Reels Strategy: Hooks, Scripts and Shot Lists

The short answer: You can now post Reels and YouTube Shorts of up to three minutes, edit them in Instagram's own app, and stop worrying about looking like a television ad. What you cannot do is waste the first three seconds. The Reels that work in 2026 look like a real person showing you something, open with the point, and are exactly as long as the idea needs.

Below: what changed, how long each kind of Reel should be, ten hooks, a script you can copy and a shot list for shooting a month of Reels in one day.

What changed

Length. Instagram raised the Reels limit from 90 seconds to three minutes in January 2025. YouTube has treated vertical videos of up to three minutes as Shorts since 15 October 2024. Instagram's own guidance for creators adds a condition: to be recommended, a Reel must be three minutes or less.
Tools. Instagram launched Edits, its own video app, on 22 April 2025. It records up to ten minutes, has a proper timeline, exports without a watermark and shows feedback such as skip rate. A later update added storyboards and more fonts for Indian languages.
Taste. In a year-end post reported by afaqs and others, Adam Mosseri argued that flattering, polished imagery has become cheap to produce and dull to watch, and that rawness now works as proof that something is real. With AI video everywhere, we agree.

Instagram also says it shows some Reels less: low-resolution clips, Reels with another app's watermark, muted Reels, Reels with borders and Reels that are mostly text.

How long should it be?

Longer is allowed. It is not rewarded for its own sake. Pick the row, then cut ten percent.

The idea is	Length	Example
One joke, one reveal, one reaction	7 to 15 seconds	The before and after of a seasoned pan
One tip	15 to 30 seconds	"Stop washing cast iron with soap. Do this"
A how-to with steps	30 to 60 seconds	Seasoning a new tawa in four steps
A comparison or a myth, with proof	45 to 90 seconds	Cast iron against non-stick, same dosa batter
A story or a process	90 seconds to 3 minutes	How a tawa is cast, from sand mould to packing

These are our working ranges, not platform rules. The test is simple: if a viewer could skip any ten seconds without missing anything, those ten seconds should go.

Ten hook formulas

The hook is the first line you say and the first frame you show. Examples are for Lohaa, a made-up brand that sells cast-iron cookware online.

The mistake. "Your dosa sticks because of this one thing."
The number. "Three things I would never do to a cast-iron tawa."
The result first. Open on the perfect crisp dosa sliding off. Then: "Here is how, on a ₹900 tawa."
The question people actually ask. "Is cast iron worth the effort? Honest answer."
The contrarian. "Non-stick is not easier. Let me show you."
The test. "Same batter, two pans. Watch the left one."
The price tag. "What ₹900 gets you, and what ₹2,500 gets you."
The confession. "We ruined 40 pans before we got this right." (Only if it is true.)
For one person. "If you have just moved out and own one pan, this is for you."
The countdown. "This takes 20 seconds and saves your pan."

Two rules for all ten. Say it and show it at once, because many people watch with the sound off. And never open with your logo, a greeting or "so today we are going to".

A script template

Every Reel has three parts. Hook: the point. Hold: a reason to stay. Payoff: deliver, then stop.

Here it is filled in for a 30-second Lohaa Reel. Lohaa and its product are made up.

Time	Say	Show	On-screen text
0 to 3 sec (hook)	"Your dosa sticks because of this one thing."	A dosa tearing as it is lifted	Why your dosa sticks
3 to 8 sec (hold)	"It is not the batter and it is not the pan. It is the heat. Try this test."	Hand hovering over the tawa	It is not the batter
8 to 22 sec (body)	"Sprinkle water. If it sits there, too cold. If it vanishes at once, too hot. You want it to dance for two seconds. Then a few drops of oil, wipe with half an onion, and pour."	Water test three times, onion wipe, batter poured	Too cold / Too hot / Just right
22 to 28 sec (payoff)	"And that is it."	The dosa lifts off in one piece	(none)
28 to 30 sec (close)	"Send this to whoever makes the dosas at home."	Dosa folded onto a plate	(none)

Notice what is missing: no intro, no logo sting, no "link in bio" speech. The product is in every frame, doing its job. That is the advertisement.

Write two hooks for every script. Shoot both openings, post the stronger one, and keep the other for a paid test. The hook is the cheapest thing to change and the part that matters most.

A one-day shoot plan

One location, one presenter, one phone, one light, one clip-on microphone. The aim is ten Reels, each with two hooks.

Time	What to shoot	Why in this order
9:00	Set up. Lock exposure, test sound, clean the lens	Bad audio is the one thing "raw" does not excuse
9:30	All 20 hooks, straight to camera	The presenter's energy is highest in the morning
11:00	Hands-only shots: the cooking, pouring, wiping, close-ups	Needs daylight and a clean counter
13:00	Lunch. Review the footage on the phone, list retakes	Catch problems while the set is still up
14:00	The long pieces: one process or story Reel, one comparison	They need the most takes
15:30	Payoff shots and reactions: the finished dish, the first bite	Food looks best fresh
16:30	Pick-ups: room sound, product on the shelf, packing an order, retakes	These are the cutaways that save an edit

Before the day, every Reel needs four lines on paper: hook A, hook B, the three or four beats in the middle, and the final shot. Arriving with "we will see what feels natural" is how a shoot produces two usable Reels.

Raw does not mean careless

Raw is a style. It still takes effort, just in different places.

Keep	Drop
Clear sound	Stock background music under a voiceover
A first frame that makes sense on mute	Logo animation at the start
Captions large enough to read on a phone	Brochure language ("premium quality", "crafted with care")
Tight cuts with no dead air	Slow fades and five-second end cards
A real person, real hands, a real kitchen	Another app's watermark on a re-upload

Edit in an app that exports clean files, post natively to each platform, and export a separate file for YouTube Shorts instead of downloading the Reel from Instagram.

A 30-day plan

Week 1: List 20 questions customers actually ask. Turn the best ten into scripts with two hooks each.
Week 2: Shoot everything in one day, using the plan above.
Week 3: Edit and post three Reels a week. Note the average watch time and sends for each.
Week 4: Find the two best openings. Write the next ten scripts around those formulas.

How to read those numbers is covered in our post on Instagram's ranking signals.

Where this fits

This is how our content creation team plans shoots: scripts first, hooks in pairs, a month of Reels from one day. The posting and reporting sit with social media marketing, and the same script format is what we brief creators with in influencer marketing.