How to Post Reels on Facebook

Ready to master Facebook Reels? You’re in the right place. This guide walks you through everything you need to know, from the step-by-step process of posting your first Reel to the strategies that will help your videos get noticed. We'll cover creation, best practices, and cross-posting from Instagram so you can start creating content that connects with your audience.

Why Bother with Facebook Reels?

In a world of TikToks and YouTube Shorts, it's fair to ask: why focus on Facebook Reels? The answer is simple: massive, untapped reach. Facebook is still a giant, and its algorithm is heavily prioritizing short-form video to compete with other platforms. Posting Reels gives your account, whether it's for a brand or your personal profile, a fantastic opportunity to reach a new audience that might not see your regular photo or link posts.

Here's what that means for you:

• Increased Visibility: The algorithm actively pushes Reels into users' feeds, even if they don't follow you. It's one of the best ways to get discovered organically on the platform right now.
• Higher Engagement: The format is designed for quick consumption and interaction. A good Reel can rack up likes, comments, and shares far faster than many other post types.
• Humanizing Your Brand: Reels are perfect for showing the personality behind a business. Behind-the-scenes glimpses, quick tips, or a fun trend can make your brand more relatable and build a stronger community.

Simply put, if you're on Facebook, you should be making Reels. It’s your ticket to staying relevant and growing your presence on the world's largest social network.

The Complete Guide: How to Post a Reel on Facebook (Step-by-Step)

Creating and posting a Reel is straightforward once you know where to look. Follow these steps on your mobile device to get your first video live.

1. Find the Reel Creation Tool

First things first, open the Facebook app on your phone. You have a few ways to start creating a Reel:

• From Your Feed: At the top of your News Feed, you'll see a panel with "Stories," "Reels," and "Rooms." Tap on "Reels." This will take you to the Reels viewer. From there, tap the camera icon in the top right corner to open the creator.
• From the "What's on your mind?" Box: Tap on the status update box where you'd normally type. Below it, you'll see options like "Photo/Video," "Tag people," etc. Swipe up, and you should find an option for "Reel."

2. Add Your Video Content

Once you’re in the creator view, you can either record a brand new video or upload one from your phone’s camera roll.

• To Record Directly: Tap and hold the large circular record button at the bottom of the screen. You can record one continuous clip or multiple shorter clips by tapping to start and stop. The timeline at the top of the screen shows you how much time you have left (up to 90 seconds).
• To Upload: Tap the button in the bottom left corner that shows a preview of your camera roll. This will open your gallery, where you can select one or multiple video clips to import. You can even trim and arrange them once they are in the editor.

3. Edit Your Reel with Music, Text, and Effects

This is where the magic happens. After you’ve added your video clips, you'll be taken to the editing screen where you have a suite of tools on the right-hand side:

• Audio: This is a big one. Tap here to search Facebook's massive library of licensed music and trending sounds. Using popular audio can significantly boost your Reel's visibility. You can also use your own original audio from the video clip.
• Text: Add text overlays to explain what’s happening, add subtitles, or create a punchline. You can change fonts, colors, and place the text anywhere on the screen. Pro tip: time your text to appear and disappear at specific moments for a more dynamic feel.
• Effects: Browse through AR filters and effects to give your video a creative look. These range from simple color corrections to fun green screen effects that place you in a different background.
• Stickers: Add polls, quizzes, GIFs, or emojis to make your Reel more interactive.
• Captions: Use this to automatically generate subtitles for your video. This is amazing for accessibility, as many people watch videos without sound.

After you have your edits in place, tap "Next."

4. Write Your Description and Post

You're on the final screen before your Reel goes live! Here are the last few things to do:

• Write a Description: This is your caption. Keep it engaging. You can tell a story, ask a question to encourage comments, or give context to the video.
• Add Hashtags: Use 3-5 relevant hashtags to help Facebook categorize your content and show it to interested users. Mix broad hashtags (#foodie) with more niche ones (#glutenfreerecipes).
• Choose Your Audience: You can set your Reel to be public, friends-only, or friends except... For maximum reach, Public is almost always the best option.
• Tag People: If others are in your video, you can tag them here.
• Enable "Remix" (Optional): Toggling this on lets other people create a Reel alongside yours. It's a great way to boost engagement if your content goes viral.

