Making Instagram Reels Easier, Faster & Scalable

Wondering how to create Instagram Reels faster without losing quality or reach? Want to know which new Instagram and Edits features help you edit, analyze, and scale Reels?

​In this article, you'll discover how to use First Draft, the Edits app, Reels analytics, pinned posts, and translations to make Instagram Reels easier to create, faster to edit, and more scalable.

#1: How to Make Instagram Reels Faster Without Sacrificing Quality

Instagram's newest editing tools shorten the time it takes to produce an Instagram Reel, but Elizabeth Marberry says they don't yet replace human editing judgment. The time they save pays off only when it goes toward publishing enough Reels to learn from while keeping each one good-enough to hold its reach.

How to Use Instagram's First Draft Tool to Speed Up Reels Editing

First Draft is a one-tap auto-editing tool built into the native Instagram app, so there's no need to switch to the Edits app to use it. Once the clips for a Reel are selected, a single tap removes pauses and trims the clips, generating an initial video in about 10 seconds. There's no prompt box for instructions. The single tap is the entire interaction.

​Elizabeth says Instagram named the feature accurately because it produces a first draft, not a finished Reel. 

When she tested it on a scripted yapping video, a direct-to-camera video of the creator talking, it missed how she records. She often repeats a line to deliver it in a more enthusiastic or more grounded tone, and First Draft didn't recognize the repeated line, so it left both takes in. It also kept moments where she coughed and rubbed her nose, treating them as part of the video. First Draft works best for creators who leave long, clean pauses and never clear their throat on camera.

​The Cut Silences feature in the Edits app handles one sequence at a time, while First Draft works across a batch of clips. First Draft also works on B-roll, not just direct-to-camera footage. Elizabeth tested it on B-roll her husband filmed of her walking through an open house. It picked a few good shots, but the result was lackluster because the cuts ran too long. A B-roll video like that needs an edit every 2 seconds.

​She hasn't tested First Draft on voiceovers. Because the tool lives in the Instagram app, the way to test it is to record a voiceover in Edits, upload it to Instagram Reels, and run First Draft to see whether it tightens the audio.

​A busy business owner can't yet record a talking-head video, tap First Draft, add captions, and publish. Even the Cut Silences feature in Edits leaves clips that still need a little more trimming by hand.

Tips to Balance Instagram Reels Quantity and Quality

Elizabeth's answer to whether faster editing should go toward more Reels or better Reels is both. Quantity builds skill as a content creator and marketer, since no one hits it out of the park on the first attempt. It also produces enough data to show what's working, as long as the marketer commits to paying attention to what's working along the way.

​Volume on its own backfires. High-volume, mediocre content is a race to the middle. In the words of Elizabeth's 13-year-old, it's “mid.” Over time, the algorithm reads that content as something no one is interested in, which hurts reach. The goal is consistent reps paired with constant refinement, so quality improves as the reps add up. Elizabeth recommends posting often enough to stay consistent as a brand and collect meaningful data.

​The data set also has to be large enough before judging the results. Elizabeth sees many businesses commit to 3 high-quality Reels per week, stick with it for about 20 days, and decide it isn't working. That's too little data to draw a conclusion.

How to Improve Reels Video Quality for Better Reach

Quality encompasses messaging, fit with the target audience, and entertainment value, as well as the technical quality of the footage. Earlier this year, Elizabeth stopped using filters in her videos because low video quality was hurting her reach, and she realized she needed to start filming in 4K.

​Every social platform has its own culture, and it keeps changing. In 2021 and 2022, it was standard on Instagram to use a light beauty filter to feel more confident on camera. Today, those filters look outdated. Elizabeth hasn't noticed a large difference between 1080p and 4K, but she recommends filming at the highest video quality the phone allows. Instagram has long said that grainy or unclear video negatively impacts reach.

#2: How to Use the Instagram Edits App as a Reels Production Workspace

The Edits app is Instagram's creative workspace for producing Reels at volume, while the Instagram app is where content gets published and offers simple editing tools. Edits adds folders to organize drafts, projects, and templates, and offers more in-depth analytics than the Instagram app. Other recent additions to Edits include an AI feature that turns still photos into moving clips based on a description of the motion, and one-tap color correction.

​Elizabeth recommends marketers start using Edits while it's still free. She expects Instagram may eventually charge for it with a model similar to CapCut, which offers a free version and a paid version with added features, though she doesn't know that for certain. She sees Edits as Instagram's move to compete with CapCut for market share, following uncertainty around TikTok that sent many creators looking for alternatives to TikTok and CapCut.

How to Use Edits Templates to Create Reels Faster

Edits templates are Reels that other creators have made reusable, with every clip already timed to the music. Creators make them available by turning on a setting that allows their Reels to be used as templates.

