into and it's working really well for me. Logistics question. Are you recording in Instagram then duplicating in drafts three times? Yes. So I, I don't always record an Instagram, but I have like a folder on my phone with a ton of B roll videos and videos that I've posted before. Like talking head. I will go in, I will create it one time, I will grab a caption from like the first time I posted the video and I will find my audio. So once that's all done right, I have like essentially an entire reel that's ready to be posted. Then I will duplicate it three times. And sometimes I will post the exact same reel three to five different times. Other times I will go in and I will change like the caption a little bit or I will change the audio or I will just change the actual B roll or something like that. But I try to only change one thing when I'm doing that because I really want to see like what the differences. And I'll talk about the. The exact reel that has gotten me the most views and the most follows in a minute. And it's funny because there's like one part of that reel that consistently did well. Right. And I never would have known that had I like changed multiple things every single time. So yes, I get it already in Instagram and then I duplicate it three times and then I change the duplicates like one thing on the duplicate sometimes. How to utilize this feature if you are a brand new account selling digital products. So I don't think I would approach this feature any differently if I were brand new or if I were someone that has been in business a while and you're just using it. I think focusing on top of funnel content that like is almost like a handshake with someone, right? Because you have to remember that trial reels are being posted to people who have no idea who you are. So if you are talking about something that is like a little bit over their head and they have no idea why they should be listening to you, they're probably going to scroll on by. But if you're talking about, like, here are the hard things that I went through. Or let me normalize something. Let me de influence you, right? And then you share, like, the reality of your life that is somewhat connected to what you sell or what your page is all about, Right? Like, people are more likely, in my opinion, to follow you when seeing that type of information for you. So I probably wouldn't approach it any differently if I were brand new or someone that's already been in business for a while. Okay, for those three reels that you posted with the same hook and caption, did you change anything? Music caption, et cetera. Okay? So they are referring to the one reel that has. Every time I've posted it, it is done exponentially better than other reels. So I've posted this one, I think five times as a trial, maybe six times as a trial reel. It and I tested multiple things. So in the beginning, the first one that I posted was a video of me sitting in my car eating in and out. I have my poppy, you know, my poppy pink sweatshirt on, and the hook says, I'm 33. And I'm not ashamed to admit that, right? It's a trend that's going around. And then in the caption is where all the things that I'm, like, not ashamed to admit, right? And I got pretty vulnerable in these. I was a little nervous to post them at first. But, um, like I said before, I think people are sick of just seeing the outcome. They want to know, like, what you've been through to get there, right? And they want to connect with it. And I got so many comments from people saying, like, wow, are you me? So I know that, like, the things that I struggled with are things that other people are struggling with. So then my caption has, how many different things? Seven different things. And I numbered them. So it was like, one. I ran a barely profitable business for years. It was a floral design business. And I always spent my profits on more flowers to make the weddings more beautiful. And then I go through and I list seven different things, right? So on the first time I posted that, that video now has 1.7 million views. I got 1,002 followers, right? And then I posted it again, multiple times. I posted it with a different video, right? I used one from Hawaii. Everything else was exactly the same. That one got 64,000 views. I then posted it with another video in Hawaii when I was, like, eating my shaved ice in Hawai. Everything the same, just a different video. And that one got 38k views. And then I posted it again. With the same video, the same audio, right? The video of me eating in my car. And that one got 731,000 views. So clearly the video of me eating in my car, like people resonated with that. And I know why, right? Like, it's. It's very natural and organic and it just looks like a normal person sitting and eating in their car, right? Whereas with the other ones were like a little bit more staged, I looked a little bit happier. Whereas the one where I'm eating, I don't look sad, but I'm kind of just. I look like I'm not being filmed, right? I look like I'm just sitting there eating my lunch. And I think that kind of like resonated with people. Whereas it just look normal sitting there, right? And I posted that reel, right? The same text on screen, the same caption three other times with different videos, and they all were lower views, right? Like 7,000 on one, 34,000 on another, 15,000 on another. And then I posted it again two more times, and this time I got a little bit more specific with my hook. So I said I'm a 33 year old, 2 million business