Once everything looks good, just tap the blue "Share Reel" button at the bottom. That's it! Your Reel is now live on Facebook.

Best Practices for Creating Facebook Reels That People Actually Watch

Knowing how to post is just step one. Creating Reels that grab attention and stop the scroll is an art. Here are some proven strategies to make your content stand out.

1. Nail the First Three Seconds

You have an incredibly short window to capture someone's attention. Your Reel needs an immediate hook. Start with movement, a bold text overlay, a surprising visual, or a question. Don't waste time with a long, slow introduction. Get straight to the value or the entertainment.

2. Use Trending Audio and Themes

Never underestimate the power of a trending sound. Scrolling through your Reels feed is the best way to spot what's currently popular. Using a trending audio track can get your Reel shown to a much wider audience, as the algorithm often groups content with the same sound. But don't just copy what everyone else is doing, find a way to apply the trend to your specific niche or brand.

3. Educate, Entertain, or Inspire

Successful Reels generally fall into three categories:

• Educational: Teach something quickly. A 30-second recipe, a little-known keyboard shortcut, a quick DIY hack, a marketing tip. These are highly shareable and provide immediate value.
• Entertaining: Make them laugh, be relatable, or create something visually stunning. Lip-syncs, funny skits, relatable daily struggles, and satisfying content (like clean-up videos) do extremely well here.
• Inspirational: Showcase a beautiful travel scene, share a business success story, or offer a motivational quote with a nice background. This type of content connects with people on an emotional level.

4. Write Captions with a Call-to-Action (CTA)

Your video does the heavy lifting, but the caption is your opportunity to drive action. End your caption with a direct question, asking viewers to share their thoughts, answer a question, or tag a friend. A good CTA tells your audience exactly what you want them to do next, which leads to more comments and engagement.

Example: "This is my go-to morning coffee ritual. What’s one thing you can’t start your day without? Let me know in the comments!"

Sharing Instagram Reels to Facebook: Should You Do It?

If you're already creating Reels for Instagram, it makes sense to share them on Facebook to save time. You have two main options for this:

1. Automatic Cross-Posting

You can link your Instagram and Facebook accounts and set them up to automatically share your Instagram Reels to your Facebook profile or Page.
How to set it up: In your Instagram account settings, go to the "Sharing and remixes" section and enable the option to share and recommend Reels on Facebook.
Pros: It’s incredibly efficient. Post once, and you’re done.
Cons: You lose customization. The caption, hashtags, and sometimes the audio might not be perfectly optimized for your Facebook audience. What works on IG might fall flat on FB.

2. Manual Re-Uploading

The other option is to download your finished Reel from Instagram (without the watermark) and upload it manually to Facebook.
Pros: This gives you full control. You can choose a different trending audio on Facebook, write a unique caption that speaks to your Facebook community, and use different hashtags. This tailored approach often leads to better performance.
Cons: It takes a few extra minutes of your time.

Our recommendation? Manually re-upload when you can. Taking that extra step to customize your content for the platform shows you care about your audience there, and the algorithm often rewards native uploads over cross-posts.

Final Thoughts

Posting Reels on Facebook is a straightforward process that offers a powerful way to expand your reach and engage your audience. By following the steps for creation, incorporating best practices like a strong hook and valuable content, and being thoughtful about cross-posting, you can make short-form video a core part of your successful social media strategy.

Staying consistent is critical to growing on any platform, but planning, scheduling, and analyzing your Reels across profiles can feel chaotic. We built Postbase to solve this. It was designed from the ground up for the reality of social media today - with a clean visual calendar perfect for planning video content and a rock-solid scheduler that actually publishes your Reels when it's supposed to, every time.