Social media branding is an innovative way for brands to connect and spread their name to new audiences. It’s the sudden switch from basic marketing to social media marketing that generates all the hype. This shift was majorly seen during the unprecedented COVID times when people started relying more on social media content. Brands and businesses jumped on this hype wagon and began connecting with their audience on an emotional level by pushing out Instagram reels, YouTube videos, and even TikTok dance routines.
One thing is for sure: it’s easier to get noticed by people on social media than for people to notice your brand ad on a billboard in traffic. So, it’s essential to know how to create content that resonates with the audience and maintain consistency throughout to maximize audience engagement. However, focusing on creating separate videos for YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms can be time-consuming. That’s where this blog jumps right in.
Table of Contents
In this article, we’ll look into📝:
Why it’s convenient to convert YouTube videos📽️: I’ll tell you something we all know: we don’t like working extra time making different videos for YouTube and separate short-form videos for Instagram. So, I’m giving you extra tips on why it’s more convenient to repurpose your old content.
A step-by-step guide to making reels from long-form content✂️: Here, I’ve mentioned the easiest steps to convert YouTube videos into short reels without much hassle. (Even when your brain works like a four-year-old, you’ll still grasp this!)
- Launch the Instagram app and navigate to the Reels section.
- Follow the specific steps to record or combine videos within the app to produce engaging Reels.
Top 5 AI tools to make things easier🤖: There’s AI for every need now; you just have to put the right prompts. There’s AI for our needs in this context, so I’ve also shortlisted the top 5 AI tools that can help you convert long-form videos into reels easily.
In the United States, adults spend more time on Instagram, averaging about 33.1 minutes per day on the platform. This means that if you convert your long YouTube videos into short, attractive reels, people can notice you easily, driving more conversions on YouTube if they ever want to check out the full content. So, in this blog, I’ve made it easier for people like you to learn how to make Instagram reels from YouTube videos. Read on!
Imagine you’re time traveling to the early 2000s and explaining to people what Reels are! Okay, I am here to do the same. Instagram, popularly known for being a platform where we could share photos and pictures instantly, gained more popularity than Facebook at one point to when Mark Zuckerberg decided to buy it off. Well, from the popular pictures shared on the platform to people getting distracted by short-form video content from TikTok, Instagram decided to introduce short videos as “Reels” themselves. The ‘Instagram reel’ feature was introduced to compete with TikTok, providing guidelines, tools, and tips for creating engaging video content specifically for the Instagram platform.
Reels almost receive 2.35 billion interactions monthly and are considered the latest trendsetters in the social media world. Unlike long-format content seen on YouTube, Reels are short, quick, and edited in a way that is more engaging for people to watch without losing their attention (yes, it’s true our attention spans are shorter than our eyelashes). These Reels have a way of interacting with users that allows them to share with their friends and family. If it has some relatable content, it’s more dynamic, and it only takes around 15-90 seconds to spare from your otherwise busy life.
This is cool, just automating repurposed content from tiktok to Pinterest.
Doing this across:
IG reels
Snapchat
YouTube shortsDon’t sleep on short form content.
While a lot of the views are the quality if you can nail getting a viral video (100,000 views)… pic.twitter.com/Tubng8Cayn
— Sebastian (@sebastianvolkis) November 1, 2023
Now, how can a brand benefit from Instagram Reels:
- The chance of getting noticed on Instagram Reels is high compared to YouTube videos.
- The algorithm on Instagram is different and can help your growth.
- It’s short and quick, attracting a wide audience and reaching new people more than YouTube.
- Reels have interactive features where people can engage through stickers, polls, and others, fostering a sense of community.
- Brands can maximize the value of existing YouTube videos by repurposing content.
- Reels can pique viewers’ interest and drive traffic back to the YouTube channel.
- Reels can cater to mobile-first content consumption if shared in a trendy format, building a loyal audience base.
