How to Share Reels on Instagram Story without Posting

Instagram Reels have become one of the most popular ways to create fun and engaging video content on Instagram. As Reels continue to gain traction, many users want to share their Reels more widely without formally posting them to their feed. Luckily, Instagram offers an easy way to share Reels on your Instagram Stories without actually posting them.

Overall, sharing Reels on Stories lets you distribute fun video content more widely and gauge engagement easily before committing that content to your profile grid long-term with an actual post. Experiment with sharing your top-performing Reels on Instagram Stories to expand your reach. Have fun showcasing different Reels without cluttering your profile!

Understanding Instagram Reels and Instagram Stories

Launched in August 2020, Instagram Reels has rapidly become one of the platform’s most popular features. These snackable short-form videos allow creators to express themselves creatively through multi-clip montages enhanced with audio, AR effects, and text overlays.

Meanwhile, Instagram Stories continues dominating as a beloved daily destination for over 500 million users. The ephemeral 24-hour photo and video stories offer a more casual, personality-driven experience.

Sharing Reels directly to Stories merges these two high-powered formats seamlessly. Testing Reels visibility on Stories first allows gauging engagement and confirming which cuts score highest with audiences before permanently posting to one’s page feed. This strategy amplifies content distribution for free and drives greater visibility of one’s best Reels creations.

Why Share Reels on Instagram Story Without Posting?

While posting Reels directly to your Instagram profile allows all followers to see them, there are scenarios where creators may prefer sharing Reels exclusively on Stories first.

Reasons why sharing Reels on Stories without formal posting can be beneficial include:

Maintaining Feed Aesthetic

Some users curate a very specific aesthetic for their Instagram grid and prefer not to disrupt it with certain Reels between their photo posts. Sharing those Reels solely on Stories preserves a feed aesthetic.

Testing Engagement

Instagram shows Reels to a wide range of accounts in hopes they go viral quickly. This makes it easy to accumulate views, likes and comments quickly. Analyzing that initial engagement on Stories can confirm if a Reel resonates before posting.

Targeting Select Audiences

Accounts with business purposes may wish to share some entertaining Reels with their personal friends without formally promoting that content to their entire professional follower base. Instagram Stories allows more selectivity.

Driving Traffic to Link in Bio

Reels can only contain one link. That link may point to a link tree or site an account wants to drive traffic to consistently. Sharing Reels solely on Stories avoids changing the linked content.

Rotating Through Created Reels

Prolific Reels creators may produce lots of video content but don’t necessarily want to flood their actual profile grid with every Reel. Sharing a rotating selection on Stories first allows testing without overloading permanent page content.

Preparing Your Instagram Reel

Before sharing a Reel on Instagram Stories, it’s important to first create optimized video content designed to engage your audience.

Here are some tips:

1. Leverage newer Reels capabilities like text-to-speech voice effects, green screen mode, polling stickers that allow votes, interactive stickers, and more. Ride the trends!
2. Audio and AR effects are key for memorable Reels. Find songs and impacts that align with your brand personality. Stay on trend with current sounds and visual effects.
3. Each clip should only be a few seconds long at most. Quick cuts and fast pacing keep the attention span high. You can string up to 30 seconds total of clips.
4. Schedule Reels creation so you’re posting fresh video content regularly, ideally a few times per week minimum. Consistency is key for growth.
5. Be mindful that Reels must meet Instagram’s rules allowing appropriate content only. Don’t post potentially policy-violating Reels on public accounts to avoid repercussions.

Step-by-Step Guide to Share Reels on Instagram Story Without Posting

Ready to distribute your stellar Reels beyond just your followers? This easy, 6-step tutorial outlines exactly how to share Instagram Reels directly on your Stories without formally posting to your profile grid.

Step-by-Step Guide to Share Reels on Instagram Story Without Posting

Step 1: Create or select a Reel.

Step 2: Accessing the share options.

Step 3: Sharing the Reel to your Story directly.

Step 4: Customizing the Story with text, stickers, or other elements.

Step 5: Adjusting privacy and audience settings.

Step 6: Sharing the Reel on the Story without posting on the feed.

