How To Edit a Reel on Instagram for Best Results

Discover how to edit a Reel on Instagram in a few fast steps. This allows you to make modifications to your content for last-minute changes. Furthermore, you can act on new ideas or delete parts you feel the audience doesn’t like. 

In this article, we’ll share various ways editing Reels on Instagram takes place. This might be to change the music or make the captions more catchy. Once you learn to edit your first Reel, you can speed up the process for the others. 

Soon, you’ll get into the habit of improving your content with edits, which can help generate Instagram followers.

How To Edit a Draft Reel on Instagram

Do you want to know how to edit a draft reel on Instagram? This lets you perfect the content before sharing it with the wider public. Here’s the step-by-step process you need to follow:

1. Press the profile picture icon to navigate to your profile. 
2. Choose Drafts and select the Reel you wish to edit. 
3. Make the edits you want to apply 
4. Save the draft to the reel of your camera roll. 

How To Add Text to a Reel

Adding text to a Reel enhances the experience, which is especially true if the content is fast or lacks clarity. 

For example, adding text alongside difficult-to-understand accents is a great idea. Here is the step-by-step process of how to edit Reels to add text:

1. Begin creating an Instagram Reel. 
2. After the recording phase of the clip is complete, tap the Aa icon in the top right. 
3. Type the text and customize how you want to display it. 
4. You can customize the alignment, color, highlighting, and animation. 
5. On the left, you can swipe up to change the text size. 
6. At the bottom, you can swipe left to change the font of the text. 
7. To complete the process, tap Done. 
8. You can also drag the text by tapping it to move it around. 

Watch a few Instagram Reels, and you’ll notice that many of them use text. Take note of how competitors implement text in their videos to get a few ideas.

How To Edit a Reel Caption on Instagram: Top Tips To Consider

Are you interested in learning how to edit a Reel caption on Instagram? You can implement several strategies to improve the quality of your caption Reels. This ensures that you have a chance to be one of the top content creators in your niche:

• Tell a story: Consider using the caption area to tell a story that will engage people right to the end of the video. Furthermore, making the story relatable to your Instagram target audience is a good idea. 
• Encourage interaction: Use the CTA area to encourage interaction and boost engagement metrics. This might be to leave a like, comment, or share with their digital social circles. 
• Create an early hook: Most audiences will not read your entire caption if the start is bland. Therefore, it’s a great idea to hook the audience immediately and grab their attention. You may want to use emojis since they stand out visually. 
• Use hashtags correctly: Your Instagram hashtags strategy will somewhat determine the amount of traffic your content receives. Therefore, you need to add hashtags that have a high search volume. You can research hashtag performance on analytics platforms like Instagram Insights. This feature is available with professional Instagram accounts.
• Clarity is key: When you learn how to edit Instagram Reels, ensure the text is concise and clear. Remove words that add no value and get straight to the point. This ensures that your audience will read the closed captions and the call to action if you have one.

How To Trim Music on Instagram Reels

Do you want to learn how to trim music on Instagram Reels? This functionality allows you to alter the length of the music clip to match the content. You may want to get this right with your video editing tools for the best results. 

Here’s the step-by-step process for how you can trim Instagram Reels music:

1. Open your Instagram account and create a Reel. 
2. Upload content or record video content. 
3. Add music to the Instagram Reel from the app’s library. 
4. After choosing a song, you can choose the start and end point you want to insert. 
5. You can drag the selection to your Reel and select the start/end point within the video. 

How To Adjust Volume on Instagram Reels

Are you interested in learning how to adjust the volume of Instagram Reels? There is no app functionality to change the volume of a Reel. Instead, you’ll need to use the settings on your mobile device or computer. 

Most sound effects are within a normal range, so usually, there’s no need to adjust the volume on your device. Also, hearing speech is usually simple because many Reels have text to help audiences understand. 

Can You Add Music to a Reel After Posting?

No, you can’t. Instagram doesn’t allow you to add music to a Reel after posting. Therefore, you’ll need to ensure you add the music before you press the publish button. This limitation may change in the future if Instagram decides to alter its functionality. 

However, there are a few things you can do if you want to add music after posting. You can delete the Reel and replace it with an identical one. Ideally, you will keep a copy of the Reel on your computer. This allows you to upload it again quickly and, this time, add Instagram music. 

