I know, I know… I talk a lot about Instagram Reels lately. And there is a reason. A. After dealing with cancer treatments last year, I am just now jumping on the bandwagon now that I am feeling better. B. Instagram Reels are one of the best ways to engage with your community AND  reach a wider audience. I will say from experience, my Instagram Reels get comments weeks later, and my other posts have a shelf life of about 1 to 2 days. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather create content that people are seeing 2 weeks later!

So, Instagram Reels is a great way to engage with current fans and connect with new ones. So, I will keep encouraging people to share them (that, and video is one of the best ways to showcase your brand story on social media). I recently wrote a blog post about some trending Instagram Reel songs that I would love to see shared by my friends in the wine marketing instrusty. Read the full blog post here: 10 Ideas For Instagram Reels For Wine Businesses.

But, what if you don’t have music on your Instagram account?!? 

For marketers that have business accounts without access to good music (yes, royalty-free music is there, but tbh it is pretty meh) there are two things you can do when it comes to creating Instagram Reels. 

1 - Save Original Music to Use Later in Instagram Reels

When you find a sound or song you like, you can save it and come back to it later. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to save Instagram Reels music. Note, this only works for original music shared by users vs. the song from the musical artist themselves. 

2 - Simply Talk in your Instagram Reel

The second option is to simply talk to the camera, or record a voiceover after you film your video footage. If you have hit a creative roadblock for ideas to talk about in your Instagram Reel, you have come to the right place!

My Favorite Non-Music Instagram Reels Ideas For Hospitality Marketers: 

1. Introduce yourself, and members of your team. Start the 15/30 second video with one thing about you, or what your favorite food or wine (what your fave product) that your brand sells. Keep things short and talk straight to the camera. Then edit to be less than 30 seconds. Add text to the Instagram Reel if you want, or use the Instagram caption feature to add text (just a reminder - not everyone looks through Instagram with the sound on, so the text is always helpful). 

2. Look at your website analytics. Showcase your best-selling products, or think about how you can repurpose your most viewed blog post (mine is all about Linktree and how I think there are better ways to utilize your Instagram link in bio) to create a short Instagram Reel.

3. New products or promotions. Simply tell people about the latest product or service you have coming up. And in the caption and text of your Instagram Reel be VERY clear on how they can purchase with a clear CTA (call to action) that inspires them to take action. 

4. Create a how-to video. Think about your brand passions or products and create a how-to video on recipes or things your customers may need to know to use your product. Think about “how to properly open a bottle of wine,” or “how to create the best cheese plate to pair with our Zinfandel,” or even “how to age wine.” Think about questions you have received from customers and try to answer them in short, straight to the point how-to videos. 

5. Take people behind-the-scenes. Take your community behind the scenes of the tasting room, kitchen, spa, wine cellar, bottling room, or vineyards. What do customers get the most excited about when you are taking them on a real life tour? Start there and create a short behind the scenes video.

I hope these Instagram reels ideas can help your creative juices flowing, because even with each of these ideas - there is a lot of content to be created! Don’t just create ONE product reel, find new ways to have fun and show off the goods (even if you only have one product like we do over at Randall the Blue Spider’s instagram page).