Reel Cover with a Few Words
A reel cover needs a few words and a clear subject. It is the frame people see on your grid after the reel leaves the feed.
A reel cover with a few words tells the grid what the video is. Three to eight words, high contrast, and a face or a product that is recognisable at thumbnail size. The cover is not a mood photo. It is the title, again, for people who find you after the reel has left the feed.
Use the same words as the opening
If the reel starts with "Salt the water," the cover says that. A poetic cover and a literal reel teach two different videos. People tap the one they can name.
Big type, one subject
At grid size, a sentence becomes a smudge. Short words, one object. Leave the corners free of clutter. Faces should still have eyes; products should still have a shape.
Do not swap the cover after it works
The cover is how someone finds the reel again. Changing the words the next day splits the memory. Fix a typo. Do not rebrand a reel that is already travelling.
A worked example
Opening title and cover both read "Wednesday bun, half price." The picture is the bun, not the shopfront. The logo sits under the price in the caption.
Before you post
- Cover words match the first three seconds.
- The subject is recognisable when small.
- You are not changing a cover that already matches.
Where Scro fits
Scro's opening title can be the cover frame. Approve that still, export 9:16, and use the same words on the cover you pick in Instagram.
Set the cover from the title. Finished samples are on the examples page.
Related: Captions for Silent Reel Viewers.