Are you a museum, gallery or visitor attraction looking for Instagram Reels inspiration? You’re in the right place!

The idea of creating Reels, for some, is incredibly daunting - don’t even get me started on a TikTok account! If you’re in a busy organisations - always strapped for time and staffing - the idea of adding another platform to the roster may be enough to bring you to tears.

But the answer, my friends, is Instagram Reels. The visual Instagram medium is incredibly useful for many sectors, and here’s why.

By now, you’ve probably heard the hubbub; Instagram is no longer positioning itself as a photo sharing app, but rather is going all-in on video.

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, recently stated, “At Instagram we’re always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience. Right now we’re focused on four key areas: creators, video, shopping and messaging.”

He also explicitly said they want to embrace video more broadly.

In short, best to start incorporating video into your Instagram strategy now. One of the most engaging ways to do that (with serious reach!) is via Reels.

If you use Instagram at all, you’ll be familiar with the plethora of influencers mirroring TikTok trends on Reels, from funny dances to sumptuous lifestyle shots set to popular music. The question is, how can this vertical video space be made relevant for businesses? And specifically, why aren’t we seeing more Reels in the arts and culture space?

What are Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels video content is a fun and engaging way to create short-form, vertical video on Instagram. Created to rival TikTok, videos can be up to a minute in length, and you can film them in-app or upload previously recorded content. You can also use still images to create video montages.

Editing tools are available if you’d like to shoot your video within Instagram. You can do things like speed up or slow down the recording, add creative video effects, text, and touch up features. Don’t forget to take advantage of their music library to add brilliant tunes to set the right tone for your content. Plus, trending music will make your content even more discoverable by new audiences. 

For best results, you’ll want your videos to be filmed vertically, with an aspect ratio of 9:16 or 1,080 pixels x 1,920 pixels.

How can museums use Reels?

Museums, arts venues and cultural attractions have a wealth of amazing content at their fingertips, from stunning exhibitions, tantalising gift shops, intriguing creators and fantastic spaces to boast about. With all that at their disposal, it’s a wonder these attractions aren’t doing more with Reels. We get it, time is tight, new platform releases are difficult to keep up with and there’s only so much time in the day.

However, here’s why it’s the perfect medium.

• Videos can be creative and playful while still looking high quality and professional

• Engagement can be exponentially higher with wider/varied audiences reached

• Videos can be quick to create, allowing you to create timely and relevant content

• Reels can bring seemingly dull content to life.

Brilliant Reels examples

Though the majority of arts venues aren’t yet aboard the Reels train, we’ve managed to compile a few excellent examples of cultural venues around the world doing Reels brilliantly.

Showcase what you do best

It’s no wonder the Tate is a leading venue when it comes to Reels content. They have no end of amazing material at their fingertips. With 18 Reels in total, the majority of their videos celebrate and announce a new exhibition/piece of art in the gallery.

I thought the Deaf Awareness Week Reels was particularly interesting, demonstrating a great way to be timely and inclusive while creating interesting content.

Another excellent use of their Reels invited people to explore street art Tate had commissioned for #BeyondBoundariesBankside. Another example I really liked for its simplicity was from The Making of Rodin exhibition.

The main ingredients involved:

• beautiful music

• slow pan of a piece of art

• explanation behind the artwork

• for extra points: information about the artist.

This would be engaging regardless of the artist involved (though it helps when it’s Rodin!). This would make a great starting point for any museum or arts venue.

The Design Museum in London has been consistently creating show-stopping Reels, and they are clearly putting a lot of thought into them, from highly produced content to simple behind the scenes.

A running theme throughout their Reels content centres around the Sneakers Unboxed exhibition, from the highly produced teaser to complementary playful shots peppered throughout.

Best way to highlight a shop? Well if there’s a local maker, why not feature them. People love process videos.

In this video, they created a behind the scenes timelapse from the London-based maker, Miyelle Karmi, herself. Very satisfying to watch!

Here’s another beautiful example, this time using still footage and text to bring your Reel to life.

Or take a look at their showcase reel, using a voiceover to highlight the Design Museum’s Ardagh Young Creatives programme. You can see they’re having a lot of fun coming up with ideas. Worth a follow!

Tip: they’ve used trending songs in almost all videos which is great for engagement and discovery; the Instagram algorithm will appreciate the musical relevance and share this content more widely.

We are hugely enjoying the whimsical content coming out of the Cambridge University Museums (local favourites here at Sookio!). Through their Reels content and Come On In campaign, #ComeOnInCam, they have captured the feelings we’ve all been missing: the social benefits of visiting museums with friends and family, the joy of discovering something new, the weird and wonderful objects from their collections and, of course, the eating and shopping! Give them a follow to keep up with the campaign.

