I have been making day-in-the-life content for Instagram reels and Tiktok videos since 2021 and in this post, I am sharing all the tips & tricks I have learned over the past few years. Hopefully, by the end of this, you will have the tools and resources you need to create your own day-in-the-life content. 

A while back I wrote a blog post all about how I create these reels and the bulk of my tips are still true today, but they could use a few little updates that I will share here. 

Creating a Formula

Every successful marketer knows a good formula is the key to success, but to get there you need to throw a lot of spaghetti at the wall. Some people will call this a formula or secret sauce or method to your madness. Here are the key pieces I like to test when trying to create a formula for a new reel series or client marketing project. 

• Play around with your intro and hooks. Your video needs a hook that will grab the user before they scroll on to the next post. Think of this as your one-liner to get people to continue watching. 
• Make sure your “hook” or intro is clear and scroll stopping in the visuals along with text/audio. 
• Test audio that includes a voiceover, ASMR, and trending sounds. 

Examples of creators who have their formula down

@Shawnacishroeder

@justine_snacks 

@annavatuone 

Filming Tips

• Get more content than you think you need. If you only need 4 seconds for a reel, film 10 seconds. I promise having this extra footage will come in handy when you realize you made a weird face in an earlier clip or when you need a last-minute post.  
• Change your angle. One angle just doesn’t cut it not even if it’s just a face to camera video. Check out what this creator had to say on the topic and apply it to all your video content!
• Zoom in and out on the same shot. Similar to the above tip, having different varying clips is so so important to keep people engaged. Play around with how close or far away a clip is and include multiple different shots of the same scene. 
• Make a shot list even if it’s just in your notes app. This will go a long way! If you need inspiration for what to include in your day in the life reels click here. 
• Set a timer to go off once every hour to remind yourself to film content.

Editing Tips

• Use Temply for editing! This is my favorite tool for editing content including adding filters, text, and adjusting the speed of clips. 
• Create your own template for these day-in-the-life pieces so that you can just plug in new clips and be ready to go. I like to use Temply for this, but Canva is also great for this! 
• When in doubt don’t add a filter. Instead, play with adjusting the exposure and shadows in your editing app. 
• Make sure your text is readable, especially if you won’t have it on the screen for very long. 90% of your videos should have some sort of text included somewhere in them even if it’s just for an intro or closed captions. 
• Other apps I use for editing are:
  • Tezza
  • Canva
  • Splice
  • Instagram (they have amazing in app features) 

Storing Content

• Pay for extra storage somewhere that you will remember to backup all of your raw files and make it as simple as possible. This is the bare minimum everyone should do. 
• Download all finished reels before posting and rename them something descriptive. Then store in a Dropbox folder, feel free to categorize different folders or just do a monthly dump of content. 
• If you plan to re-use clips of you doing something frequently or a certain category of content like coffee books or food. Then I recommend creating iPhone albums with each of these categories and update the albums weekly.