What Instagram says it rewards
Instagram publishes how it ranks reels. The main signals, in roughly this order, are the viewer's own activity, their history with the account that posted, information about the reel itself, and information about the poster. The same page lists what gets shown less: low-resolution reels, reels with watermarks from other apps, and reels that have already been posted on Instagram.
Since April 2026, accounts where most posts over a rolling 30 days are other people's content are no longer recommended to non-followers. For a business, the conclusion is simple: film your own place, people and product.
Why the first seconds decide
A Facebook and Nielsen study found that up to 47% of the value of a video campaign was delivered in the first three seconds. The study is about ads and from 2016, but anyone who watches their own reels' retention graph sees the same cliff: most people decide in a moment whether to stay.
Six hooks with Dubai examples
These are frameworks we use; they're opinion, not platform rules. Each works for the first one to three seconds.
| Hook | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The price | Say the number people want to know | "This is what AED 199 gets you at a Business Bay brunch" |
| The result first | Show the after before the before | Finished villa clean, then rewind to the mess |
| The mistake | Name a mistake your customer makes | "Stop booking desert safaris that leave at 3 pm in August" |
| The insider | Something only you know | "What a Dubai Marina chef eats after a 12-hour shift" |
| The comparison | Two options side by side | "AED 80 vs AED 800 manicure: what's the difference?" |
| The question they ask on WhatsApp | Turn your most common enquiry into the opening line | "Do you deliver to Arabian Ranches? Yes, and here's how fast" |
The best hook usually comes from your WhatsApp inbox: the question customers ask most is the line that stops their scroll.
A 30-second script that ends in a chat
| Seconds | Part | What happens on screen |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Hook | One of the six above, spoken and as on-screen text |
| 2–10 | Proof | The product, the result or the place, shown, not described |
| 10–22 | Reason | Two or three specifics: price, what's included, area, how fast |
| 22–27 | Trust | A real customer reaction, a review on screen, a number of bookings |
| 27–30 | Action | "Message BRUNCH on WhatsApp", with the keyword on screen |
Film it as a list of shots, not as a speech. Every two to three seconds something should change: a new angle, a new detail, a new line of text.
The call to action
Ask for one thing. For a Dubai service business that thing is a WhatsApp chat or a DM with a keyword, because it starts a sales conversation instead of a like. A keyword ("BRUNCH", "VILLA", "LASER") also tells you which reel produced the enquiry; our guide to tracking WhatsApp leads shows how to carry it into the CRM.
Rules a business reel must respect
- Paid promotion and influencers: content you pay someone to post falls under the UAE advertiser permit rules; see the advertiser permit guide and ad disclosure rules.
- Music: trending tracks in the app's library may not be licensed for business accounts or ads; see music copyright in reels.
- People on camera: filming customers and staff needs their consent; see our guide to photographing people under UAE law.
- Sector rules: clinics, real estate, alcohol and finance have extra limits on what a reel may claim or show.
What nobody tells you
Views from the wrong city are worthless. A reel that goes viral in India or Brazil looks great in the dashboard and brings no bookings in JLT. Location, language and offer should make it obvious the reel is for people in the UAE.
The hook that gets views is not always the hook that sells. A shocking first line attracts curious viewers; a price or a specific problem attracts buyers. Judge reels by chats and bookings, not by views.
Consistency beats one hit. One reel a week for three months teaches you which hooks work for your audience. One expensive reel teaches you nothing.
Vladimir Chernyshev, GM: in my view, the best reel scripts start from the WhatsApp history, not from a trend list. Read the last 50 enquiries, write down the five questions people ask most, and you have five hooks your competitors aren't using. What reels cost to produce is in our reels prices guide, and a month of ideas in 30 days of content for a Dubai business.
