Whether you’re a brand owner, a creator, or just a Reel-loving scroller — this tool is 🔥 for fine-tuning your content strategy.
We Love a New Feature
New feature alert! If you’ve ever posted a Reel and instantly regretted it (👋 we’ve all been there), Instagram’s new Trial Reels might just be the tool you’ve been waiting for.
This low-key, under-the-radar feature lets you test Reels before committing them to your main profile. Think of it as Instagram saying: “Hey, we get it — you want to experiment without messing with your vibe.” Let’s break it all down.
Why this is the best new feature of 2025
Posting a new idea (or a new face filter) always feels a bit risky, especially if you’re posting for a client, a brand, or a sizable company. Will people love it? Will the algorithm hate it? Trial Reels take that fear and throw it out the window.
Now, you can test what works without tanking your account’s performance. You’ve got 72 hours of insight time to decide whether this Reel deserves a spot on your official grid — or if it should quietly retire backstage.
Here’s how to use Trial Reels in a nutshell:
Create your Reel (just like you normally would).
Before hitting “Share,” look for the Trial Reel settings.
Choose to share it only with non-followers (this option hides it from your profile and current audience).
Post it.
Sit back and collect insights for up to 72 hours.
After that, you can choose to make it official and publish it to your profile. If it flops? No one has to know. ✌️
So… does it actually work?
We decided to put Trial Reels to the test. We posted two Reels:
One on Shadowbanning
One introducing this Trial Reels feature
Both were posted as Trial Reels and given a little 3-day test window.
Then, we tracked the numbers. Views, saves, shares, comments – after 72 hours, we chose to publish both to our main feed. And now we’re tracking them for 2 weeks to see how they perform as “official” content.
Part 2 is coming soon 👀 Stay tuned on our Instagram!
Why social media managers and marketers should care
Let’s talk strategy for a sec.
For creators, this is your chance to test content styles — trending audios, new editing styles, or even a hot take — without risking your usual engagement rate.
But for marketers and business owners? This is next-level. It’s essentially free A/B testing built into Instagram. You can trial two different angles on the same message — for example:
Then, after 72 hours, you’ve got real data — not guesses — on which one actually performs better. So if you’re ready to boost a post, you don’t have to choose what “feels right”, you can boost the version that already proved itself organically.
If you’re working with a limited ad budget, this is your chance to justify where the money goes.
Use Trial Reels to identify your winning creative before you put dollars behind it.
So, what do you think?
Have you tried Trial Reels yet? Or are you waiting to see how it plays out?
We want to know — will this feature help you feel more confident in what you post, or does it add more complexity to the already endless Instagram options?
Drop your thoughts on our latest Reel here — we love a good social media geek-out 🧠💬.
And don’t forget to check back soon for Part 2 where we reveal the results of our Trial Reels experiment!
Until then, happy testing!
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