owner. And I'm not ashamed to admit that, right? So I didn't just say my age, I said kind of like what I do, right? Like, I own a $2 million business. And that one got 25,000 views. And then again, I did the video of me eating in my car. So the type of content, the type of B roll of me sitting in my car eating and looking very natural like that performs really well. So not only am I going to keep using that in my trial reels, but I'm going to create more B roll videos like that of me sitting in my car looking more natural, right? Like, I really was just sitting there eating my lunch and I put the video on. And so, yeah, that is the one that did really well for me. I actually funny enough posted that on my feed first. You can see it on there. I think it's like, you know, the seventh reel down. I don't know what it'll be when this podcast goes live, but it's me. There's like a blue sky in Hawaii and it says, I'm 34. And I'm not ashamed to admit. And you guys are going to notice there's a discrepancy if you see any of my tri wheels, which you probably won't because they're only going to people that don't follow me. But I did the math wrong. I'm actually 33. So the one on my feed says, I'm 34, I'm 33. Um, can't do that type of math, apparently. But you can go watch that and kind of create your own version of it and try to find a B roll video that is very natural and organic of you just doing something that you would do in everyday life. Like I said, I think those ones do a lot better. But as I was saying before I posted that on my feed, first it did well, and then I was like, you know what? I'm gonna turn this into a trial reel. And it's done really well. And I just keep posting it and trying and seeing how it's doing. So I think that's something else with trial reels is if something does well, keep posting it over and over again because it's going to go to people who don't follow you and don't know who you are. So you might as well. If it does well, keep posting it over and over again. Right. Like, I'm going to keep posting this and testing different audios now because the audio from the first video is no longer trending and I'm going to. Or it maybe it's still trending. It just has a really high amount of views. So I'm going to try different audios and kind of see how that does. So if you have a trial reel that does really well, post it multiple times and see how it does with, like, small tweaks to it. So you guys will notice, as I'm answering all these questions, I don't have hard and fast rules with trial reels. I am just testing and having fun and limiting it to about 10 to 15 minutes a day where I'm, you know, focusing on this and then moving on from it. I'm not sitting there and like overanalyzing every single thing with this new feature. I'm just kind of having fun with it. When something works, repost it multiple times after that. Okay, so this next question totally goes along with what I just said. How often should I post them and how much is too much repetition? They're going to people that don't follow you. So I'm not worried about repetition. I'm trying to do three to five trial reels a day. I've also started just when I post a reel. I also post it to a trial reel regardless of if it's top of funnel content, because might as well, like, might as well test it and see how that does. Do you use hashtags on trial reels? I don't use hashtags in general. So, no, I'm not using them on trial reels. I am not saying that hashtags don't work. I still think they work, but from the beginning, they kind of really stressed me out. So from early on, I kind of just decided I'm not going to use hashtags. I never really have, so I don't use them on trial reels. Again, this is something that I would test. Try posting the exact same reel, one with hashtags, one without, and see if there's any difference. And try that a few different times and see if there's any correlation with the one that has hashtags and the one that doesn't. Are you getting followers or converting people to clients with them? So, like I said before, my overall revenue has increased 3% since I started posting trial reels. But I would say I'm definitely focused more on using them for getting new people into my world rather than converting people right away. Because, yes, there are times when you post a reel and the caption has a keyword. You know, many chat keywords saying, comment, this word, you can buy my product and it converts really, really well. But I think a lot of the time those are going to people that follow you and people that don't follow you. Right? And for me, the way I'm trying to use trial reels is kind of like that handshake invitation into my world, not me saying, here's my product, come to buy it. I think you can definitely test both. Eventually, I will try testing both, but I think the way I'm trying to use it is to get new people into my world and then convert them later on, either in stories or on a different post that's on my feed that they will see because they follow me. But I would say try different things. I'm focusing on using them for growth, for Instagram growth, and then focusing on, you know, converting people into paying customers in my stories more. So right now, can you give an example of how you change one small thing when reposting the same trial reels multiple times? So I feel like I answered this up above, but it's literally like the simplest thing. I really only change one thing when I'm posting multiple of the same thing. So you can change the caption