Are Instagram and Tiktok easier than Youtube?
by inNewTubers
If such golden opportunities are present for yourself, this is your chance to spam with lots of Reels from the same old YouTube videos. (I am not kidding when I say most creators do the same; they create anticipation for their long-format videos by posting the highlight parts as Reels that drive traffic to their channel more. For example, a popular podcast channel will post multiple exciting sections of a recent YouTube video, such as Reels, on Instagram. It gets to the feed of a newer, younger audience who, if they like the highlighted part, tend to check out the video later.) So, it’s like a win-win situation on both platforms.
How to make reels from YouTube videos
The higher engagement tactics on the Instagram platform are more suitable considering the fact that YouTube’s algorithm is slow. One of my content creator friends had this opinion: “YouTube is pushing shorts to compete with TikTok and Instagram… I get 6-digit views on TikTok… post the same video on IG and get double digits.” So, it’s essential that you start pushing out Instagram content as well if you are focusing on social media marketing altogether. Here, I’ve mentioned the step-by-step process to make sure you repurpose your existing video content from YouTube into Instagram Reels.
Step 1: Choosing the Right YouTube Video to Convert
This is the first step, where you look through the already published videos on YouTube and see if you find a suitable one that encapsulates your brand message or has higher quality content in a visually appealing way. The criteria for choosing the video is that it should be informative, entertaining, and emotionally engaging to your audience. (✨Tip: watch the videos completely and act like you’re an outsider; which part captured your attention without making you feel like skipping the content? Yes, that’s the Reel you’re looking for!)
Other features to consider:
Storytelling aspect: Which segment of the video has more storytelling parts, and does the curiosity element build in the clip for about 20-90 seconds? If it’s more than that, you can leave the video.
Emotional connection: Which part of the video highlights an emotional connection with your audience? Does it evoke emotions in the audience, such as laughter, awe, or inspiration? These tend to perform better on Instagram, capturing people’s attention.
Duration: Keep in mind that there cannot be an abrupt ending to the reel; instead, it should have a sense of continuity till the end, and it should make people want to know more. Reels are limited to a maximum of 90 seconds.
Video length: Consider the video length when selecting a YouTube video to convert. Instagram allows only short clips for regular posts, while IGTV can accommodate longer videos. This is crucial for content creators to ensure their videos fit the platform’s requirements.
If you’ve chosen the video for converting to reels, then you’re ready for the second step.🤩
Step 2: Downloading the YouTube Video
Now it’s easy: download the YouTube video using online free tools or software. There are websites like Y2Mate, and ClipConverter that offer free downloading services and are considered popular options. Always ensure you have the right to repurpose and download the content, respecting copyright laws. As they always say, quality matters most; you don’t want your reels to look like a blurred copy, so aim for the highest quality when downloading your video.
Make sure you download in MP4 format for its quality and file size balance. Posting a YouTube video directly on Instagram can be challenging due to differing video length and aspect ratio requirements, so it’s crucial to edit the video to meet Instagram’s standards. Make sure you have a backup of your original YouTube video because we are humans, and we are prone to making mistakes. Backing up safeguards content against loss or errors during the download or conversion process.🎞️
Step 3: Convert the video to Reels format
After downloading, you can use editing software or online converters to change the edited video format to make sure it fits Instagram Reels. The aspect ratio to keep in mind is 9:16, which is ideal for mobile viewing.
This also means editing and refining your content for a newer audience by trimming and fitting the clip within the 60-90 second limit. This also means it has to be done without continuity errors or anything.✂️
Step 4: Optimizing Your Reels Video for Instagram
After getting a final 60-90 seconds video output, you can optimize the reel for Instagram. To do this, start by selecting video clips from your camera roll to include in your reel. Did you know about 80% of viewers are more likely to watch a video to completion if captions are available? So this is your cue to add captions to the video (if there are a lot of voiceovers and talking, of course).
You can add trending music and filters from Instagram’s music library; it’s a great way to reach people who check out the reels that have added trending music. 🎵
Step 5: Post YouTube Videos to Instagram Reels
Yayy🙌.. you’ve reached the final step; just upload the reel on your brand’s official Instagram page. But make sure you keep these points in mind:
- First things first, ensure your videos adhere to Instagram’s technical requirements when you upload videos.
