by By Tyler Morrison
Over the last few years, short-form content has expanded across every social media platform. Consumers of social media today have much shorter attention spans than a few years ago. Ever since the iPhone was introduced to the world, a plethora of information has been available at our fingertips This has caused society (especially the younger generations) to crave content that can be consumed quickly with little to no effort. Social Media apps like Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook have popularized this style of video. For those that actively use social media, this has created a time-consuming distraction. However, for those who produce social media content, short-form videos have become a gold mine.
In 2021 Instagram introduced the “Reels Bonus Program for certain creators. This program incentivized users who qualified to post reels for a monetary reward. This program was active for around a year before being paused by Meta. For the purpose of this assignment, I will dive into depth about the best practices to use Instagram Reels and the money that can be made off of it. When this program returns this blog will provide valuable guidance on how to maximize your gains using the program.
The amount of reels bonus earned is directly proportional to how many views your videos get. Because of this, collaboration posts earn users the most money. This is due to how collaboration posts are shared to each of the two collabing accounts’ followers. As soon as you opt-in and activate the reels bonus program, the earliest reels you post earn the most money. Because of this, it is best to save the videos that you believe will get the most views to post as soon as you activate the bonus. Instagram’s website speaks on this when it states “Based on the performance of your reel. The amount you earn per play may not always stay constant. For example, you may earn more per play as you’re getting started and less over time” This represents how it is imperative to post the best reels first.
Another imperative tip to being successful using the reels bonus is not posting content that can get flagged. The guidelines behind the Reels Bonus Program are strict and well-enforced. You have three strikes before losing the ability to monetize. It does not always tell you when you get strikes. Because of this, it is important to actively check Creator Bonus to see if any strikes hit your account (by going to settings-creator-bonus). If you receive 3 strikes the reel bonus will be taken away for 30 days. After 30 days you will be eligible to apply for the reels bonus again. Another important tip to remember is Instagram will sometimes flag content by mistake. If this happens you just have to click on the flagged content (by going to settings-creator-bonus) and then press review. The content should be reviewed and the creator bonus will be regranted to you within 24 hours.
In conclusion, the Instagram reels bonus offers a valuable opportunity for creators to monetize their work. By following these helpful guidelines individuals can maximize their gains and reach using this program.
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Hi Tyler,
Thank you for your interesting post. I think that Instagram created the “Reels Bonus Program,” in order to compete with TikTok. Even the algorithms on Instagram has changed to favor video content over photo content. This isn’t a reaction to consumer needs, it creates a situation where IG specific influencers are coerced to post different content because it benefits Instagram. I often find myself scrolling through reels instead of using TikTok because to me its about the same. I guess their objective to compete with Instagram was successful because I can’t tell the difference. I will say I am not an active TikTok user.
Hey Tyler,
Great post! I didn’t know about the Reels Bonus Program before reading your piece. I think reels are so important for creators to utilize rights now. As Instagram continues to compete with TikTok and stay within the short-form content realm, influencers need to learn how to pivot (considering the state of TikTok in our country right now). Interesting and informative post, Tyler.
Hey Tymo! I liked reading your blog! I thought it was really interesting and there were things I didn’t know about monetizing from Instagram reels like the, three strikes rule. It’s interesting that over the years, our attention spans have lessened, so finding interesting ways to reach and keep an audience is necessary to know if you want to monetize off these reels.
I really enjoyed your post as I know very little about Instagram reels. I wasn’t even aware of the reels bonus program so I found this really interesting. I remember at first reels were not as well-liked or popular as they are slightly becoming so I think it is helpful to stay up to date on these features.
Hi Tyler. Great Article. The topic of Instagram reels makes me think of how transferrable social media content is across platforms. Content used be more distinguishable and identify with a respective platform. But I now find Tweets and TikToks posted on Instagram. I personally think reels are great. Many platforms have also integrated short videos as a posting type, such as Youtube shorts.
Tyler, I found your blog topic very interesting because as a TikTok user myself I do not use instagram for reels as much as I thought I would. I wasn’t aware of the Bonus program and think that is a brilliant idea to get a brand off the ground and build an audience quickly.
TYMO!
I found this post super relevant and interesting, especially with how much instagram has been pushing reels as of recently. I always think it is corny when different social medias develop other’s ideas, like when instagram first added stories, but I think reels has been a good addition to instagram.