25 Best Instagram Reels Ideas 2024 | A Beginner’s Guide
Over 2.35 billion Instagram users actively watch Reels compared to TikTok's 1.0 billion MAUs.
Creating the most fascinating and engaging IG Reels can help you leverage the social media platform’s impressive reach and use it to expand your follower base or grow your business.
We will help you on the right foot with these 25 Best Instagram Reels Ideas 2024 and inspire you to create your own.
In the following, we categorized reel ideas into business types to help zero in on the most relevant inspiration for your IG videos.
Instagram Reels Ideas for eCommerce Brands and Retailers
1. Use AI puppets (brand ambassador, mascot, or spokesperson).
Although you could contract a celebrity to endorse your business, many small businesses don’t have sufficient budgets.
Still, every brand deserves a mascot or brand spokesperson.
So, you can create an AI avatar and use it as your brand representative in videos to update your followers, make announcements, or keep them engaged with exciting reels.
For instance, Instagram users will love a talking dog or baby portrait. Puppetry gives you that edge.
Here’s a complete guide on how to use Puppetry in the Studio.
2. A day in the life
Over 12 million people have an e-commerce business.
And with more people shopping online, aspiring to become an e-retailer isn’t far-fetched.
You can help these wannabe eCommerce business owners get a feel for running such an enterprise in the home or anywhere.
You can showcase your daily routine –setting up your website, taking orders, updating content, addressing customer issues, promoting products across platforms, and more.
Your IG Reels could be a series that allows Instagram users to follow your every Reel upload.
3. Highlight unique product features
Got a product you want to move from your inventory?
Why not create a Reel focusing on its features, especially the hidden ones?
Some IG users might be familiar with your product but are clueless about its unique attributes.
Do they know how to use the item off-label (outside its intended purpose)?
If not, you could create a video for that.
4. Encourage user-generated content
Learning how to create Instagram Reels is easy. But then, doing it daily can be taxing, even for the seasoned Instagrammer.
Why not publish a Reel encouraging IG followers and users to share Instagram user-generated content?
You could stitch several reels and showcase them on your page.
Who knows? You might bump into something that can give you an idea for your next project.
5. Share your brand story
People might know your e-commerce brand, but do they know your story?
Sharing your company’s history is one of the best Instagram Reels ideas you can make.
It encourages viewers to pursue their online business dreams, regardless of background and other factors.
Show them how a garage idea turned into a flourishing cash cow.
Also interested in starting an automation channel on YouTube? You can check our YouTube automation guide here.
Instagram Reels Suggestions for Photographers
6. Showcase your work
What better way to inspire shutterbugs and short-film enthusiasts than sharing your work?
They could draw inspiration from your pictures and videos, allowing them to create stunning works of art.
Showcasing your work attracts potential customers for weddings, graduations, and other special occasions.
They’ll know how good you are behind the lens. That’s how you monetize Instagram Reels.
7. Share behind-the-scenes footage
Although anyone with a smartphone or digital camera can snap photos, only professionals understand and employ unique tricks to bring out the best in every scene.
Unsurprisingly, nearly 75 million professional photographers exist. The count will grow because social media users demand high-quality pictures and videos.
So, why not share behind-the-scenes footage for aspiring photographers?
They will learn to set up the camera, lighting, reflectors, and other gizmos necessary for each shot.
8. Describe photography hacks
Shutterbugs think they know every tick in the book.
Unfortunately, it’s not always true.
Although some can manipulate aperture, ISO, and shutter settings, professional photographers have several hacks to make stunning images every time.
You can create IG Reels focusing on these photography or videography hacks.
For example, you could teach how to make bokeh shapes, create a filter effect from scratch, or reverse the lens for macro photography.
9. Demonstrate photo and video editing
Most folks rely on in-app filters to beautify their shots.
Photographers have tools and systems to edit and polish their work.
For instance, saving images in RAW format gives sufficient leverage for Photoshop or Lightroom editing. Sadly, few know that.
Your Instagram Reel can showcase the process of editing photos and videos.
You could teach followers how to manipulate image settings, apply visual elements, add a soundtrack, and integrate other components into their work.
10. Highlight photography and videography destinations
Although a professional photographer can transform an ordinary scene (i.e., a busy market, park, or shopping mall) into stellar art, some places are worth snapping a shot or shooting a film.
So, why not produce an IG Reel about the famous landmarks in London, the Big Apple, or Barcelona?
Alternatively, you could showcase Havana’s rustic streets, Hong Kong’s scenic harbor, Mount Yoshinoyama’s cherry blossom, or any photographer’s dream destination.
Instagram Reels Suggestions for Real Estate Professionals
11. A virtual walk-through
Selling a real estate property can be challenging.
Buying one isn’t convenient, either.
So, save yourself and your potential clients the hassle of meeting to view a listing in person.
An Instagram Reel about a property should give your prospective clients a heads-up.
A virtual walk-through takes your viewers on a journey of discovery.
It's a first-person-view film, simulating what people would see if they walked through a property's halls, walkways, rooms, and sections.
It should give potential homebuyers an idea of what the property looks like. They can schedule a visit for a much closer inspection.
12. Offer helpful tips for renters and aspiring property owners
You know your property (or properties) better than anyone.