- Craft an engaging caption for the video; also make it more interactive so that the audience gets the hype to comment, share, or save the reel video (this boosts your reach to new accounts).
- Also, add other interactive features available on Instagram like optimizing the video with hashtags. Use relevant hashtags that match your brand’s voice and image, as it increases the reel’s visibility. (It’s found that at least one hashtag receives 12.6% more engagement.)
- You can also add new features like polls on Instagram or use relevant words, stickers, and more.
- To make the reel more engaging, you can share it with your followers by posting it on your Instagram Stories in a creative way using stickers, GIFs, and more.
yeah, I feel like he could post those shorter videos as reels or on igtv (or tiktok? yeah maybe not), those have the potential to go viral as well! and he could probably convert them into youtube audience
— Grahdayy (@grahdayy) November 14, 2020
Tips for Repurposing YouTube Content
One of my personal tips I give out to my readers is to use YouTube’s analytics because the analytics determine which parts of the video have the highest engagement rate. This can help you easily target that segment and post it on Instagram. Also, one of my other tips is that you can make a mini-series on Reels by continuing the parts by breaking down long-form content into a series. This creates anticipation, and people will come and see your profile to see other parts. Another thing you can’t forget is to add some call-to-action in the ending frame, like “Check out the full video on YouTube“ or “Comment your thoughts below.”
Another effective strategy is to share videos on Instagram by creating teasers for IGTV and utilizing Instagram Stories. Additionally, incorporating snippets into your Instagram feed can create a cohesive visual presence that resonates with your audience. Repurposing content from YouTube can be highly effective if you adapt the aspect ratios and formats to fit Instagram’s requirements. This not only enhances viewer engagement but also broadens your reach across different platforms.
✨In my opinion, the most basic tip is to find shortcuts to make the above process smoother and more time-saving. It can get a bit hectic when this task is given to the YouTube editors, who are already busy editing your long YouTube videos into engaging content. So, my tip is that you can make use of different AI tools. There are a lot of AI tools available on the market that can simplify this process and make your conversions better. If you are curious to know more, I’ve mentioned the top 5 AI tools that can help you create short-form Reels.
I made a tool to generate TikTok/Short/Reels from YouTube videos using AI
byu/victortimsit inSmallYTChannel
Top 5 AI tools To convert videos to reels
Like I said, there are AI tools for everything these days, like finding your partner or deciding what you’re going to have for dinner. There are countless ideas for utilizing AI stack to simplify human needs. Here, I am going to introduce five AI tools that can help you convert long-form YouTube videos into short Reels on Instagram.
1. Klap
Klap is an AI tool that quickly creates multiple clips from a single YouTube video. All you have to do is paste the URL of your YouTube video, and in seconds, it creates Reel outputs, TikToks, and other shorts. Are you worried about whether it includes other things? Well, it does. Each clip has its own title, transcript, and virality score of 10-100, so you can choose which one is apt for your Instagram profile. I did a trial of Klap and thought it worked surprisingly well, so I thought I’d suggest it to my readers as well.
I made a tool that can generate 10 TikToks from one YouTube video link using AI
byu/victortimsit inSmallYTChannel
Now, generating clips on Klap is absolutely free, but you can’t download those clips without the pro version. For 10 videos, it costs $29 per month for Klap Pro. This is what one of their clients had to say about their service: ‘Klap AI is for you. This website takes video production to another level with the ability to break down a video into viral moments that can be edited by the AI alone.'”
2. Munch
Munch is second on the list, and it is another web-based app that uses AI integration to repurpose long YouTube videos into Reels. The Munch AI helps you choose the platforms you want to create video clips for. Then, you can easily paste the URL of the YouTube video or upload a file and pick your style of subtitles or captioning. The tool will then cut the video into short, meaningful clips. It also generates subtitles (normally, it loads when spoken) and creates captions for your posts, including relevant hashtags. Your life is pretty simple, right?
