Instagram Reels are well and truly everywhere now – these 15-30 second vertical videos are being used by lots of creators and bring us even more content. There are some really brilliant bookish Reels out there, but how can you make Reels that will perform well and help you increase your Instagram following and engagement.
Use popular audio in a bookish situation
Take a look through the Reels on your explore page, Instagram will have done their best to customise these to your interests so utilise them to look for inspiration. You’ll see what songs and audio clips are trending and can try to form ideas in your own head about how you might like to use these within your content. This doesn’t have to be a song, it could be a popular audio clip that a user has created themselves or has been inspired by TikTok. For example, the ‘no one’s gunna know’ audio which you can see me using here.
Bookish Wrap-Up or TBR
This is a great Reel idea if you’re looking to create a routine within your content or want some prompts that you can use again and again each month. You can make this work in whatever way you want, be it you talking to the camera, or perhaps your books in a montage with a catchy song. This is an easy filming option that is sure to perform well on Instagram.
Cosy reading set up
Who doesn’t love a cosy reading set up? I love the calming Reels that show the creator’s favourite place to sit and enjoy a good book with their snack or drink of choice. I think Ashleigh from A Frolic Through Fiction does these kinds of Reels really well and you can see they receive strong engagement too. This also gives you a chance to show off any Bookstagram props you may have lying about or to highlight your current read.
Book recommendations with interesting transitions
We’re all consuming bookish content because we want to learn about as many books as possible to add to our always growing TBR’s, so a recommendations Reel will go down a treat. You could theme these and find fitting music to really set the vibe, for example, top fantasy recommendations or your favourite translated fiction. If you can work out how to add some interesting transitions between each book that would look even better, Lauren from FictionTea is someone who does this really well.
Create your own book tag
Creating your own book tag is a really good way of enabling your account to reach a wider audience. By recording your own questions such as ‘show me what you’re currently reading’ and ‘what was the last book to really make you laugh’, you’re providing other users with questions to answer on their own Reels. An example of this can be found on my Reel about books I’d read in January. Not only are these Reels good for engagement and reach, but they’re also fun to film, I’d recommend an App such as VoiceOver to record the audio until Instagram allows that function within its own platform.
