Instagram, the social media platform, is introducing a new feature called ‘Trial Reels’ to help creators experiment with new ideas without worrying about how their followers might react.
Trial reels are a tool that helps creators remove the guesswork about how their content will perform.
These reels will first be shown to non-followers. This means that if you want to experiment with a new genre, storytelling format, or topic outside your niche, you can easily get a quick gut check using trial reels. If your content performs well during the trial period, you can either share it with your followers with one tap or set up the reel to automatically share with your followers once the trial ends.
This was initially announced in May and was rolled out in the test phase.
How It Will Work
If you want to try this new feature, just simply follow the usual steps to create a reel, but before sharing, turn on the option ‘Trial.’ The trial reel will appear alongside drafts.
It won’t be visible on the creator’s main profile grid or Reels tab unless they choose to share it. Also, followers won’t see the trial reel in their feed or the Reels tab. Followers might see trial reels in places other than the creator’s feed.
For an instance, someone might share your trial reel in a direct message or on a page that shows reels with the same audio, location, or filter. The social media platform will share the key engagement metrics, such as views, likes, comments, and shares of the trial reel, after 24 hours to provide a sense of how it’s performing. Instagram will also share insights, such as how the trial reel is performing compared to the previous reel trials you’ve shared.
Creators can share the reel if they find the trial results satisfactory, or they can just set the reel in auto-share mode. If Instagram finds the performance of the trial reel satisfactory within the first 72 hours, the platform will share it automatically. However, creators can turn off this setting anytime.
Once it’s shared with everyone, the reel will live on the profile grid and is eligible to be distributed to followers on all Instagram surfaces.
