How To Explode Your Following With Instagram Trials Reels

Something new came to Instagram in December 2024, and it's totally changed the game for influencers and anyone looking to rapidly grow their Instagram following. It's called Instagram Trials, and not nearly enough people are using this feature. 

I've been testing out Instagram Trial Reels for the past month and have posted over 50 Trial Reels, and as a result have grown my Instagram following over 10k in those four short weeks. Here's everything you need to know about using this new feature. 

Instagram Trial Reels Are Basically Ghost Posts That Work For You

For the first time in social media history, a social platform created a way for you to share new content just for non-followers. The industry has never seen anything like this, and I absolutely went feral when I heard the news. 

When creators post an Instagram Trials Reel, Instagram automatically shares that out to an audience that doesn't follow the creator. 

These videos are basically "ghost Reels" since they exist, but they don't show up on your Reels tab in your profile grid. 

This means influencers can go crazy posting a ton of Trials content, or experiment with content in a new genre and not alienate their followers. This is insanely cool, and also incredibly helpful for content creators like myself to rapidly scale their followers. 

Start By Posting Old But Popular Content To Instagram Trials

I recommend you start by going through your past content, TikToks included, and pick out your top 10 most viewed Reels. Download them, and repost them all as Trials. 

By starting with past popular content, we can assume it will preform well again. I started by reposting videos that got millions of views just to see what happened. 

And guess what - they all preformed insanely well again, earning hundreds of thousands and often over 1 million views on Instagram Trails. And, I gained hundreds of new followers for each of these popular, old videos. 

Because they weren't old to the people who didn't follow me - they felt brand new. 

Then, Try A/B Testing Edits

My favorite use-case for Trial Reels is using it to A/B test video edits and hooks. I can't tell you how many times in my influencer career that I've wavered between Hook 1 or Hook 2, or music choices or even edit versions. 

Now, content creators can post all their edits to Instagram Trials and see which one actually works better. No more guessing and hoping you picked the right edit to share - the algorithm will do the work for you. 

You Can Post Unlimited Instagram Trials Daily

Yes, you can post multiple new Trial Reels every day and it doesn't hurt your profile. Remember, they aren't being posted to your feed so you don't have to worry about flooding your followers' homepage with 10 new Reels from you all in one day. 

This is the closest the Instagram algorithm can get to the TikTok algorithm where users can post many videos on a single day and it doesn't negatively impact a follower's user experience. 

You Can Share Trial Reels To Your Profile If The Video Does Well

If a Trials Reel performs well, a creator can choose to post it to their profile for everyone to see. Insights are available on a Trials Reel usually 3-4 hours after posting, but sometimes takes up to 24 hours. 

It really depends on the video and the topic. I've posted some videos that take 24 hours to only get 5 views. Others explode and go viral almost right away, and the app prompts me to share it to everyone within an hour. 

It really depends on the video and the topic. 

You Don't Have To Share Every Popular Trial Reel

One strategy I've been playing with is not actually sharing every popular Trial Reel post. I have multiple Trial Reels sitting on Trials with over a million views that I will never share to the feed. 

These Reels are maybe repetitive, or maybe a little off-brand, but still work to gain my profile followers and impressions. 

For instance, right now I'm working on making 10 new Trial Reel videos that are introductions to my profile. I don't plan on sharing these to my live feed, but instead have them work in the shadows to earn me more followers, all for free. 

Posting Instagram Trials Is The Easiest Way To Gain Followers On Instagram

I've been on Instagram for over 10 years and it wasn't until Trials came around that I saw a true explosion in growth. Right now the app feels like TikTok circa early 2020 when anyone and everyone can work he system to explode their follower count. 

Remember, these Trial Reels are being shown to people on Instagram think will like the video, which means the algorithm is finally hunting out like-minded users to show content to. This means that these new followers are primed and invested in an influencer's content, making them better followers who actually want to engage with the influencer's profile. 

If you haven't started using Instagram Trials yet, you are literally missing out on a chance to totally transform your influencer career.