to be something else. You can change the text on screen slightly, like, slightly change the verbiage. You could change your B roll that you're using. You could change the sound that you're using. But like I said before, I really Would only change one small thing. If you're posting like the same reel five different times as a trial reel, change one thing only on each thing to see if that makes sense. A difference. Can you give us more hook ideas and what captions seems to be working well. So I'm working right now on a list of hook ideas specific for trial reels. It's not done yet, but I would say instead of really focusing on like the actual hook, I want you to think of ways that you can share your story, what you've been through in a trial reel to make that connection with people. So go ahead and try that one that I just shared earlier. So I'm however old you are 33, and I am not ashamed to admit that. Try that one as a trial reel and see how it does. I think another one that would be a really good one is let me de influence you as a. And then like, whatever you are. So for me, let me de influence you as a content creator. Let me de influence you as an online business owner, something like that. And then in like the rest of the reel, you could share some things, like some honest things about you that maybe people wouldn't know based on your Instagram feed, things like that. So I am working on something for that. But I want them to be really good. And we were at Disneyland last week and I was like, abby, you can't. You can't try to create a freebie while you are at Disneyland. But just know I'm working on something like that. But I would say, remember with these types of things that they don't know who you are yet. So show them a little bit about who you are and what you've gone through. As far as captions, I'm really just reusing old captions that have already worked well. So if you are using a B roll and there's less text on screen, your caption, you know, could be a little bit longer to give them the information. If you are doing a talking head video where it's you talking to the camera, like talking right to them, usually I will keep my caption a little bit shorter on those. I have noticed that when I say things like, so glad you're along for the ride or so excited you're here, or things like that, or give me a follow if you want more xyz. Those are working well for me in my trial reels because my goal with my trial reels is growth, not sales. So I think for trial reels, just think of what is your goal with them and I am using them to grow my account, not necessarily to convert people into buyers yet, so leaning more into getting them to follow you or getting them on your email list with a freebie. I know that's something that Nikki is doing, and I think that's really great. I haven't tested that out yet, but I think it's not necessarily like certain types of captions are working better than others. I think it's just kind of the whole trial reel as a whole is what you want to look at. Are you the first to like and comment on your trial reels? So usually, yes, I will always like it right away, just so it at least has one like. And then I will comment on it if it makes sense so I can, like ask them something. I don't usually go in and just leave a comment that isn't a question that doesn't really make sense. So if it makes sense to comment something and ask them a question, I would totally do that. Just so you have at least one comment on it. So people aren't seeing a reel that has no comments and no likes on it. Because remember, when people see something that other people like, they're more inclined to read it and like it. Right. So that's kind of my thought process behind that. But don't overthink that. You guys just like it. And then if it makes sense to ask a question, you totally can. But if it doesn't, I wouldn't just go in and leave like a bunch of emoji comments. I wouldn't do that. How are you doing five a day without taking a ton of time? So I talked about this a little bit earlier, but I'm literally, I create the trial reel once that I want to post that day, and then I duplicate it like three to five times and change one small thing on each of those reels. And usually it can do that within 10 or 15 minutes. I think it really helps to have a lot of your content, like, saved somewhere already. So I have a folder on my phone already of a ton of content that I've already created and it's saved. And so that makes it really fast for me. So if you haven't done that yet, it might take you a little bit longer. But I would say get that content ready first. Like old content, old B rolls, things that you can just pull from. Once that's ready, I can usually get like three to five in about 10 to 15 minutes. I will say too. I do this in the beginning of the day just to get it done and over with. So I will usually do that like first thing when I head, when I head into the office, when I walk into the other room and sit down at my desk, I try and do that first just so that it's done and I don't have to think about it the rest of the day. Do you recommend sending to a low ticket paid product freebie or just connect in the caption of the trial reel? So I feel like I answered this a little bit earlier. I'm right now using it just to connect and convert people into followers. But I would say a freebie and a low ticket digital product. Try it. Might as well try it and see how it does. You never know. Again, trial reels, they are so low pressure. Try it and