You can also make potential edits for each clip, like altering the template, cropping, or changing the style of titles. However, the only drawback is that it permits one free project with downloadable watermarked clips in the free version. For unlimited projects and no watermarks, creators need to pay $49 per month.
3. Imaginario
Imaginario.ai is another multi-purpose AI curation tool exclusively made for video professionals. This AI automatically identifies your best bits in a long video and helps you create short video clips within seconds. The AI understands your uploaded YouTube video and uncovers the content by covering dialogue, people, actions, sounds, emotions, and more. (Yeah, like a human editor, but much faster.) This way, the AI significantly reduces the manual tasks of an actual editor and makes it much faster.
The platform also has a search functionality that allows you to pinpoint exact moments in videos, which helps in pulling out specific moments when creating targeted clips. Now, you don’t have to waste time rewatching the whole video. The starter plan is free forever and also gives out 30 minutes of AI video analysis. The Creator plan is $49 per month, where users get 600 minutes of AI video analysis and 100 GB storage, and it also has Discord live chat support.
4. Vidyo.ai
The fourth one on the list is Vidyo.ai, which is also a content repurposing software that helps brands, podcasters, and video creators. It helps you create instant short-form content by trimming longer ones. It has many features, like auto-video captioning, which helps you add subtitles to videos. It also has an instant video resizing option to switch between portrait, landscape, and square formats, making it ready for multiple social media platforms. Additionally, it has auto-detecting crucial segments of the video and organizes them into distinct chapters.
1. Vidyo AI
Convert long videos into short viral clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts with Vidyo. ai advanced video ai repurposing platform pic.twitter.com/rs1CpGww2l
— AI Genesis (@AIGenesis_) June 20, 2024
I have tried it out and found that if you have a long video, Vidyo.ai can generate between 5-45 shorts, depending on the quality of the content. Amazing, right? The user-friendly interface allows you to upload your video or paste the YouTube link while the AI does all the tasks for you easily. The free version provides 75 minutes per month of video editing with 720p quality, which is absolutely free, while the most basic essential plan is $33 per month with 300 minutes per month and 1080p render quality. This plan also helps users directly publish or schedule posts to 6 social platforms.
5. Eklipse
Eklipse easily pulls out long videos from YouTube and alters them into multiple creative Reels for you. This can help you save time without having to watch existing long-format videos on YouTube. A highlight of Eklipse is that no ads or watermarks were added to the video, even in the free version. Users can also choose from various templates, music, and effects, and the AI tools will easily generate a Reel video based on the same. Here, the basic plan is free for users. The premium plan pricing is $15.99 per month.
Conclusion
Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikToks are not only Gen Z’s favorite things to watch, but adults also love to spend their time on them. So, if you carefully strategize your marketing campaigns in a way that captures the attention of social media users, you can spread more brand awareness among more people. I feel if you’re already spending extra time, energy, and creativity in producing long videos on YouTube, you can also make sure they are utilized and repurposed well enough to garner more attention and reach new people.
In this article, I’ve curated a step-by-step guide on how to repurpose your long YouTube videos into short Reel clips in five easy steps. I’ve also mentioned five AI tools that can be utilized to cut down your YouTube videos to Reels with the power of AI, giving you engaging content for users. I hope this guide has helped you improve your social media marketing game. Happy Instagramming!
FAQs
1. How to convert YouTube videos to reels?
To convert a YouTube video to Reels, you can start by selecting the key moments from your long video that will engage your audience. You can resize the video to fit the 9:16 Instagram feed and upload it to your profile. You can also make use of AI-powered tools like that automatically generate short clips tailored for Reels from long form YouTube videos.
2. Can I put a YouTube video on Instagram?
You can’t directly upload a YouTube video to Instagram because of the length and duration, but you can repurpose it into short clips or Reels. Use tools to trim and format the video to fit Instagram’s requirements, then upload the edited content to your Instagram feed or Stories.
