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📐 Instagram's own checklist for your next Reel
Welcome back to TWISM!
If your account is small, Instagram tests your public Reels on people who don't follow you. How those strangers react decides whether the Reel reaches more people.
On Sep 24, Instagram's head Adam Mosseri posted videos laying out the 4 principles Instagram uses to rank posts, and on Sep 28 Instagram published its own guide to making Reels (Social Media Today, Instagram's Reels guide).
Here's the checklist for your next Reel, with one pass before you record and one before you post. 👇
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🧠 What Instagram's ranking rewards
Mosseri says Instagram ranks posts because businesses and brands post far more than creators and everyday people, and without ranking they'd fill every feed (Social Media Today). You can act on 3 of his 4 principles with your next Reel (TrueFuture Media).
Post originals. Instagram gives the original creator more distribution than a reposter, and it judges where a post started from the account's posting history. The version you filmed yourself is the one that gets the reach.
Post while it's fresh. Instagram is cutting the delay before a new post can be considered and shown. A Reel about this week's trend gets its best chance this week.
Expect a test on strangers. Instagram shows public posts from creators people don't know yet to non-followers, watches how they respond, and widens distribution when the response is strong. Your first seconds have to make sense to someone who has never heard of you.
The last principle is about Instagram building bigger AI models to recommend posts, and there's nothing for you to change there.
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✅ Before you record: pick the length and write the first frame
Start with the decisions you can't undo. After posting, Instagram lets you edit the caption, cover, tags and location, but changing the video itself means deleting the Reel and uploading it again (Instagram).
Pick the length for the format. Reels run 3 seconds to 3 minutes. Instagram says 3-15 seconds fits quick transitions, trends and one-liners. It calls 15-60 seconds the sweet spot for tutorials, day-in-my-life clips and most creative formats. It saves 60 seconds to 3 minutes for longer storytelling and detailed how-tos. Set the max length in the Reels camera before you hit record.
Start at 15 seconds if you're new. Instagram says shorter videos are easier to edit and tend to hold attention all the way through.
Write the first frame like a headline. Instagram's tip is that "a strong opening line of text in the first frame can be just as powerful as a great thumbnail." Tap Aa to add text and use the timeline to set when each line appears. Instagram suggests putting a question in the first frame and the answer a few seconds later, so viewers stay for the answer.
Use a template or your photos if you don't have footage. A Reels template drops your clips into a pre-made structure with the timing and transitions already set. Several photos from your camera roll plus a music track play as a slideshow, and that counts as a Reel.
⚡ Why it matters: someone who has never seen your account decides from that opening line whether to keep watching, because it's the only thing they know about you.
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📤 Before you post: captions, cover and tags
These happen on the last two screens before you tap Share.
Add the Captions sticker, even if you used text overlays. Captions show everything you say as text, so the Reel works for people watching with the sound off and for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Tap the Stickers icon, pick Captions, and tap any wrong word to fix it. Instagram's own line on the difference is that "text overlays highlight key moments you choose, while captions make your entire spoken audio visible."
Choose the cover on purpose. The cover is what shows on your profile grid, so it's what people see when they check out your account. Pick a frame from the video or upload an image.
Tag the people and the location. Instagram says tags help the Reel reach more viewers and show up in location-based searches. If you run a local business, the location tag puts the Reel in front of people searching your area.
Turn on Share to Feed. The Reel then sits in your main grid as well as the Reels tab, so people browsing your profile see it with your other posts.
Write a caption that adds context or asks a question. That's Instagram's own instruction for the share screen, and a question gives people a reason to comment.
Reels that do well can land on the Explore page, where Instagram recommends accounts to people who don't follow them yet. Instagram's advice for getting there is to "keep it high-quality, original and engaging from the first second" (Instagram).
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🧪 Test it on strangers first with Trial Reels
A Trial Reel goes to non-followers only. Your followers don't see it in their feed or Reels tab, and it stays off your grid unless you share it later (Meta).
Make the Reel as usual and turn on the Trial toggle before sharing. About 24 hours later you see views, likes, comments and shares. Instagram can also share it with your followers automatically if it performs well in the first 72 hours.
Mosseri told creators to use Trial Reels to test ideas (Social Media Today). It's the same test on strangers from his third principle, except you run it on purpose and your followers never see a miss. Try 2 versions of the first frame and post the winner. Instagram says Trial Reels are for eligible creators, so check that you have the toggle before you plan around it.
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📉 Watch engagement rate instead of views
Mosseri's advice is to "focus on engagement rates, as opposed to total views or likes" (Social Media Today). Views tell you how many people saw the Reel start. Likes, comments and shares tell you how many of them cared enough to react.
My suggestion: for each of your last 5 Reels, add up the likes, comments and shares and divide by the views. Make more of whatever the top one did. Instagram hasn't published a formula, so this is my shortcut, not theirs.
☝️ The one-sentence version
Instagram gives more reach to original and recent Reels that hold strangers from the first second, so pick the length before you record and make the first frame a headline, then add captions before you post and test new ideas with Trial Reels.
Hit reply and tell me: which item on this list does your last Reel miss?
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📚 Sources
That's all for today. Thanks for reading. Now…
Go BIG or go home!
~ Josh from "This Week in Social Media"
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