​After choosing a template, the creator taps to add their own videos. Some editing is still required. If the template is 10 one-second clips back-to-back, the creator has to find the one-second segment in each uploaded video worth showcasing and then edit the on-screen text.

How to Turn On Hidden Features in Edits Labs

Labs is the opt-in area where the Edits app tests new features before a wider release. Other accounts may see a beta program instead, and the features available may differ from account to account.

​Labs is found by opening the Edits app, tapping the profile photo in the top-right corner, and scrolling to Labs at the bottom of the menu. 

Toggling on the Carousel Editor lets you build Instagram carousels in Edits and export them to Instagram. Labs works like a secret menu, and Elizabeth calls the feature new and secret. She recently used it to create a carousel about living in New York City during 9/11 and found the process seamless. The advantage is creative control, including far more font variations than the Instagram app offers.

​At the time of recording, Labs also included Auto Adjust, which color-corrects and adjusts lighting with a single tap, and Improve Audio, which reduces background noise.

​Pro Tip: Elizabeth recommends turning on every feature in Labs to test them all. She calls it a marketing life hack.

#3: How to Analyze Instagram Reels Performance With Edits Insights

Insights is the analytics section of the Edits app, and Elizabeth uses it to find patterns in her top-performing Reels. It's marked by a small graph icon in the lower-right corner. In the upper-right corner of Insights, the view can be changed to the past 90 days. Elizabeth always reviews the last 90 days because the largest possible data set gives her the most information.

​Insights can sort content by most shares, most likes, most follows, and most saves, quickly surfacing top-performing Reels. Reports can also be exported as PDFs, which helps marketing teams that need to show data to stakeholders or partners. A PDF report can also be uploaded to an AI tool for help with analysis.

How to Compare Three Reels Side by Side

Edits can compare three Reels side by side. Elizabeth warns that the button to do this is buried, so searching online for a screenshot of its location saves time.

​Before comparing anything, Elizabeth starts by defining the content's goal. Attraction-style Reels are designed to act like a magnet for the ideal customer and then invite them to taking a next step. If three attraction-style Reels all share one call to action, such as commenting GUIDE to receive a free Instagram monetization guide by DM, views aren't the main measure. The number that matters is how many people commented with the keyword and received the lead magnet.

​Many marketers get distracted by views and followers. Elizabeth doesn't dismiss those numbers, but without a clear goal for each piece of content, there's no way to measure whether it's working.

​When comparing top performers, Elizabeth studies four variables:

• Setting and Visuals: She notes where each video was filmed, what appears in the background, and how the overall visual design differs.
  
  
• On-Screen Text and Hooks: She reviews the words chosen for the on-screen text and identifies which hooks proved most effective.
  
  
• Edit Speed: She checks whether the Reel was a single 7-second B-roll clip or was cut into three, 2-second clips filmed in different places.
  
  
• Length: She compares the runtime of each top-performing Reel.

She looks for patterns across these variables and analyzes them like a scientist, always in line with the account's goals. If the top three performers are all 60-second yapping videos, that's the account's sweet spot. If all three are B-roll of the creator talking about how they're using Claude in their business that month, the next step is more of that content, such as more videos about Claude filmed in the kitchen.

How to Learn From Reels That Flop

Failing forward means treating Reels that flop as part of the process and staying consistent long enough to produce winners. Elizabeth posted a Reel every day for a year with little to no growth. Over the next 12 months, her two brands gained a combined following of more than 120,000, resulting in an 84% increase in revenue that year and more than 5,000 people on her email list.

​She still posts Reels every week that flop. Her approach is to keep posting until a winner comes, stay out of the mental drama, focus on what's within her control and what energizes her as a creator, and learn from every attempt that doesn't perform.

Tips to Use Instagram and Facebook Cross-Posting Data

Cross-posting Reels from Instagram to Facebook takes only a toggle, and the analytics in the Instagram app show how views are split between the two platforms. Elizabeth cross-posts wedding dance content, including first dances and father-daughter and mother-son dances. She has seen videos reach 150,000 views that she assumed came from Instagram, only to find in the analytics that much of the audience was on Facebook, where the comments came largely from mothers and grandmothers.

​Elizabeth finds the Facebook audience skews older than the Instagram audience. If most of a Reel's engagement is on Facebook, the hottest prospects may be there, and the content strategy can shift to focus on them.

#4: How to Optimize an Instagram Profile Grid With Pinned Posts and Tagged Content

The three pinned posts at the top of an Instagram profile matter more than how the rest of the grid looks. Elizabeth says the perfectly curated, color-coded grid that mirrors a brand's website belongs to 2018. It's still a valid choice for brands that love the aesthetic, but it's no longer required.