The downside of deleting Reels and adding them again is the loss of engagement metrics. For example, the number of likes, shares, and comments will reset. This means content that’s gone viral will have to start again from scratch.

3 Best Practices for Creating Winning Instagram Reels

Now, let’s explore three different ways in which you can edit Instagram Reels to get the best results. After all, they are a great way to gain followers and engage your Instagram target audience. 

1. Make Use of all Features

During the Instagram Reels creation process, you can use a number of tools to create unique Reels. Here are some of the top ones for your consideration:

• Audio options: Adding audio to your Reels is important to enhance the visuals. Your main options include the Music Library, original audio, and voiceovers. Ideally, you will create Reels that use different audio to provide a sense of diverse content. 
• Captions: As mentioned previously, captions can add a lot of value to your content. Most notably, they can improve the overall clarity of content, which keeps users watching. 
• Stickers: you can add stickers to your Reels for visual effects or utility. Instagram provides a large library of stickers that you can choose from. 
• Filters: You can apply various filters to your content to give it a particular look. However, it’s important to be transparent with your audience and share the use of filters. This ensures it doesn’t look like you’re trying to improve the quality of the visuals discreetly. 
• Advanced editing tools: Remember to use the advanced editing features to optimize the content before posting. This ensures that you optimize every aspect of the content to give it the best chance of success. 

2. Use Data To Drive Optimization

You’ll need to constantly improve the quality and execution of Reels as you continue to publish them. This ensures you can keep up with the competition and create the best Reels in your niche. 

One way to achieve this is to take advantage of data, and you’ll need Instagram Insights. For instance, you can run A/B split testing campaigns. This involves creating identical Reels where you change only a single variable.

Some software may have different features, like AI-based suggestions. These may give you insight into how to use advanced settings to edit Reels.

3. Hire Professional Content Creators

Do you have difficulty editing Reels to improve the quality and engagement metrics? Then, you can hire professional content creators to complete this on your behalf. The investment may be worthwhile if you have a way of monitoring your Instagram content. 

Here are some tips to consider when hiring professional content creators for Reels:

• Reputation: Take the time to investigate the content creator’s reputation to ensure they can do a good job. For example, you can look at their reviews on freelancing playoffs. This can help you spot red flags and set realistic expectations for the hire. 
• Niche-specific experience: Ideally, the content creators will have direct experience with your niche. This ensures that they understand your target audience’s desires and pain points. It also leads to better overall content quality without a learning curve for the professional. 
• Pricing: You need to consider the content creator hire as an investment into your Instagram account growth. This means they must provide more value to your operation than the costs. Hence, you’ll want to get a competitive rate for the work. However, don’t choose the cheapest content creators since you usually get what you pay for. 

How To Add Audio to Reels After Posting

Do you want to learn how to add audio to Reels after posting? This is only possible if Instagram mutes the audio on your Reel. It may happen if your audio breaks the website’s terms and conditions. 

To replace the audio, you simply need to tap on the Reel. Then, you can add the audio by using the same process during the Reel upload. This lets you add voiceovers, audio effects, and music from Instagram’s library. 

Can You Edit an Instagram Reel After Posting?

Yes, you can edit Instagram Reels after posting, but with restrictions. For example, you typically can’t change the video or music. However, you can change the captions and cover images. 

Understanding what you can and cannot change after posting a video is important. This allows you to make the right preparations to avoid deleting the content. However, the rules may change, and Instagram can update its features to allow full editing access after posting. 

You can also change the people you tag on your Reel after posting. Therefore, you may want to add or remove tags as you see fit. For instance, users may ask you to remove a tag if they don’t want to associate with your content. 

How To Edit a Reel on Instagram: Are the Features Good?

Yes, the editing features on Instagram are good because they offer a lot of customizability. However, you must remember to do most of your edits before posting. That’s because Instagram severely limits your ability to edit content after posting. 

Also, you can hire a professional to do the hard work if you don’t want to learn how to edit a Reel on Instagram. It’s a good idea to figure out how to make the edits yourself so you understand the available features. This will help improve the content and grow your account to the next level. 

Are you interested in pursuing other strategies to grow your Instagram account? Then, you can choose Plixi for professional growth services.

We use an in-house algorithm and influencer network to target various audiences. So what are you waiting for? Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today.