Wondering when to use reels vs stories on Instagram? It’s not always so clear which format is the right pick.
When considering using Reels vs Stories, use Reels for evergreen content like listicles and Stories for quick informal moments like a glimpse into your day. Reels can be 60 seconds long and have a very wide organic reach beyond your profile page, which is great for building your account. Stories disappear after 24 hours unless you save them to your Story Highlights.
Read on to learn all about when to use reels vs stories on your Instagram account.
The basics of reels vs stories
Have you ever wondered what the difference between a reel and a story is on Instagram? Wonder no more! In this post, we’ll take a look at the differences between reels and stories, and explain why it’s important to know the difference. Stay tuned – we promise that by the time you finish reading this post, you’ll be a reel pro!
Reels
Instagram Reels are short videos up to 60 seconds long. You can add music, voiceovers, and other effects to your clips before publishing a Reel. Reels have their own tab in the Instagram app and this format has a wide organic reach. Both followers and non-followers are shown Reels based on hashtags and interests. Anyone on instagram can “remix” your Reel on their own account.
Stories
Instagram Stories are informal short videos that were originally limited to 15 seconds but are now extended to 60 seconds (the same as Reels). Stories disappear from your profile
Choosing reels vs stories
Reels have much bigger reach than Stories and are good for growing your account. People have to actually visit your page to view your Story Highlights. And people these days like to binge-watch people’s Reels when they visit your page. It’s more likely they’ll go to your Reels tab when they view your profile.
A great thing to have for Story highlights is an “about me” or “start here” for your first highlight section, so that when new people visit your page they can quickly find out about you.
You can also “pin” up to three posts on your profile now which has taken away some of the original benefits of story highlights. So if you had a video business card, or a high-performing reel, or an about me post, you can pin that to your page.
When to use each format
Use Reels for any polished content and use Stories for any off-the-cuff selfie-style content. If the Story ends up being excellent, you can always save it to Story Highlights. Don’t use a polished edited video as a Story; save those for Reels, where higher production value is still seen as authentic.
Consider making Story Highlights for topics like “about me” or “start here”, and also pin couple of posts like a video business card or a high-performing Reel to your profile.