If you want to know how to get more views on Instagram Reels, the short answer is this: most views come from people who don't follow you yet, and Instagram only shows your reel to more of them when the first viewers keep watching and act on it. So the job is to stay eligible for recommendations, hook people in the first seconds, hold them to the end, and give them a reason to share. Everything below is a practical way to do each of those.
How Instagram decides who sees your reel
Instagram has been fairly open about this. In its ranking explainer, Adam Mosseri wrote that in Reels "the majority of what you see is from accounts you don't follow," and that the most important predictions are how likely someone is to reshare a reel, watch it all the way through, like it and visit its audio page.
A later post on the Instagram creators blog explains the distribution itself: every eligible reel is first shown to a small audience that Instagram thinks will enjoy it, whether or not they follow you, and the top performers are shown to progressively wider groups.
Mosseri has also said, as reported by Social Media Today, that the top three ranking signals are watch time, likes and sends, and suggested creators look at average watch time, likes per reach and sends per reach.
Translated into plain language: your follower count matters less than you think. Each reel gets its own test. If the first few hundred people watch and share, it keeps going.
Step 1: Make sure you can be recommended at all
Before you change a single hook, check that nothing is blocking distribution.
- Check Account Status. On a professional account, Account Status shows whether your content may be eligible to be recommended to people who don't follow you. If a post goes against the Recommendations Guidelines, you can edit or remove it, or request a review. If your account isn't eligible, none of your content is recommended, so this is the first thing to fix.
- Post original content. Instagram's original content guidelines encourage original content "to get the best reach and distribution", and its originality update says re-uploading someone else's work with just a border, a watermark, subtitles or a caption credit doesn't make it original.
- Drop third-party watermarks. Instagram's creator FAQ says a third-party watermark "may be impacting its reach." If you edit in another app, export a clean file.
- Upload in high quality. The same FAQ says "video quality matters" and recommends uploading the highest resolution possible.
- Keep it within 3 minutes. Instagram recommends videos of 3 minutes or less to people who don't follow you (creator FAQ). For expert content, shorter is usually easier to finish; see how long a reel should be.
Step 2: Win the first three seconds
Instagram tells creators to pull the viewer in within the first 3 seconds. That moment decides whether the rest of your reel even gets a chance.
What works for experts:
- Start with the payoff, not the intro. Cut "Hi, I'm Anna, and today I want to talk about..." Open with the claim: "Your skincare isn't working because you're doing step three first."
- Name the viewer. "If you're a coach charging under $100 an hour..." makes the right person stop and lets everyone else scroll, which is fine.
- Show the result or the problem visually. A before/after, a screenshot of a messy calendar, your hand pointing at the mistake.
- Put the hook on screen as text too. Anyone scrolling with the sound off should still get the point from the first line.
If you want a bank of openers, our guide to Instagram Reels hooks has patterns you can adapt.
Step 3: Hold attention to the end
Watch time and retention are part of the ranking, so every second has to earn its place.
- One reel, one idea. If you have three tips, that's three reels.
- Cut every pause. Trim breaths, "so," and repeated sentences. A 40-second reel often becomes a tighter 28-second one.
- Use a simple structure: hook, problem, the one insight, a quick example, a closing line that lands. Our guide on how to write a reel script breaks this down.
- Change something on screen every few seconds. A cut, a B-roll shot, a text callout, a zoom. Instagram's own Reels tips suggest a reveal, a punchline or a plot twist to keep people watching.
- Add captions. Subtitles keep sound-off viewers with you. See how to add captions to Instagram Reels.
Step 4: Give people a reason to send it
Shares are one of the clearest signals that a reel is worth showing to new people. Ask yourself before posting: who would someone send this to, and why?
Reels that get sent tend to do one of these jobs:
- Name a shared frustration. Instagram's creators site calls this the "that's literally me" test (Reels tips).
- Settle an argument. "Do you need to rinse after retinol?" People forward the answer to the friend they were debating.
- Save someone time. A checklist, a script to say to a client, the three questions to ask before hiring a contractor.
- Correct a common myth in your niche, with a clear reason.
Avoid asking for shares in a pushy way. A soft line like "send this to the friend who keeps doing this" is enough when the content already deserves it.
