Low friction production ideas that won’t impede productivity

Despite the outcry, Instagram will likely continue their push to be a video platform. It is one of the few features of the platform that still promotes organic reach, and to miss out on the opportunity will be costly.

Instagram Reels is a feature on the platform that directly competes with TikTok. These are short form vertical videos that range from humor, tutorials, and a wide range of other trends. It’s not all about dances and skits however as many B2C brands have used Instagram Reels to reach more audiences organically in the increasingly pay-to-play social media space. The potential uses for B2B is often overlooked due to the perceived unprofessionalism of the platform. However this can be an interesting opportunity to take aspects of the brand and find its niche audience that eventually will help with brand recognition.

An important thing to note: leave the hard business and academic details for Linkedin. The key to success for B2B brands on Instagram is to focus on company culture, storytelling, and value-adding short content. While short form videos on the platform aren’t optimized for detailed explanations of complex topics, it is still a valuable space to educate potential clients and employees about the company. However, big engagement will come from promoting the company culture and lifestyle, and other bite-sized relevant content.

The big question a lot of companies ask: how can B2B brands use Reels while preserving the brand’s integrity? We have compiled a list of ideas that your B2B company can implement without disrupting your busy days and maximizing your brand exposure responsibly.

B2B Reels #1: The Classic Tour

While a lot of businesses have adopted a work from home setup, many B2B companies have chosen to follow a hybrid model and still keep a show stopping headquarters. Encourage both clients and coworkers to visit by showcasing your workplace, especially key features: from the great view, innovative spaces, to some conversation starting oddities.

Forget the ping pong table though. Today’s audience wants more from workspaces than the sports bar furniture they won’t have time to use. Instead, focus on how you’ve transformed the office space to accommodate health guidelines and accessibility, while encouraging collaboration and innovation. Spend some time on spaces that aid productivity and team member motivation.

It also helps to share interesting stories that have happened in the office. Just make sure it’s SFW (safe-for-work) and doesn’t risk proprietary and confidential information.

What’s great with this B2B Reel idea is that you can have it as a simple sequence of shots like a real estate walkthrough, or if you have a team member that fancies themself as a travel host then it can take it up a whole new level.

B2B Reels #2: Meet the Team

A quick tour of a department to meet the team is an easy B2B Reel idea to show potential clients and employees who are the people that keep the company running. An easy way to produce this content is to walk up to a team member mid-task and ask:

• Who they are
• What they do
• What’s something they can’t live without

Best practice is to ask for volunteers who are comfortable with being on camera. If they’re shy, don’t force them as their force performance might be detrimental to the quality of your Reel. Instead, just do a walkthrough of the department and have team members hold out placards of their job title and what they do. Make sure you spend some time on each to make it readable for the audience.

But if you’ve got yourself a cadre of extroverts, you can run with this idea in any way you want.

Pro Tip: Have everyone write down their answers but don’t tell them when you’ll be producing this Reel. This keeps a bit of spontaneity without your coworkers taking up too much time thinking on camera and potentially rambling. Just because it looks impromptu does not mean there’s no planning.

B2B Reels #3: Then and Now

A trip down memory lane. Show your brand story through photos or videos from its founding, then showcase how it’s currently going. It’s important to show off the growth and how far your B2B company has come, but it’s equally important to spend some time on the team members.

Company trips, weddings, baby showers, and life milestones of team members really contribute to a company’s story. It’s not just a successful business, but is also made up of people who have grown a lot with the company.

While this Reel idea will mostly consist of archival assets, it might be a good idea to have the founder or CEO do a bit of commentary over it. Context is key when trying to develop engagement with new audiences, just make sure to keep it short and to the point.

B2B Reels #4: Motivation

If you have team members that do a lot of speeches and talks, make sure to grab those videos. These motivational snippets are great for Reels as it delivers inspiring content in a bite-sized format. The key thing to remember is to set-up the context before delivering the key message. It also helps to add captions on key words to really drive home the message.

Most of these speaking opportunities happen in dim venues so your archival footage may not be high quality. One route you can take is to extract the speech or words-to-live-by audio and have it play over a high quality video of your team. It doesn’t matter if it’s at work or at play, as long as the video and the image relate to one another.

B2B Reels #5: FAQs

Answering industry frequently asked questions (FAQs) is a great way to showcase your insights without producing a weighty thought leadership piece. You’d be surprised how open audiences are to watch short informative videos with little direct relationship to them at the moment. This helps develop an interest in the topic and positions yourself as an industry expert. So whether you’re answering:

• What is the correct setting for a welding torch?
• What are microsites?
• What is an easy way to check for errors in your program?
• Or other industry concerns

Make sure you keep these as simple as possible and quick. It will take a bit of time to get this streamlined but just keep producing and you’ll be able to find the perfect mix of conciseness and informativeness.

Keep in mind that Instagram is not a great platform for multi-topic diatribes, so focus on one to two specific questions per Reel. Keeping it concise but informative allows your company to show off your expertise and reach new audiences on Instagram.

Remember to always ask the audience to leave more questions on the comments to drive engagement and fuel your next reel.

Start Producing B2B Reels

Hopefully these five Reels ideas for your B2B company got your creative juices flowing. The key takeaways here is to keep them simple, on-brand, and as frictionless as possible. The easier it is to produce, the more likely you are to be consistent with these. Consistency is key to building your audience and getting preferential attention from the algorithm.

Some things to remember when you’re preparing your production:

• Have a plan or a script. Even if you’re going for a more casual approach, it helps choreographing the action to make the actual production quicker. Having a plan also helps to keep the production on-brand.
• Keep it well lit. Turn on as much light as you need. If you’re using natural light, produce only when the sun’s out.
• Keep things in focus. Tap your subject before you start recording and be mindful that it’s in focus when you start moving around.
• Use music AND closed captions. Music keeps your Reels dynamic and helps you get a better reach. Closed captions help your Reel be more accessible for users that have their phone on mute. These also help highlight the key message of your video.
• Add high quality cover photos with titles to your Reels. These aid with your profile’s branding and curation.

If you’re interested in getting started with Instagram Reels for your business but need help with the strategy and seed content, contact us and we can work with you to perfect your brand story.

Author
Ayo Supangco
SOCIAL MEDIA & CONTENT SPECIALIST

Ayo earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He applied his creative energies to a variety of projects in the technology, education, film and advertising industries. While neck-deep in various pursuits, he was also a long-time university instructor in media production.