How to Start Using Trial Reels for Your Instagram Account

Have you ever felt puzzled by how trial reels actually work, or wondered what type of content actually pops off for non-followers? You’re not alone! I’ve been experimenting with trial reels since they first launched, testing out different hooks and content styles, and I’m here to share what’s really working. We’ll explore why storytelling and clear elevator pitch style intros just might be the secret sauce for trial reels, plus I’ll walk you through my step by step process so you can test, duplicate, and optimize your content with ease. There’s no magic one size fits all code, but I’ll break down exactly how to find the formula that works for you, and how to repeat it. 

In this episode we’ll be covering:

• Tips for using Instagram trial reels to test content before sharing with your main feed.
• How to duplicate reels for both trial reels and your public Instagram feed.
• The importance of clear, storytelling hooks that introduce your account and vibe.
• Prompts and ideas for trial reels, including POV introductions and personalized captions.
• Testing multiple reel variations and analyzing which ones actually gain traction.

Other episodes you might have missed:

• Episode 060: Nail Your Short Form Videos with This Simple Formula
• Episode 061: Use The Relatable Expert Hook to Create Your Next Helpful Reel
• Episode 063: Was That an Ad? Even the Big Brands are Making it Personal
• Episode 064: POV: They’re hitting follow… Immediately.

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Transcript

Shannon McKinstrie:
I am your host, Shannon McKinstrie. Welcome to Good Content, the podcast where I remove the never ending content creation, guesswork and overwhelm so that you can actually enjoy being on social media again and growing your business with what has always worked. Good Content. All right, y' all, we are talking trial reels today. I've been getting so many questions and again I see a lot of people saying like I cracked the code or we cracked. Let me tell you, I will be sharing the code because I've cracked it too. But it's not the same code for everyone.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Let me explain, okay? I've been playing around with trial reels since they came out and to be honest, most of mine, I mean, just like you, most of mine are complete trash. Like it's a joke what Instagram will do with that reel. So here's what exactly it says what Instagram says in feed and reels. Your reel will only be shown to non followers at first and won't appear on your profile. If it performs well, you can choose to automatically share it. Now let me tell you one thing real quick. Every time I've done a trial reel, I and it does well, I still don't share it to everyone to my following. I just let it ride in whatever algorithm they're or whoever they're throwing it to.

Shannon McKinstrie:
If it does well, like mine today, I had one do well last night in trial reels. So I wanted to test that a bunch before recording it did well. So now I just put it separately on mine. So this is what I want you to do. This is a fun little hack. When you create your reel, save it to drafts, go to your drafts, there's three little dots and you can literally tap duplicate. Tap duplicate. Share one to trial reels, share the other to your feed, or if there is one that you really did want to test and make sure it's good, send it out to trial reels, give it a few days, see how it does. And then if it, you know, gains some traction because you want to test it, you've already got the duplicate in there and you just share it.

Shannon McKinstrie:
So that's what I did last night. I made a duplicate and it did really well overnight. So I now shared it to my feed separate. That way you just let the the trial reels go, let them be on their own journey and you create stuff and put on your feed that you want. So this is the code that I've cracked, quote, unquote, what does best for me and for almost everyone I've spoken to. About trial reels is storytelling, which, you know, duh. But I've done these hooks a lot in, in this podcast. The reels with the hooks and the on screen text that basically tell people what your account is about, what the vibe is, what you share.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Consider it almost like an ad. If you were to walk up to someone or an elevator pitch, like, what is it that your account is? So those reels are like, congratulations, you just found the account that, that, that. Right? And you say what it is again, you want to get specific. Not just the girl who shares Amazon finds, who cares for who, what body type. Right. You just found the interior designer who isn't afraid to. Da, da, da, da. Right.

Shannon McKinstrie:
You want to really make sure you're using that. Copy that. Right. And we talk about this in a lot of podcast episodes. So listen to those if you're new to the podcast. Hello. Um, so what I found that worked for me was content that really is like, this is what I share over here. Hello.

Shannon McKinstrie:
That is the code. So that's gonna look different for everybody though. And some of mine had gone viral, some have not really done much. And once you. This is the code ready, this is the actual code one. You wanna kind of create those reels that basically tell people what your account is about. So they immediately are like, need it, need this account. My life.

Shannon McKinstrie:
But the code is this, once you find the one that works, do it over and over and over again. Once mine went viral, I've done six different versions of it. They've all done really, really well. And what does well for me is when I share the trending audio and hooks and I basically say, hi, this is, this is my account. I'm Shannon. This is what I do over here. The caption tells them all about me, what my vibe is, what my core values are, and they lead to followers. So reels on trial, reels that did trash for me.

Shannon McKinstrie:
I'll tell you my lists. Like I did one about like five things I do. Cause I'm actually testing this out to see if I want to share it on my feed. Feed. The hook is five things I do before I press record to make my videos look more professional. And I have a list didn't do that. Great, got some traction, you know, close to a thousand views. And then of course, like I said, the ones that are like, hi pov, you're looking for this and you find my account, those are what tend to do best and they do well on feed too.

