How Reels Play helped @coltomn start monetising on Instagram

Colton Merrifield (@coltomn), a creator who posts playful videos showcasing his incredible acrobatic skills on the trampoline, has built a community of over 68k followers on Instagram. His content ranges from documenting his practice on his backyard trampoline to meeting other talented creators around the world and posting their friendly acrobatic competitions – and funny responses to trends.

Video is a natural format to showcase Colton's gymnastic abilities and humour, and he's been using Reels for about a year and half. When he first started using Reels – posting a few daily – Colton noticed straight away that many of them performed well, earning a high number of views. When he got access to the Reels Play bonus programme, Colton knew that he could leverage the views he was already earning for videos he'd be creating for his audience anyway to start earning more income on Instagram.

Started making significant income on Instagram. By monetising the content he was already making for his community, Colton was able to increase his Instagram income significantly, to the point where 90% of it currently comes from Reels Play^*.

Expanded his following by 30%. Reels Play inspired Colton to start creating Reels, and once he did, his following grew from 19.6k to 68k – an almost 30% increase^*.

Initially, Colton was drawn to the challenge of figuring out how to create the perfect strategy to help him reach his view target and earn more income. "It almost seemed like a video game to me", says Colton, who regularly met his target challenges on Reels Play and earned his full bonus. Here's his recommendations for creators:

Post regularly and often. Posting regularly helped Colton better understand which types of reels got more views and made it easier for him to reach his bonus goals.

Experiment with your content. Colton banked different types of video clips – think trampoline clips versus trend responses and more – and would vary the types he posted, learning that certain types of reels might take more time to gain views but be more successful overall.

Use insights to better understand what's working. You're the expert on your content. No one knows what works for your audience and gains traction more than you, so pay attention to what performs well. You can view insights in the Reels tab of Instagram to better understand what's resonating with your audience.

Interested in trying Reels Play? Learn more here or see if you're eligible in the Account settings section of your Instagram creator or business account.