Instagram Reels introduces Trends, Editing, Gifts features for creators

Instagram has added hew features on Reels to empower its cretor community.

• A dedicated destination has been added to find inspiration through trending audio and hashtags on Instagram Reels
• Two new metrics have been added to Reels insights – total and average watch times
• Gifts introduced on Reels to more countries; feature added to let creators recognise fans’ gifts

What’s Trending on Reels

Creators are always looking to discover fresh content ideas, so now Instagram Reels has added a dedicated destination for creators to be inspired by the latest trends. Creators will be able to see the top trending songs on Reels, see how many times the audio has been used, tap in to use it or save the audio for themselves.

Creators will also be able to see what the top trending topics and hashtags are on Reels to inform their own content. For example, festival season might be trending earlier than one thinks. Instagram has found that people actually start sharing their #coachella content before the festival even begins. These are the types of insights you can tap into with the new trends destination.

Instagram is making it easier for creators to edit their Reels on the platform by bringing together video clips, audio, stickers, and text on a unified editing screen. This makes it easier to align and time elements of the Reel to the right moments in a more visual way. Instagram is gearing up to introduce more tools as it continues to invest in more ways to make editing Reels simpler and easier. This is available globally, across both iOS and Android devices.

Updates to Reels Insights

Instagram is improving Reels insights to help creators better understand how their content is performing. It is adding two new metrics – Total Watch Time and Average Watch Time – and making it easier to see one’s insights while viewing Reels directly.

Total watch time captures the total amount of time the Reel was played, including any time spent replaying the reel. Average watch time captures the average amount of time spent playing the Reel, calculated by dividing watch time with the number of total plays. For example, if the average watch time is 17 seconds, out of everyone who watched the Reel, they watched an average of 17 seconds. This will help creators better understand where people are being engaged or where they may need to create a stronger hook to have viewers stay longer.

“The number of views is just one part of assessing the performance of your Reels. It’s really important to go in and understand how your Reels are performing based on specific variables. I’m often testing different hooks or opening lines. Seeing the watch time will help me understand where viewers dropped off and then I can adjust the hook from there. Insights help me bridge the gap between me as a creator and my audience. I may think a video is amazing, but seeing watch time will allow me to better understand where my viewers are engaged,” said @sckachi, a comedy creator in LA.

“Sometimes I’ll reshoot a video based on video insights. For example, I learned that people stopped watching if I was holding a product in my beauty tutorials for too long. so I tailored my editing to make these scenes shorter and keep viewers engaged,” said @schaebreezy_, an LA-based beauty creator.

Instagram is also adding a new way to see how creators’ Reels are contributing to their growth. Creators will now receive a notification with new followers from their Reels.

Meanwhile, Instagram has also shared its plan to bring gifts to even more creators with upcoming expansions to more markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK, in the coming weeks.

The platform is also adding a new feature to show creators which fans have sent them a gift so that creators can recognise their supporters. By tapping the heart icon next to their supporters, creators will get a notification that they have seen and recognised their gift, providing an even stronger sense of connection between the creators and their fans.