When a business owner asks me "why are my reels not getting views?", the answer is usually two things at once: the video is about something nobody cares about, and the first few seconds never say who it is for. Fix those two before you touch anything else.
Everything below comes from reels we filmed and edited at Vourly, and from my notes on our own edits. No view counts I can't back with a screenshot. The general rules (hook patterns, captions, vertical framing) are in my guide to making engaging reels for a business. This post is the diagnosis, and my honest answer to how to get more views on reels.
The 7 problems I see most, at a glance
| Problem | What to change |
|---|---|
| 1. Beautiful content nobody cares about | Make it about something your customer wonders about |
| 2. No local callout up front | Name the town or the type of customer in the first line |
| 3. Hook text too long or too big | Small, static, two lines, phrased as the customer's question |
| 4. Music that takes 10 seconds to start | Open on the drop |
| 5. B-roll that contradicts the words | Show exactly what is being said |
| 6. Too polished or too scripted | Day-in-the-life moments, questions instead of scripts |
| 7. The wrong length | 15 to 45 seconds, the range I keep to |
Problems 1 to 3: the subject and the first few seconds
1. Beautiful content nobody cares about
What I saw: As I put it to one prospect, design and construction companies often make videos that "don't really resonate with people. They look nice. I mean, they're beautiful, but a lot of times people don't really care as much about seeing the afters or even the before and afters, like unless it's a crazy transformation."
A restaurant has it easier. Everybody watches good food. A product people only think about when they are shopping for one needs a better reason for a stranger to keep watching.
What to change: Make the reel about something your customer already wonders about, in their words. The A1 reels in problem 3 work that way: most of them answer a question a car owner would actually ask before booking. If you're a contractor, there's more in our social video strategy for contractors.
2. No local callout in the first seconds
What I saw: We filmed a gym in Bellevue for a real estate agent's local-business series. On a sales call I said: "this video also went like semi-viral. It got quite a bit of views on TikTok. And one of the reasons is because we called out Bellevue right away."
Voltage Espresso is the same idea: "very localized content," calling out Lynnwood. The drink reel below puts "Hwy 99, Lynnwood, WA" at the top of the screen. One concept we shot for them in September was built around the drivers who pass the stand every day.
What to change: Say the town, or the type of customer, in the first line. Same in ads. In an ad aimed at contractors, I'd call contractors out up front, because "people who aren't contractors would probably just tune out and skip. So the algorithm would say, hey, these people are the ones we want to talk to."
3. The hook text is too long or too big
What I saw: In October we reviewed a round of 13 edits for A1 Auto Detailing. My first note on the on-screen hooks was that "they should be way shorter and catchier." After the next round: "the hooks are a bit too big." I liked one, on the windshield PPF reel for a 2026 Model 3, and said a lot of the others needed more work to "really drive [curiosity]."
What to change: Where we landed: small, static text, two lines at most, phrased the way the customer would ask it, naming the car or the job. The A1 titles read like real questions: "Is Ceramic Tint Worth It in Washington" and "How to Spot a Bad PPF Job."
Problems 4 to 7: music, b-roll, polish and length
4. The music takes 10 seconds to get going
What I saw: On another A1 reel that same week, the track sat on its slow intro. My note: "we need to use the actual drop towards the [beginning]," because I didn't like "all the [slow paced beats] for the first 10ish seconds."
What to change: Start the song where it hits. On a 30 second reel, ten seconds of build is a third of the video.
5. B-roll that contradicts the words
What I saw: Another A1 reel, a day later: while the person on camera talked about nano ceramic with his hand over the glass, the shot showed clear glass. When he said "windshields," we were showing a passenger side window. My note started with "still the [b-roll doesn't] make sense," called that shot "no bueno," and ended with "we need to fix that too!"
What to change: Every shot under a sentence should show that sentence. And whatever the hook promises, the talking has to answer. One rule from those rounds: never open on the finished car and then say "today we're working on."
6. Too polished or too scripted
What I saw: I tell owners that people on social media "don't want to see as much polished as much as they want to see like more day in the life and connect with you guys." The real moments of a normal workday beat a staged version of them.
Scripts are the other trap. I had an AI draft a bank of reel ideas for A1. It sounded "super AI." The next try, a 15-reel sheet of written lines, I didn't like either, so we swapped it for a list of 35 questions and made the content off the team's answers. Reading lines well is a skill most staff have never practiced, which I get into in whether business owners should be on camera.
What to change: Film real moments and let people answer questions in their own words. For phone-style versus polished, see social media video vs premium video.
7. The wrong length
What I saw: Three of Voltage Espresso's September reels ran about 28 seconds and one ran 15. Cairo Restaurant & Lounge's grand opening reel is 34 seconds.
What to change: I keep reels between 15 and 45 seconds. That is my own rule, not a platform rule: given the choice, I picked it over 30 to 60 seconds or anything up to 90. Our September Voltage reels and Cairo's grand opening reel all fall inside it.
When one works, put money behind it
Not every reel needs a boost (the Bellevue gym reel was organic). But when one takes off on its own, use it.
This is how we ran content for NW Expert Heating and Cooling in Federal Way: "we would just film a bunch of value content. And then when a post got good organic views, we would launch it as an ad because it just tells us like, hey, people are interested in this video."
Organic views are a free test: they show you which video is worth paying to put in front of more people, and the more you post, the more chances you get to find one (my weekly targets are in this breakdown of Instagram posting frequency). If you would rather hand off the posting side, our monthly reels for local businesses cover filming, editing and posting, plus a monthly report.
Not all views are equal
The views you want come from people who can walk in. About Voltage Espresso, I said the views were "not just like random people." There were "a lot of local comments," people saying they were interested, and some asking about vegan options. One caveat: the owner also boosted those videos for a little while after they did well, so organic and paid views are mixed in there.
That's why problem 2 matters. We make videos "to call out specifically local traffic to get revenue in." So after a reel goes out, my first question to the owner is whether new local customers showed up, not how many views it got.
Frequently asked questions
How many reels a week should a business post?
Start at one a week and work up to three. A reel every weekday is the goal once that holds. More posts means more chances to find the reel worth putting ad money behind.
Should I post the same reel on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts?
Yes. Post the same video on all three from day one. Voltage Espresso's reels have run on both TikTok and Instagram.
Should I film more than one hook?
For ads, yes. We film several openings for the same ad, each aimed at a different person, and run them in one campaign. The way I explain it to clients, Meta then puts more of the budget behind whichever opening does best. For a fence company, one hook asked if your dog keeps getting out, another if your neighbor can see into your yard. That August shoot had 4 ads and 18 hooks between them. For an organic reel, use the hook closest to your customer's own question.