Audio plays a huge part in the success of Instagram reels. With video content more popular than ever, charities can now share their work, values, and fundraising events to a whole new audience. It’s important to choose an enticing audio that hooks your viewers in and makes them want to stick around… picking the right audio can make the difference between having no views and a viral video.

Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered. 

Here are our top three tips for picking the right audio for your Instagram reels…

Using Trending Audios

If you’re new to creating content, the best place to start is the reels feed… it’ll be jam-packed with trending audios (songs and sounds alike), with millions of views. There’s endless inspiration – scroll until you find something that you feel suits your video. Choosing a trending sound can boost your views, increase your chances of virality and put your charity in front of a whole new audience. 

When it comes to trending sounds, TikTok tends to lead the way. TikTok trends typically find their way over to Instagram within a few days. If you’d like to get ahead of the game on Instagram, do your ‘trending sounds’ research on TikTok!

If you don’t want to scroll through Reels or TikTok yourself, you can check out the Reels Trend Report. Instagram’s @Creators account releases Trend Reports every Friday; they usually look like this:

The reports include a summary of the past week’s trending content – including sounds, filters, music, challenges and hashtags. 

Use audio from popular TV shows or movies

This is a great way keep your brand feeling fresh – and make your videos more memorable. Why not use a fitting audio from a scene in your favourite film? Or a song that’s made its way into the charts after featuring in a popular Netflix show (most recently, Kate Bush and Metallica, thanks to Stranger Things)?

Keeping up to date with pop culture and putting your own spin on trending audios is a fun way to drive views and engagement. We recommend visiting the Instagram accounts of your favourite shows and streaming platforms – and fan pages too – for some musical inspiration. 

Check out other charities for inspiration

For some ideas from within the charity sector, we recommend checking out other charities and non-profits – and seeing what video content they’re sharing. 

You can also search topics you know your supporters might be interested in. If you’re a charity specialising in mental health, for example, you might search for things like ‘mental health’, ‘wellbeing’, ‘mental health support’, ‘mental health awareness’… This will give you a strong idea of the content that your audience enjoys and responds to – and what they might want to see from you. Make note of the trends and audios similar charities are using!

There you have it – our top three tips for choosing the right audio for your Instagram reels. Video is a great way to showcase your charity’s values and shout about your incredible work. If you’d like some more inspiration (and to see some fantastic featured fundraising stories), check out JustGiving over on TikTok and Instagram.