B-roll video has made showing up on Instagram each week a breeze for me, and now I’m sharing my favourite b-roll ideas for Instagram Reels so you can do the same. For me, posting reels has literally meant hitting the record button and capturing my day to day work and life.
If showing up online feels harder than it should… this is the easiest fix I know.
B-roll is simply the background footage, the natural, unscripted clips that show your work and your world in motion. You’re not performing. You’re not overthinking. You’re just pressing record while life and business happen around you. It could look like your hands creating, your laptop open, the steam rising from your coffee.
That’s it. And that simple footage becomes the backdrop for your message.
It’s the kind of content that works because it’s real. Because it doesn’t drain you to create it.
And because it fits inside your life, not on top of it.
And when you pair that footage with the right message? It sells your work without you having to explain it all from scratch.
Seriously it’s made my life so easy. I post Reels every week, even with a full client diary and an even fuller home life, because I have a bank of b-roll video ready to go.o.
What is B-roll content?
You’re watching a film or video. It’s made up of:
A-Roll content: The video content that tells the story, and features the main characters or action. In a cooking video, the main footage might be the chef explaining the recipe. Your A-Roll would be you talking to camera, demonstrating how to do something or without words, you moving through a story.
B-roll content: is the extra video footage. The extra video clips you see that provide context, show details, or add visual interest. In a cooking video, the b-roll could be showing the overall scene of the kitchen with the chef working, close-ups of chopping vegetables, stirring a pot, or the final dish being plated. For you it’s you going about your day.
Think of B-roll content as the background video. It’s not you talking to camera. It’s not dancing, pointing, or lip-syncing. It’s real footage of you in action, that could look like:
- