How to Create Instagram Reels Step by Step

Creating Instagram Reels can feel like a big lift, but it’s one of the most powerful ways to grow your brand and connect with your audience on the platform. This guide breaks down the entire process from planning your first shot to analyzing your results, giving you a clear, step-by-step roadmap to making reels that people will love to watch.

Planning Your Reel: The Foundation of a Great Video

The best Reels - the ones that look effortless and grab your attention - often start with a good plan. Taking just a few minutes to think through your video before you hit record can save you a lot of time and frustration later. It’s the difference between a polished, purposeful video and a chaotic one you end up deleting.

Find Your Big Idea

You don't need a groundbreaking concept for every Reel. Often, the simplest ideas perform the best. If you're stuck, here are a few places to find endless inspiration:

• Answer a direct question: What's a question you get asked all the time in your DMs or comments? Turn the answer into a quick-tip Reel. For example, a personal trainer could create a Reel on "3 Ways to Fix Your Squat Form."
• Show a behind-the-scenes look: People are naturally curious. A Reel of you packing an order, setting up for an event, or tidying your workspace can be surprisingly engaging.
• Create a mini-tutorial: Teach someone how to do something quickly. This could be anything from "How to Style a Bookshelf" to "My 5-Minute Morning Skincare Routine." These add immediate value.
• Hop on a trend: Scroll through the Reels tab on Instagram. What sounds, formats, or challenges are popping up over and over again? Find a way to adapt a popular trend to your own niche.

Choose Your Audio

Audio is the heartbeat of a great Reel. Using trending audio can give your video a serious boost from the Instagram algorithm because the platform wants to show users more content featuring that sound.

To find trending sounds, look for the small arrow icon next to the audio name at the bottom of a Reel. When you find one you like, tap the audio name and then tap "Save audio". This adds it to your collection so you can easily access it when you're ready to create your own Reel.

Map Out Your Shots

You don't need a full-blown Hollywood storyboard, but a simple shot list can change the game, especially for Reels with multiple clips. Before you start recording, jot down a quick list of the shots you need to tell your story. For a "get ready with me" video, your list might look something like this:

• Clip 1: Show outfit laid out on the bed.
• Clip 2: Quick shot applying makeup.
• Clip 3: Shot of putting on shoes.
• Clip 4: Final shot showing the full look and smiling.

This simple outline keeps you focused and ensures you get all the clips you need without having to re-record everything.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Instagram Reel

With a little bit of planning done, you’re ready for the fun part. Let’s walk through the creation process from opening the Reels editor to hitting publish.

Step 1: Open the Instagram Reels Creator

You can get to the Reels editor in a few different ways:

• From the Home Screen: Tap the "+" icon at the bottom of your screen and select "Reel."
• From the Reels Tab: Tap the Reels icon at the bottom of the screen, then tap the camera icon in the upper right corner.

Step 2: Get Familiar With the Recording Tools

Once you’re in the Reels editor, you'll see a series of icons on the left side of your screen. These are your primary creation tools.

• Audio: Tap the music note to add a song. You can search for a specific track, browse what's trending, or tap "Saved" to use the audio you found earlier.
• Length: Tap this to set the maximum length of your Reel: 15, 30, 60, or 90 seconds. Don’t feel pressured to use the whole time - shorter Reels often perform better.
• Effects: The icon with the sparkles is where you can access Instagram's vast library of AR filters. You can use these to change the look of your video, add a fun visual gag, or smooth out your appearance.
• Timer: This is a lifesaver if you're creating videos by yourself. Tap the stopwatch icon to set a 3- or 10-second countdown before the camera starts recording. You can also drag the slider to determine exactly how long the clip should record before stopping automatically. No more awkward running back and forth to your phone!
• Speed: This lets you record your video in slow motion (.3x or .5x) or speed it up (2x or 3x). This is especially useful for creating cool B-roll footage.

Step 3: Add Your Footage

Now it’s time to fill up your Reel with clips. You have two main options for doing this: recording directly inside the app or uploading clips from your camera roll.

• To Record in the App: Press and hold the record button to capture a clip. When you let go, it stops recording. You can record as many clips as you want until you reach your chosen time limit. Pro tip: Use the Timer tool to go hands-free.
• To Upload From Your Camera Roll: Tap the square icon with the plus sign in the bottom left corner. This opens your phone’s camera roll, where you can select one or more videos or photos to add to your Reel. Many creators prefer to shoot their video in high quality with their phone’s native camera and then upload the clips into Reels for editing.

As you add clips, you’ll see a progress bar appear at the top of the screen, showing you how much time you have left.

Step 4: Edit Your Reel

Once you've recorded or uploaded your clips, tap "Next" to enter the editing screen. This is where you can polish your video and add creative elements to make it stand out. Tap the "Edit clips" button in the bottom left to get started.

Trim and Reorder Your Clips

In the "Edit clips" view, you can see all of your individual video clips laid out on a timeline. Here you can:

• Trim: Tap on any clip and drag the yellow handles on either side to shorten it from the beginning or the end.
• Reorder: Press and hold a clip to drag it to a different position in the timeline.
• Delete: Select a clip you don't want and tap the trash can icon at the bottom to remove it.

This is also where you'll find the extremely handy Align tool. This tool shows you a transparent overlay of the last frame from your previous clip, which makes lining up your next shot for a seamless transition incredibly easy.

Add Text, Stickers, and Voiceovers

After you’re done organizing your clips, go back to the main editing screen. You’ll see icons at the top right for adding more layers to your video.

• Text (Aa icon): Add on-screen text to provide context or tell a story. You can change fonts, colors, and add a background highlight. The best feature here is the ability to time your text. After you’ve written your text, you’ll see its layer appear at the bottom of the screen. Drag the edges to control exactly when it appears and disappears in the video. You can also tap the text bubble and select "Text-to-speech" to have an AI voice read your text aloud.
• Stickers (Sticker icon): Here you can add GIFs, polls, quizzes, and other interactive elements to get your audience engaged.
• Voiceover (Microphone icon): Want to add your own narration? Tap the microphone button to record audio directly over your video. This is perfect for tutorial videos or telling a story.

Step 5: Prepare to Publish

Amazing! Your Reel is edited and you’re ready to share it with the world. On the final screen before publishing, you’ll have a few important options:

• Edit Cover: This is a big one. Your cover image is what people will see on your profile grid and in the Reels feed before the video starts playing. You can select a frame from your video or upload a custom image from your camera roll to maintain a consistent aesthetic on your profile.
• Write Your Caption: Your caption should add context and include a call to action (like "save this post" or "comment your favorite tips below"). Use the first line to hook your reader in.
• Hashtags: Add a handful of relevant hashtags in your caption or in the first comment to help new audiences discover your content. Stick to a mix of 5-8 niche and broader hashtags that relate to your video.
• Tag People: Tag any other accounts featured in your Reel. If it's a collaboration, you can even Invite Collaborator to have the Reel appear on both of your profiles, sharing the engagement.
• Share to Feed: Make sure this toggle is turned on! Sharing your Reel to your main profile feed dramatically increases its initial visibility.

When you're happy with everything, you can either tap "Share" to post it immediately or "Save Draft" to come back to it later.

Your Reel is Live! Now What?

The work doesn't stop once you hit publish. The first hour after your Reel goes live is a great window of opportunity to signal to the Instagram algorithm that your content is engaging.

Engage with Your Community

As comments start rolling in, try to reply to as many as you can. This sparks conversation, makes your followers feel seen, and tells the algorithm that people are interested in your post. Heart and reply to comments to keep the conversation going.

Share Your Reel Everywhere

Don’t forget to share your new Reel to your Instagram Story. It’s an easy way to make sure more of your existing followers see it. You can even use the "Add Yours" sticker to encourage other people to create their own videos inspired by your Reel.

Check Your Analytics

After a day or two, take a look at your Reel’s performance. Go to the Reel and tap the three dots, then select "View Insights." Pay close attention to views, shares, and saves. Shares and saves are strong indicators that your content was valuable or entertaining to your audience. Notice which Reels get the most engagement and use those insights to brainstorm more of what your audience loves.

Final Thoughts

Creating Instagram Reels is a skill, and like any skill, it gets easier and more intuitive the more you do it. This step-by-step guide gives you a solid framework to start with, so you can stop overthinking and start creating with confidence.

We know that as you create more Reels and other social media content, juggling your planning and scheduling can become a job in itself. That’s why we built Postbase - a simple, modern tool designed for today's visual, video-first world. Planning your content visually on a calendar and scheduling your Reels, TikToks, and Shorts reliably saves you hours and gets rid of the chaos. This frees you up to spend more time doing what matters most: creating incredible content your audience will love.