Step 5: Help Instagram match your reel to the right people
Instagram tries to match each reel to people with similar interests, and you can make that easier.
- Use the words your audience searches. Instagram suggests using relevant keywords in content, captions, bios and hashtags to get discovered via Search (tips for improving your reach).
- Use a few relevant hashtags, not a wall of generic ones. The creator FAQ says trending hashtags relevant to your reel's topic can help you reach more people.
- Consider trending audio when it fits. The same FAQ notes that trending audio can impact distribution. For talking-head reels, a quiet trending track under your voice works. Here's how to find trending audio on Instagram.
- Collaborate. Collab posts put one reel in front of two audiences.
Step 6: Test ideas with trial reels
Trial reels let you show a reel to non-followers first and decide later whether to share it with your followers. According to Instagram's announcement, you see views, likes, comments and shares after about 24 hours, and you can let Instagram share it with everyone automatically if it performs well within the first 72 hours. You need a professional account to use them.
How we suggest using them:
- Post the same idea with two different hooks as trial reels and keep the winner.
- Try a topic outside your usual lane without confusing your followers.
- Test a new format (reaction, split-screen, B-roll heavy) before committing to it.
Step 7: Post consistently, with ideas that already have demand
A single great reel can spike, but views compound when you post regularly. Instagram's own advice is to "post original content consistently" (creators blog). For a realistic cadence, see how often to post reels, and for timing, our guide to the best time to post reels on Instagram.
The harder part for most experts is not filming, it's knowing what to say every week. Start from topics that are already getting views in your niche, then write your own take. This is exactly what WowFlō's reel ideas feature does: paste a link to an Instagram profile or reel from your niche, and in about 20 seconds you get 24+ ideas based on what's getting views there, written from scratch for your audience rather than copied.
Quick diagnosis: why your reel didn't get views
Open the reel's insights and match what you see to the likely fix.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to try next |
|---|---|---|
| Very few views, even from followers | Account or content may not be eligible for recommendations | Check Account Status, remove watermarks, post original footage |
| Views but very short average watch time | Weak first seconds | Rewrite the hook, start with the payoff, add on-screen text |
| People watch, but almost no shares or saves | Interesting but not useful enough to pass on | Add a concrete takeaway, a checklist or a myth correction |
| Good reels for followers, few new viewers | Topic too narrow or too "inside" | Broaden the problem, use the words people search |
| One reel spiked, the next ones didn't | Topic, not luck, did the work | Make follow-ups on the same topic from new angles |
For a deeper walk-through of each metric, read our guide to Instagram Reels analytics.
What not to waste time on
- Reposting other creators' videos without a material edit. Instagram treats this as unoriginal content.
- Deleting and reposting the same reel hoping for a better run. Make a new version with a different hook instead.
- Chasing a trend that has nothing to do with your expertise. Views from the wrong audience don't turn into clients.
- Long intros and "like and subscribe" endings. They cost watch time and add nothing.
Making this sustainable
All of the above works best when you can publish several reels a week without it eating your evenings. WowFlō is built for that: you pick an idea, get a script in your own words, and your AI twin records the reel with captions, cover and music added, then WowFlō publishes it to Instagram or schedules it for you. Your first reel takes about 15 minutes, and the first one is free with no card required. If that sounds useful, see how the AI twin works.
FAQ
Why are my Instagram Reels getting no views?
The most common reasons are that your account or content isn't eligible for recommendations, the reel uses someone else's footage or a third-party watermark, or viewers scroll away in the first seconds. Check Account Status first, then look at average watch time in the reel's insights.
Do hashtags still help Reels get views?
They can, but as a topic signal, not a growth hack. Instagram says relevant trending hashtags can help you reach more people, so use a few that describe the reel accurately rather than a long list of generic tags.
Does follower count affect how many views a reel gets?
Less than most people think. Instagram says reels are first shown to a small group of non-followers and expanded based on how they perform, so a small account can reach a large audience with a reel that holds attention and gets shared.
How long should I wait before judging a reel?
Give it at least a couple of days before drawing conclusions, since recommendations can keep expanding after posting. For trial reels, Instagram shows the first results after about 24 hours and uses the first 72 hours to decide on automatic sharing.
