After months of testing, Instagram is officially rolling out “trial reels.” This innovative new feature enables creators to experiment with different content ideas without having to worry about what their established audience thinks about it.
Trial reels are specifically shown to non-followers. It’s essentially creators’ version of an online focus group, allowing an unbiased audience to give feedback. If the trial reels are successful, they can share it with their followers. If they’re not, then there’s no harm done to their existing audience base.
How to use Instagram trial reels
To share a reel as a trial, users will be able to toggle the ‘Trial’ option once they’ve created a reel. By doing that, the reel gets sent out into the world. But it doesn’t show up on the grid or reels tab.
Then, in 24 hours, it’s decision time. Once that time frame has passed, creators will be able to see how many views, likes, shares, and comments the reel has received. From there, they’ll make a judgment call over whether to archive the reel or post it for their followers.
In the next few weeks, the feature is expected to roll out across professional Instagram accounts around the world.
Ashley Alexander, Instagram VP and Head of Product Management, said to TechCrunch: “Creatives have lots of ideas, and one of the worst things that can kill creativity is feeling pressure, or feeling like there’s repercussions for taking chances.”
“We don’t ever want that to feel that way on Instagram,” Alexander continued. “Instagram should be a place where you can take all of your most bold creative chances and be rewarded when they pan out.”
