Instagram Now Allows Users to ‘Trial’ Their Reels Before Sharing: Here’s How

Instagram Reels, known for their short-form videos, are becoming even more creative with new features. Have you ever felt uncertain about whether your Instagram followers would enjoy your reel? Meta has heard your concerns and is introducing a new feature called “trial reels.” This feature allows content creators to test new ideas without worrying about how their audience will react. With trial reels, you can assess how your reel performs with non-followers before deciding to share it with your main audience.

Trial Reels: What Is It?
Trial Reels allow you to test new content ideas with people who aren’t already your followers. Developed by Meta, this feature helps creators overcome the hesitation of experimenting with topics outside their usual niche. When you create a trial reel, it is initially shown to a broader audience of non-followers rather than your current followers.

This lets you gauge the performance of your content without impacting your existing audience. If the reel performs well in the trial phase, you can choose to share it with your followers or have it automatically published.

How to Share a Trial Reel

• Open Instagram and create a reel.
• Enable the trial option before sharing.
• Share the reel.

The trial reel will appear in your drafts after sharing. It won’t show up in your profile grid or the Reels tab unless you decide to share it with everyone. However, followers might still find the trial reel through shared links or reels using the same audio or filter, even though it won’t appear in their feed.

To help you decide if a reel is worth sharing with your followers, you will receive engagement metrics such as views, likes, and shares after 24 hours. Additionally, Instagram can automatically share trial reels that perform well after 72 hours, streamlining the process.

Meta has tested trial reels and received positive feedback from developers. The feature will be available to all eligible creators worldwide in the coming weeks, as it begins its rollout this week.