Shannon McKinstrie:
So with that said, let's say you have a reel that went viral. That doesn't mean it's going to go viral on trials. It's just, it's totally different. And just be very clear about what your account is and what the vibe is. So again, while there's no official code, what it is is test a bunch out. Once you get that one that does well, do it again. You don't have to reinvent the wheel or the reel. So that is what I have found.

Shannon McKinstrie:
And again, depending on your account, it could be a vulnerable story that goes crazy. Share it again. It could be a tip that goes nuts. Share it again. It could be a fun hack, it could be something humorous. Share it again. I've shared some funny ones that have actually done pretty well. Even ones outside my niche.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Just about like, whatever, something funny with like, you guys know, I love to share my like publix subs and stuff like that. I just did one of those the other day on trials and got a few followers. I was like, sure, you know, they like the vibe over here. We like to have fun. So I don't want to put too much pressure. I have heard so many people go, oh, I tried it on trials and it didn't do well. I'm like, that's a given. Just throw them out there.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Detach yourself from the outcome. It's literally a test. It is a test and it's also a test of the algorithm because you don't know what non followers they're showing it to. Right. I also had someone in the Reels Lab who took one of the prompts for the week and was like, I tried both of these in trials. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, put them in trials, that's fine, but put them on your feet. We already know your people are going to like it.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Trials are more. So just take whatever again to figure out the one type of content that for some reason it goes crazy for your account and do it again and again and again. And once she finds it, I'll be like, create 10 more just like it. That's what I've been doing. Uh, I'm sure you'll hear other advice. Take it, you know, again, there's no official code, but that's the code I have found and I'm pretty sure it'll work for you. But also, I would love to hear back from you. I'd love to hear what you have found.

Shannon McKinstrie:
If you're on YouTube, leave a comment. If you're on my email list, just reply back. I'm gonna do a whole email about this too. I'm a nerd and I find this exciting. So instead of going oh my trial failed, look at it as like, all right, let's, let's try another one. I've seen people saying they're doing like 100 at a time. I wouldn't do all that. I do like four or five a day.

Shannon McKinstrie:
And again, they're kind of range from different and one that does well. I'll do like maybe 5 of those in tiny different versions just to see what does better. So I would stick with almost an intro post like congratulations, you just found the account that XYZ's other ones are like POV, you are a millennial mom who's tired of blah blah blah and you find her account. You are in charge of X, Y, Z and not sure what to da da da. And you find my account basically saying hello again, you're an ad. Are you tired of. Are you someone who and just lay it all out there, throw a bunch of em out there, see what sticks. Once one sticks, repeat it again, you can do a new sound.

Shannon McKinstrie:
And again, you know, use the right trending audios, things like that. And make sure the caption really encourages a follow. I would even start my caption with follow for more blah blah blah. And I'll just let you know the one I shared last night. So it hasn't even been 12 hours. It's actually a prompt in the Reels Lab and I have it all customized for all of them, so I can't wait to hear how it does for them. But it's just a simple you've been. I put you've been.

Shannon McKinstrie:
And you're going to put what's the action they've been doing for months, weeks, whatever it is. So I put you've been posting reels for months, still getting what are the results? They're still getting low views. I put and no one told you blank. So you could say you've been counting your calories for months and still can't lose the weight and no one told you about this blah blah blah whatever it is. You could be hyper local, like you're on a mission to find the best coffee in North Carolina. Still disappointed. Still find yourself disappointed because no one told you about our coffee shop in Wilmington. You know what I mean? Like there's so many ways you could do this.

Shannon McKinstrie:
You could do. You've been house hunting in Portland for months. Still can't find the right whatever it is Condo whatever it is because no one told you about my listing in blank. Okay, so again that could be a cool one to try in reels in trials, but also on your feed. So this is your job. This is your assignment. Create your reels that are kind of pov. Your.

Shannon McKinstrie:
It's describe who they are. A millennial, a minimalist wannabe, a newbie content creator. Whatever it is, right? Looking for whatever it is, or tired of whatever it is. And you find my account. Do that. Maybe do three or four different versions. Throw it out there with just B roll and a, you know, simple text. Leave that text up for as long as it takes to read, probably about four or five seconds.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Do some trending audio in the caption. Explain who you are, what you're about, what the vibe is, et cetera, and then wrap it up. And actually, if you listen to the podcast before this one from last week, I talk all about this prompt. So go there, listen to that, do that prompt, and do maybe four or five different versions. Throw them up on trial reels, give them a full 24 hours. Don't lose faith. In addition, grab a couple reels of yours that have done well in the past and just throw them up on trial rails for S and giggles. And just put a bunch out there and just see what sticks.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Once that one sticks, do it again and again and again. But again, do not forget, once you put it up, save it as a draft, go to drafts and duplicate. That way you're not having to recreate it every time. All right, you've got this. Do not get frustrated. Trial reels are a gift and. And not something to have a really crazy strategy around. Just test things out.

Shannon McKinstrie:
Find the one that sticks. That is the code. That is the code that we have cracked together. Love you, friend. I'll talk to you next week.