You might have some renters’ stories to share on Instagram.
For example, you could advise prospective lessees on handling negotiations.
How about passing a mandatory property inspection?
Aspiring homebuyers and renters would love to learn tricks and tips to make their house-hunting adventures more fruitful.
Your Instagram Reels can be an excellent platform for such information.
13. Create a compilation of listings
This IG Reels idea is perfect for realtors or agents with several property listings.
It allows prospective homebuyers to glimpse all available properties, especially their curbside looks.
Stitch the best photos for each property and weave them into 90-second videos.
Add a musical score, sound effects, catchy captions, and other attention-grabbing elements to keep potential clients interested in your portfolio.
14. Present property trends
Are you bothered by rising real estate prices?
How about house hunters going digital or families ditching city life for the suburbs?
Trends happen every time and in every imaginable social aspect, including real estate.
Your clients would want to stay abreast of such trends.
While you can present these trends in conventional text-based content, creating a 90-second AI-generated video grabs prospective homebuyers’s attention better.
Of course, you can always direct IG followers to your blog for a more extensive discussion of these trends.
15. Share sales stats
Sharing your sales stats builds credibility, underscoring your realtor skills.
Property sellers will want to hire your services because they want the best outcomes. So do prospective buyers.
They know they can trust you to bring them the best deal.
Instagram Reels Suggestions for Fashion Businesses
16. Curate your fashion collection
Turn your Instagram Reels into a virtual carousel of exciting fashion collections. Showcase a finely made dress, a rare cardigan, or a one-of-a-kind scarf.
How about shoes, belts, jewelry, and other fashion accessories?
Instagram users can glimpse your collection.
It's like a sneak preview of your offerings, allowing them to pick one they want to inspect closer. It's virtual window-shopping within 90 seconds.
17. Demonstrate fashion creation
Do you love designing fashion and creating seashell necklaces, bracelets, and trinkets?
How about sketching a dress or costume for a special event? People would love to learn how you do it.
A 90-second reel might be too short for a how-to video, but it’s enough to stimulate interest in the process.
IG users will want to learn more, so they will contact you or watch the full video on your other social media channels.
18. Model new fashion styles
Now, it is your chance to be a ramp model, showcasing the latest fashion and style without the red carpet, catwalk, and glitzy photographers.
Displaying fashion styles on Instagram Reels introduces such items to fashionistas.
You can ask a friend to model the fashion while you tinker with the camera and lighting effects.
Post video on Instagram Reel and watch viewers comment, share, or like your creation.
These engagement metrics will shoot your IG account through the roof.
19. Share fashion tips and advice
Not everyone is a fashionista, although everyone wants to look their best. An Instagram Reel can be an excellent tool for sharing one or two fashion advice.
Your IG followers will appreciate your tips, boosting their confidence and preparing them for the world.
They can use your tricks and hacks to curate their wardrobe and mix and match different items to showcase a style.
20. Compare fabrics
How does satin compare to silk or cotton to polyester?
How about nylon, spandex, and rayon?
How do you know you have cashmere and not faux wool?
What’s a blend, and how different is 100% organic cotton from regular cotton?
Many folks would want to know these differences to help them pick the suitable fabric for their clothes.
Your IG Reels can be clips differentiating two to three nearly identical fabrics.
Instagram Reels Suggestions for the Education Sector
21. Reminisce school days
There’s a good chance your primary school or high school classmates are on Instagram; college buddies, too!
How about posting Instagram Reels highlighting those good old days when you were still in school?
Post before and after images of your alma mater and see how classmates and friends will react to the changes.
How about your favorite teachers? Are they still there?
22. Engage learners
Instagram videos are more fun materials for students and adult learners to engage.
You could encourage students to send their best pictures or videos highlighting a theme.
Instagram followers can vote for their favorite, and you can give a prize to the winner.
Engaging students encourages active participation and promotes a healthy attitude toward continuous learning.
23. Offer exam week resources
Exam days are very stressful. Give your learners a respite by offering them study tips and tricks.
Your video could focus on a 90-second mindfulness training to help students focus on their reviews.
Relaxation techniques also work.
For example, deep breathing increases brain oxygenation, allowing students to think better.
Instagram Reels Suggestions for Food & Hospitality Businesses
24. Film food preparation and cooking techniques
Teach viewers how to peel and dice onions effortlessly or fillet barramundi like a pro.
How about deboning chicken, chopping herbs, and slicing veggies?
You can film many things in the kitchen and help aspiring home cooks prepare delicious meals.
Ninety seconds might be too short, but many celebrity chefs can pack much within the frame.
25. Share a chef’s daily life
What’s it like to run a professional kitchen?
Where do you buy ingredients, and how do you pick the freshest ones?
Do you run a brigade? How do you command the pass while ensuring everyone else does their jobs?
Final Thoughts
Ninety seconds isn’t enough to make a compelling full video, but it is sufficient to grab Instagram users' attention, especially those watching Instagram Reels. You can always supplement these short-form videos with extended versions to engage followers better.
Nevertheless, creating and posting IG reels is one of the best ways to grow your fan or follower base, increase brand awareness, and engage your audience.
Try these cool Instagram reels ideas today!