Creating truly stellar Reels takes time and practice! Use Instagram Stories to access analytics and feedback before fully launching your best into the Instagram ecosystem through direct posting.

Tips and Tricks for Maximizing Engagement

You’ve shared your well-crafted Reel on Instagram Stories – great! Now let’s look at some pro tips to score higher engagement from followers and accounts that discover your content.

Strategic Tagging

Use relevant hashtags and properly tag any brands, collaborators, or referenced accounts with @ mentions. This expands reach from being discoverable in tagged content.

Geotag Locations

Pinning your Instagram Story to exact locations tags your Reel to geo-based areas. This drives visibility for anyone browsing content related to that place.

Engage With Viewers

Respond to Story slider polls, questions and reactions. This two-way engagement keeps audiences interested longer.

Share at Peak Times

Post when most of your audience is actively online for the best shot at Story views, which directly informs how many see your Reel on Instagram Stories.

Cross-Promote Across Channels

Redirect audiences to check out your Reel on Instagram Stories by promoting the content on other social media accounts.

Repurpose Top Content

Reshare successful Reels on Instagram Stories as old posts are shown to new audiences even months later who haven’t seen that video before.

Take advantage of these insider tips when integrating your Reels onto Instagram Stories for bigger reach and more engagement without having to immediately post!

Troubleshooting Common Issues

While sending Reels through Instagram Stories is fairly straightforward, users can occasionally encounter problems. Here are some common issues and fixes:

• If you don’t see the option to share your created Reel to Stories, make sure you tap “Next” first after making the Reel instead of “Share.” The Story button should appear on the editing screen.
• If certain accounts can’t view your Story Reel, check your privacy settings. Custom or Close Friends options make Stories visible only to selected people rather than publicly.
• Using lots of location stickers, niche hashtags and mentions aimed at a very targeted group will limit how many people see that Story. Broader tagging is better for reach.
• Keep in mind Story analytics focus mainly on Sends and Replies for gauging response now. So high views may not fully demonstrate engagement. Focus more on reactions.
• Fix connectivity issues by checking app updates, reinstalling Instagram, logging out and back in, restarting your phone, or ensuring strong WiFi/cellular access.
• With proper privacy settings and app troubleshooting as needed, sharing Instagram Reels through Stories is quick and hassle-free. Take advantage of this feature to expand your audience and showcase your awesome short-form video content masterpieces!

Leveraging Instagram’s Features for Greater Reach

Instagram offers a robust suite of features you can incorporate to drive even more visibility to your Reels shared on Stories:

Leverage Link Stickers: Adding swipe up or link stickers to your Instagram Story allows sending viewers to anywhere like your YouTube channel, website, etc.

Cross-Promote Across IG Features: Redirect followers to your Reel Story through posts in your Feed, IG Live broadcasts, highlights and more.

Analyze Metrics in Insights: Consult the detailed Stories and Reels metrics available in Instagram Insights to better understand your audience and optimize content.

Use Effects Features: Take advantage of interactive stickers, engagement polls and quiz stickers that followers can respond to as they view your Reel.

Collaborate with Other Creators: Work with complementary accounts to co-create Reels, cross-promote each other’s content and grow collective audiences.

Instagram is packed with built-in tools to help you drive bigger impact from the Reels you test out on Stories first before formally posting them directly to your profile grid after gauging engagement. Discover all that Instagram has to offer!

Conclusion

Sharing Instagram Reels directly to your Stories is an easy yet strategic tactic for expanding the reach of fun short-form video content. As outlined in this guide, sending Reels through Stories first allows creators to test engagement before formally posting to their feed grid.

Key benefits covered for bypassing initial posting in favor of Stories include preserving curated aesthetics, gauging response from different audiences, driving traffic to links, avoiding flooding feeds and more. We explored how to craft captivating Reels primed for engagement along with step-by-step instruction for accessing the Stories share option.

Overall, sharing Reels directly on ephemeral Instagram Stories is a smart technique for creators ready to showcase stellar videos to broadened audiences. Test out this feature for your next bit of fun short-form content before adding your best Reels permanently to your profile grid.