see what works. But for me personally, I am using them to grow my audience and then converting down the line like in my stories. Do you think this feature is targeted to larger creators following all of your tips and not seeing any growth? Um, I, I don't think so. But obviously, like, I don't know for sure the answer on this. I would say if you have a smaller audience because you are newer to all this, it might just take the algorithm longer to kind of figure out who you are trying to talk to. But I've seen people with, you know, audience sizes of like 5,000 to 10,000 and they are, you know, seeing success with trial reels. I really think the thing with trial reels is giving it time. Like they take so much longer to push out because it's learning who to push your content out to. So I think that's the main thing to remember here. Regardless of your audience size, try to give it time. Like I don't go and look at how a trial reel is doing usually until like 72 hours after, because it can be really discouraging to go in and see. Awesome. I have two views or five views on my reel. Great. So I will usually wait a little bit and see how it's doing. And now I will say they are getting pushed out a little bit faster now that I've done more. But they still take a lot of time in my opinion, because that part of the algorithm is really learning who to send them to. How do you select the audio for trial reels? Exactly how I select my other audio. Right. Like I will look for trending audios, I will look for audio that kind of matches the vibe of what I'm saying. So if you are posting a reel like the example I gave you, right, where it's like, I'm 33. And I am not ashamed to admit that I'm not going to use like a happy go lucky song to share these vulnerable moments. Right? The audio that I used on the one that's on my feed is like super, I don't know, it's like super thoughtful and makes you like, oh wow, like awesome that this person is sharing these vulnerable things, right? So really more so making sure that the vibe of the audio matches what you are saying in the reel. Which is exactly what I do on my regular reels as well. What type of content to post on trial reels versus regular feed. So again, don't overthink this, you guys. With trial reels, I would stick as much as possible to that top of funnel content where you are really speaking to someone as if they've never met you. But like I said earlier, I'm also just testing everything on trial reels. Whereas on your regular feed you're going to want to make sure that you're not just doing top of funnel content, right? You're going to make sure that you're nurturing your current audience and you're bringing in new people and you're selling. Whereas on a trial reel, I would really lean more into the top of funnel content. Did it tank your regular views? It seems to have tanked mine, so mine have gone down a little bit in the past week. But I think that's A, because I was on a trip and I was just like having fun with my content and B, I feel like anytime people get a new feature, they spend more time on that feature than their regular content. So their regular content might not perform as well because they're not spending as much time focused on it, if that makes sense. And so that's kind of what I feel is going on. Instagram is also like releasing a ton of new features and changing things and testing things. So anytime that they're like doing big changes, changes. I do notice that, like my views go down a little bit, but that's kind of my take on it. I don't think it's necessarily affecting my regular views. I think I'm just not pouring as much time into my regular content because I'm excited about trial reels and because we were on a trip, like we were gone last week. So I wasn't spending as much time on them. So I don't know, I don't feel like they are tanking them. I feel like people's time is just being spent learning something else. So take that with a grain of salt. Again, it's not like anything Meta has said, but I don't feel like they would do that. I don't feel like they would tank your regular views for trying a new feature, but that's just me. What format is working well? B roll with a strong hook and longer caption. Talking head. For me, the ones that have taken off have all been of B roll with a stronger and longer caption. But I'm going to really dive deep into talking head content as well because I think talking head content builds more trust with people. The content in the video just needs to be top of funnel, right? So here's how I went from X to Y and here's, you know, like how my client started here and now here's where they at things like that where you're kind of like telling your story, giving a little bit more information about you. Not necessarily a talking head video that like they'd have to know who you are to understand what you're talking about, if that makes sense. So I don't think that there's like one type of content that is going to perform better all the time versus another type. I do think it's just about trying things. But if you're not someone that does a lot of talking head content and you're not comfortable in it, I probably wouldn't do that to trial reels just because, like I said, it's going to a new audience that has no idea who you are. So I would say lean into the type of content that you feel the best about doing and put that onto trial reels so that people can kind of like see your confidence when you are creating this type of content. Okay, you guys, that was a lot.
