How to Use Instagram Reels: 6 Proven Themes That Boost Engagement

Are you running out of ideas for Instagram Reels? Whether you're a business owner, content creator, or freelancer, Reels remain one of the most powerful tools to grow your visibility organically in 2025. But coming up with fresh, engaging content week after week isn’t always easy — especially when creative blocks hit.

In this article, you'll discover 6 proven content themes you can use right now to boost engagement, reach new audiences, and grow your community — plus a few bonus tips to help your Reels stand out from the crowd.

Why make Reels?

If you're not sharing original content on Instagram reels, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity for your brand or personal branding.

Reels are a must-have way to engage with your Instagram community and reach a wider audience. In fact, they're a real growth hack right now.

As with all new features, it's good to strike while the iron is hot. Instagram's algorithm helps to promote new features, and competition is still relatively low.

In addition, the new Instagram Reels tab is packed with suggested content, which is a great way to touch new audiences and boost your organic discovery.

By the way, Instagram recently announced that content with visible watermarks or logos from other apps (such as TikTok) will be less discoverable within the app.

This means it's more important than ever to create original content if you want to appear in the Reels tab - and that's why we're sharing 6 content themes for your reel ones in this blog post! You'll find dozens of Instagram reel ideas here.

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Even if you've just tried Instagram Reels, it's important to have good content ideas and a clear goal in mind. Whether it's to reach a wider audience, engage your community or showcase your content and products to your followers.

The 6 best themes for reels

Need ideas for your Instagram reels? Here are the 6 best themes to guide you in creating your content.

Inspire yourself with these ideas to boost your visibility in Insta's explore section and attract new followers to your Instagram profile.

Tip: make sure you know your target audience well to create the best possible content and have an optimized profile to convert your visitors into followers.

1 - Entertain your audience

The first type of content you can create for your Instagram reels is aimed at entertaining your Instagram audience. These are currently the reels that work best.

Simply, because social network users love to share funny videos in their stories or to their friends.

If you manage to create content that entertains your audience, you stand a great chance of being shared thousands of times to new people.

To do this, take inspiration from humor accounts, comedians, even pages or videos your friends send you. You can use trending videos, challenges or come up with your own concepts to entertain your audience.

For example, you could share:

• Office anecdotes
• A string of impressive falls on your BMX
• Videos of your pet
• Or any other unusual moment in your life or in your business

2 - Informing your community

The second option for creating content that engages your audience is to share informative reel.

Utilize the features of reels to share useful information for social network users.

Share tutorials in your topic, information related to your field or tips.

This can include reel ideas like:

• How to design your apartment
• A tutorial for building a tree house
• How to use your products
• Or a delicious cooking recipe

Bref, share your knowledge with your audience to inform them in a more entertaining way.

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3 - Inspire users

Finally, the third main theme you can exploit to spread the word about your Instagram account is to inspire your community.

You've probably already seen dozens of motivational posts on Instagram. Well, if this type of publication works so well, it's because'they're inspiring. It gives your audience new ideas and motivates them.

This type of content is similar to entertainment content, but with one main difference. It gives new ideas and motivates your community.

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The aim through these reel ones is to share content that appeals to, motivates or inspires your audience. You can do this by:

• Sharing motivational speeches
• Cult movie scenes
• A compilation of the best moments from a trip
• Unbelievable moments at concerts or in extreme sports (think Rebdull).
• And even include a selection of your best outfits (or products if you're a brand) to inspire your followers.

First and foremost, aim to inspire your followers. If you succeed in this mission, you'll get thousands of likes and comments quickly.

You already have the 3 best themes for creating reel Instagrams that engage your followers. Entertainment, information and inspiration are the three pillars you can use for any content creation on social networks.

But that's not all, you can go even further with the following 4 themes of Instagram reels.

4 - Share the behind-the-scenes

A great way to create an actual that appeals to your audience is to share the behind-the-scenes. Indeed, if you want to succeed on Instagram, it's not enough to share your products or services.

Sometimes, you can use the features of stories or reels to share what goes on behind the camera. Share life on your premises or your everyday life.

This type of content helps create a reel affinity with your subscribers. They understand who you are and why you're present on the networks. They'll like you even more, and will be more likely to like your future content.

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Here are some reel ideas in this theme:

• Daily routine
• Question answer
• Weekly routine
• Personal or company news
• Instagram versus reality

5 - Show off your products or services

A more than obvious theme, but one not to be taken lightly, show off your products or services. This section is aimed mainly at business people, but influencers with thousands of followers may also be concerned to succeed with their Instagram collaborations.

Reel are also useful for getting the word out about your products, but be careful! It's not enough to put up a video of your product with a hashtag to make sales. If you want to convert your followers into customers, you'll need to take care of your content.

This can involve making a list of its features or doing a bit of editing before your video is shared.

Bref, here are our tips for successfully showcasing your products or services via the reel:

1. Showcase the benefits of your service or product
2. Ensure a professional rendering
3. Try to entertain, inform or inspire your audience by showcasing your product

One idea that works very well for this type of reel is to share a before/after (like the big laundry or vacuum cleaner brands do on TV). This directly highlights why your subscribers should buy your products.

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6 - Interact with your community

Finally, the sixth theme you can use to engage your insta community is to grab their content for your reel ones.

Creating a post that your subscribers have participated in is a great way to get more likes and ensure a minimum of sharing on social networks. The more people who participate in the creation of your video, the more likely they are to go viral.

This type of content creation also works very well in story or account IDs are easy.

For this idea of reel, simply imagine a concept with your community, ask them to share their content with you via Instagram message and then republish it.

For example, you can create reel:

• Customer reviews
• Before/after videos
• A photo compilation with your product
• Etc.

Tip: make sure you receive the videos in the right format so you can edit them.

Absolutely! Here's a slightly expanded version with more detail about Boostfluence:

How to Promote Your Reels (with Help from Boostfluence)

Creating great Reels is just the start — promoting them is key to getting visibility and engagement.

• Post at peak times when your audience is most active.
• Share Reels in Stories with a call-to-action to drive views.
• Use smart hashtags (a mix of trending and niche) to improve discoverability.
• Engage with your audience by replying to comments and interacting on similar content.
• Collaborate with other creators to tap into new communities.

Want to grow even faster?
Boostfluence is an Instagram automation tool designed to help you:

• Automatically like, view stories, follow, and send DMs to your target audience based on hashtags, location, or similar accounts.
• Gain real, engaged followers who are more likely to watch and engage with your Reels.
• Schedule posts and stories for better consistency without staying online 24/7.
• Access performance analytics to track what works and optimize future content.

With Boostfluence working in the background, your Reels get more exposure — so you can focus on creating, not chasing the algorithm.

Bonus tips for your reels

To prevent your reels from underperforming, take care to follow these tips:

1. Make sure you publish each Reel in the right format. Use all the screen height.
2. Avoid publishing content with a brand logo like TikTok.
3. Share your Reel in story once published.
4. Respond to comments from your followers.
5. Use music and effects to make your Reels more engaging.
6. Strive to stand out from other brands or content creators.
7. Follow social network trends
8. Use marketing to not only talk about your products, but also show off their benefits.
9. Think about including hashtags for greater effectiveness and visibility.
10. Favor shots lasting a few seconds for rhythmic, dynamic videos.
11. Publish at the right times to get the most likes. Discover here the best times to post on Instagram.