Make the most of hashtags and trending days

The British Museum has a few Reels but there is one in particular with engagement through the roof.

With over 960,000 views, they successfully created this video for #WorldPoetryDay, taking advantage of all the people that would be seeking out relevant content using the trending hashtag.

It’s beautifully created and masterfully places you in an exquisite scene. They also created this simple and splendid celebration Reel for the landmark occasion of hitting two million followers.

The Museum of Modern Art’s Reels are centred around a specific photo project, the MOMA Photo Club. Reels is a perfect tool to set the monthly artistic challenge and share the project widely.

The Natural History Museum is another museum that has jumped on with branded Reels hashtags. #NatureBoost is a concept they came up with to encourage their audience to get a ‘Nature Boost’.

This was obviously a great way to encourage people to get out in nature during a year when we all needed a bit of mindful nature escapes. It was a particularly tactful way to stay relevant and connected with their audience during a challenging year.

I also liked the simple example of sharing a new feature or product, as seen in their Reel, playing with the Google 3D app and sea creatures large and small.

Joyful content

One of my favourite Reels ever is from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

They just have one Reel, but it’s a gem, and with over a million views, others agree! This is an incredibly playful and imaginative stop motion Reel, bringing the painter, Van Gogh, to life (not an easy task considering the artist died well over a century ago!). The music is perfect. Watch on repeat!

How are you welcoming people back to your venue?

The Museum of Ice Cream in Austin, Texas’, Reels are all centred around the joy we feel in museums and welcoming people back! They get to showcase their unique space and make you feel inspired to visit them again. Using Reels like this is a great way to enrich your brand image while building a lasting relationship with your audience. 

High production content

There may not be many Reels on Victoria & Albert’s Instagram page but the production quality of both is phenomenal. They use the Reels to showcase both a Late evening event and a teaser from a latest exhibition - stunning.

Out of your element

I ask you, is there a better way to announce the opening of operatic production, Carmen, than with a maestro on an underground platform? I think not! Watch how the New National Theatre in Tokyo celebrated the opening by piping the famous Toreador Song through the Hatsudai train station. Genius!

Behind the scenes

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London has many playful Reels (the ducks!). A very clever use of Reels was a behind the scenes clip of actor Tom Chapman singing Under the Greenwood Tree from As You Like It. Plus! They invite viewers to perform a duet of the song with him - great for engagement.

The Vancouver Art Gallery use their Reels to showcase talent. This Reel in particular highlights artist, @kwikwistudio, creating a unique piece for the #VanArtTakeover. This is a fantastic way to showcase local/upcoming artists and gives your audience interesting behind the scenes footage they wouldn’t ordinarily have access to.

Speaking of behind the scenes, audiences love to get a look behind the curtain. Last year, you may have come across professional dancer, Austyn Farrell, when his TikTok and Reels content went viral, rocketing the dancer to fame with his intricate street performances during lockdown.

He’s created incredible curated Reels and IGTV performances of behind the scenes choreography. A personal favourite is this curated street dance to The Greatest Showman.

Highlight reel

And to finish it all off, who doesn’t love a year in review highlight Reel?

The National Portrait Gallery created a fun look at some of this year’s more memorable moments; of course, it does hurt when you’re visited by royalty!  

Top tips for creating Reels

• Create discoverable opportunities: take advantage of trending music and hashtags to reach new audiences

• Instagram propels Reels well beyond your audience and reach. Creating Reels is a great way to reach new audiences organically without any ad budget

• Stuck on where to draw inspiration? Basically, anything that helps your audience feel more connected with your work is a good place to start. Here are some ideas to try:

  • exterior shots - how to get to your venue, what does it look like?

  • walk around a new exhibition - give people a taste of what to expect

  • staff focus: a day in the life, curators’ thoughts, meet the team

  • top ten objects not to miss - what would you love everyone to see when visiting

  • best toys in the shop - a great way to be playful but promote excellent merch!

  • behind the scenes - setting up an event or exhibition

  • pick a theme and have a play - an excuse to experiment to see what works

  • invite user generated content – your audience may love to create content about your spaces

Well, we hope you’re inspired! At Sookio, we frequently create dazzling video and Reels content for clients, but we also have fun with our own.

Take a look at some of our favourites. Special mention for our birthday Reel and Sookio business card stop motion video.

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We’re bursting with ideas on how to create striking, thumb-stopping content that gets noticed! Our team of content creation and digital strategy experts will help your business bloom.