How to Perfect and Polish Your Instagram Reels Content

So, you consider yourself a Reels ~viewing enthusiast~. You know the trends, send the jokes to your friends, but whenever you try to make them yourself, the execution doesn’t quite align with your original vision. We’re here to help!

Don’t get discouraged. Being a great viewer of Reels is the most important part because that means you understand the tone and type of content you should be making. Your execution can be easily improved with a few simple hacks I’ve learned from making many Reels for our clients! With these tips and tricks, you can perfect and polish your Instagram Reels content in no time.

Perfect and Polish Your Instagram Reels Content

Use a Third-Party App to Edit

First thing to know: Instagram’s Reels platform does not give you a lot of control. We personally like using third-party apps like InShot and Capcut to control the editing. Much of what makes a video interesting to watch is the speed and timing, and third party apps make it easier to manipulate each.

High Quality Resolution

Blurry videos are not particularly fun to watch and are probably not the best way to represent your company. It depends what outside app you use to edit, but just keep in mind that you want to keep your edited quality as similar as possible to the original videos you had on your phone. 

Cheat Sheet – Higher Resolution Downloading (from any third party editing app)

• Save your video in 4k, if possible.  4k = Ideal resolution. 
• If 4k isn’t an option, choose the highest number with a “p” when saving. “P” means pixels, so the higher the number- the bigger and better quality of the video! (It may take longer to download, but prioritize the quality of your output over download speed.)
• Export in MOV over MP4 (if given the option). MOV files are often higher quality and larger in size because MP4 files are typically more compressed and smaller in size. 

Cheat Sheet – Higher Resolution Uploading (on Instagram):

Make sure “high quality uploads” is turned on in your instagram settings under “account” -> “data usage.” If this wasn’t already switched on, you’re welcome. 🙂 

Don’t Rely on Post-Production Editing 

Remember: The higher the quality of your original video, the easier it will be to maintain resolution after editing apps.

Occasionally making small adjustments after will be necessary, but make an effort on the front-end to be intentional while filming and try not to rely on being able to improve in post-production.

Style Consistency 

Be as consistent as possible with the fonts and colors you use on your Reels. It keeps the thumbnails looking polished and cohesive on your page.

Use these tips to get you started on a reel-y fun journey of expressing yourself or your brand! (Sorry, had to throw that in somewhere). 

Are you feeling like you’ll never get a handle on creating compelling video content? Hang on and take a deep breath…that’s where we can come in! Contact us at (914) 275-1227 to chat about how Matchstick Social can boost your brand’s online video presence.