​A new visitor typically sees a Reel or carousel, clicks through to the profile, and reads the bio to learn who the account is for, how it can help, and its overall vibe. Then they scan the grid. That first impression forms within about 5 seconds, and the pinned posts shape most of it.

How to Choose Three Instagram Pinned Posts That Convert Profile Visitors

Elizabeth's three-part pinned post strategy fills the top of the grid with a founder or team story, a top-of-funnel next step, and signature content. The three posts can appear in any order.

​Pin a Founder or Team Brand Story: This post shares the heart and mission behind the business, because people buy from people, not products or services. The story can be simple, and an unexpected career change makes it more interesting. Elizabeth's version is a video under 30 seconds long of her dancing in her kitchen, while on-screen text introduces her by name and lists a few quick facts: her current role, her family, and her surprising past career. Brands without a founder on camera can share how the team works or the mission. The post can be a Reel or a carousel.

​Pin a Top-of-Funnel Next Step: This post moves viewers to the next step in the customer journey. Choosing it starts with mapping that journey and answering one question: what's the next step in the business, and how does someone move from Instagram into an ecosystem the business owns? The post shouldn't be an ad or a Canva graphic telling people to grab a free guide, because that doesn't work. Instead, Elizabeth pins an attraction-style Reel that performed well and connects to her offer. Viewers comment a keyword, and DM automation sends them her free Instagram Visibility Jumpstart Kit to grow her email list. She has three possible next steps for her business, and the one she pins depends on what she's marketing that month.

​One of Elizabeth's clients owns a wedding venue in the Hudson Valley and is much more likely to close couples who tour the property. Her pinned attraction-style content invites engaged couples to a private tour: comment TOUR, and she'll send a link to her calendar. Because couples request tours by commenting TOUR, she can track how effective the funnel is. The next step could also be a lead magnet, a discovery call, or an audio download.

​Pin Signature Content: The third post is a piece of content that performed well, that the creator loves, and that quickly shows what to expect from the feed.

How to Feature Tagged Posts on an Instagram Profile Grid

Instagram now lets brands add posts they're tagged in to their main profile grid instead of leaving them on the separate tagged tab on the far right of the profile. The grid can still be rearranged, and a tagged post can be removed from the profile without removing the tag from the original post.

​Elizabeth sees this as a significant opportunity for brands that are frequently tagged in customer and client posts or Reels. Tagged posts on the grid serve as social proof and spare the marketer from creating another piece of content that day. The update also helps credit go where it's due, a common frustration when tags land on the wrong company.

​Tagged posts also fit the pinned post strategy. A guest tagged in a post about a high-profile podcast appearance could feature that post on their grid.

How to Get Tagged in More Instagram Content

Elizabeth's main method for earning more tags is to build tagging into the business's onboarding and offboarding systems rather than relying only on social media. Asking followers in Stories to tag the brand also works.

​In one of Elizabeth's businesses, which teaches couples their wedding dances, couples automatically receive a follow-up form 1 month after their wedding. It asks for their social handles, their Instagram handle, and the handles of their vendors, such as their photographer and videographer. The form automates collecting content from customers and gives the business the handles it needs to tag people and set up strategic collaborations.

​The second approach is to gamify it. A coffee brand, for example, could invite customers to take a selfie with its coffee, post it to their Instagram Story, and tag the brand for a chance to win a prize.

​Elizabeth considers Instagram collaborations an under-leveraged tool. When one brand invites another to collab, the post appears on both grids. Whether the goal is more tags or more collabs, she recommends starting with what's in it for the other person. Her wedding couples want to give credit to the vendor team that made their day happen, and they're excited to share it.

#5: How to Use Automatic Reels Translations to Reach New Audiences

Automatic Reels translations use AI to dub a Reel's spoken words into other languages, and Instagram has expanded the feature to include Japanese, Korean, French, German, and Italian. Elizabeth supports anything that makes content accessible to more people, but setting up translations takes several steps.

​Translations can't be added after a Reel is published. They're set while uploading and editing the Reel by tapping More Options, then Accessibility and Translation, and selecting the languages.

​When Elizabeth tested the feature on a direct-to-camera video in Hindi and Portuguese, the AI altered her mouth movements, so she appeared to be speaking those languages. The feature translated her spoken words, but not the caption or the closed captions she had embedded in the video.

​Elizabeth typically doesn't use Instagram Reels translations due to the extra time and steps involved. Whether it's worth it depends on the target audience. For businesses that sell products that can ship anywhere in the world, translations may be worth the extra steps.

​Pro Tip: Elizabeth adds her own closed captions to every direct-to-camera video, including her Instagram Stories. Captions make content accessible to people who can't hear the audio, and many people still watch Instagram with the sound off.

Other Notes From This Episode

• Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Instagram and @Mike_Stelzner on X.
• Connect with Jerry Potter on LinkedIn and YouTube.
• Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.

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