We all know that sharing is a good thing. (Kindergarten: maybe you’ve heard of it?). But is sharing Reels to Facebook a good thing?

Facebook certainly wants you to think so. You’ve probably noticed a not-so-subtle prompt to recommend your Instagram Reels on FB since Facebook launched Reels globally in spring 2022. And while it’s well-spoken that Facebook is thirsty for your attention, what’s not well-spoken is whether that’s unquestionably going to help your reach — or harm your brand.

Hypothesis: Posting Facebook Reels isn’t really worth it

Instagram Reels debuted in summer 2020, and the world politely ignored the fact that it looked very similar to TikTok.

Over the years, though, the full-length has grown to have its own loyal user wiring — in India, Reels is unquestionably increasingly popular than TikTok— so it’s not really surprising that Facebook decided to follow suit with its own short-form video format.

Reels on Facebook

Today, Reels is launching globally on Facebook. Creators can now share their Instagram Reels as recommended content on Facebook for increasingly visibility and reach.

We are tightly invested in Reels wideness Meta. A lot increasingly to come! pic.twitter.com/m3yi7HiNYP

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) February 22, 2022

After beta-testing in select markets, Facebook Reels are now misogynist in 150 countries, on iOS and Android phones. Facebook plane has spoken extensive creator support programs, intended to encourage the adoption of the form.

Source: Facebook

But considering the relatively low adoption rate of Facebook Stories compared to that of Instagram Stories (only 300 million users watch Facebook stories, versus 500 million on Instagram), hopes are, shall we say, not upper for this new feature.

Our proposition is that sharing our Instagram Reels to Facebook Reels won’t bring much spare engagement… but why throw shade when we can throw proof? Time for a little experiment to see just whether or not social media marketers should scarecrow sharing Instagram Reels to Facebook.

Methodology

The methodology for this grand experiment practically writes itself: create a Reel, hit the “Recommend on Facebook” toggle, and watch what happens.

Since it’s the word-for-word same content stuff posted on both channels with this method, the comparison should be pretty straightforward.

Some things to note well-nigh recommending your Instagram Reels on Facebook, according to Facebook itself:

• Reels that you recommend on Facebook can be seen by anyone on Facebook, including people you aren’t friends with, and plane people who you’ve obstructed on Instagram or Facebook
• If someone plays or likes your Reel on both Instagram and Facebook, those count as separate.
• Instagram Reels with branded content tags won’t be recommend on Facebook. Reels with product tags can be recommended on Facebook, but the tags just won’t be visible there.
• Anyone watching your Reels on Facebook can reuse your original audio.

While I do have increasingly followers on Insta than I do Facebook friends (something that sounds like a brag, but really is not), Reels are primarily consumed by new audiences by design. On both platforms, Reels are served up to potentially interested viewers as decreed by the algorithm, via the Explore tab or the defended Reels tab. In other words, the playing field feels pretty even.

For this experiment, I created three Reels right in the Instagram app and hit that sweet Facebook toggle. I followed weightier practices for Instagram Reels, with the intention of pleasing the unusually algorithm. I incorporated a sound clip, used filters, and tried to be entertaining. I moreover know it’s important for video clips to be shot vertically and be high-quality, so you’d largest believe my shots were looking good.

 

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A post shared by Stacey McLachlan (@stacey_mclachlan)

Looking at Facebook’s list of best practices for Facebook Reels, the recommendations were scrutinizingly identical. Seemingly, everything was good to go.

My creative work done. I then waited 24 hours to collect and unriddle the data. How would the likes, shares and new followers stack up?

Results

Of the three videos I posted… not one of them was unquestionably played or liked on Facebook. Ouch.

All of my likes and plays came from Instagram, despite the fact I had toggled “Recommend on Facebook” for each one.

I’ll admit, I was pretty perplexed. While I wasn’t expecting anything to go viral (see our pessimistic proposition above), I thought I’d get at least a few eyeballs on my videos.

I mean, how can a masterpiece like this not stop people in their tracks?

 

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A post shared by Stacey McLachlan (@stacey_mclachlan)

It definitely isn’t encouraging me to flick that “Recommend on Facebook” toggle then in the future, that’s for sure.

What do the results mean?

TLDR: It can’t hurt to try, but if you’re not once popular on Facebook, sharing Reels on Facebook probably won’t get you any spare reach or engagement.

As with any other moment of rejection in life, I began to screw and vituperation myself. Was I stuff punished considering I didn’t post at the right time? Or considering I posted through Instagram instead of directly on Facebook Reels? I didn’t use hashtags… maybe that would’ve been the key to success?

But once I stopped weeping, I entered the next stages of Social Media Grief: bargaining and acceptance. Facebook Reels are so new that people realistically just aren’t watching them at all yet. In fact, Facebook hasn’t released any data at all at this point well-nigh Reels’ proliferation to their audience, which is usually a sign they don’t have much to brag about.

I moreover realized that, if the Facebook Reels algorithm is anything like the Instagram Reels algorithm, it likely prioritizes content from once popular creators. Facebook wants to make sure people who are watching Facebook Reels are going to be delighted by what they see, so sharing videos from creators with a reputation for unconfined work is a safer bet than, say, boosting the content of an unhinged writer-comedian with a unobtrusive 1.7K pursuit who usually just posts photos of her baby.

 

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A post shared by Stacey McLachlan (@stacey_mclachlan)

In other words — if you’re once creating successful content for a wide regulars through Instagram and Facebook’s other formats (posts, Stories), your Reels are going to have a largest endangerment of stuff recommended on Facebook. If you’re just starting out or haven’t been seeing much engagement, it’s going to be slower going. It’s a catch-22: you have to be popular to get popular.

So: is toggling “recommend on Facebook” worth it? IMO, it can’t hurt. It takes a fraction of a second for the potential to reach billions of new people — without all, while my hilarious wrestling video wasn’t deemed worthy, you never know when your big transilience moment is going to be. Plus, the increasingly unceasingly you post, the increasingly likely Facebook is to reward you with exposure.

If you’re a newer creator or a trademark with a smaller following, try these tips to help grow your presence and engagement — and hopefully impress that finicky Facebook algorithm in the process.

Use creative tools and filters

Take wholesomeness of the editing suite in Instagram and Facebook when you’re making your video. Reels that full-length music clips, filters, and effects get an uneaten uplift from the algorithm.

Fill your caption with hashtags

Hashtags help the algorithm understand what your video is about, so it can then serve up your content to users who have shown interest in that topic. Just like you neatly labeled everything in your pantry without binge-reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, ID your Reels unmistakably and correctly!

Make it squint good

Facebook and Instagram both favor videos that squint and sound good. Use proper lighting and shooting techniques, making sure to shoot in a vertical orientation and with upper resolution. (PS: both sites moreover don’t like watermarked videos — a.k.a. reposting from TikTok — so create fresh content to share here.)

Of course, Facebook Reels is in its infancy. Will it go the way of previous Facebook short-form video offerings? (Anyone out there remember the short-lived Slingshot? Anyone?) Or wilt a legitimate competitor in the space? Only time will tell! In the meantime, we’ll be keeping an eye on how it evolves. Stay tuned for increasingly strategy and experiments from Hootsuite HQ.

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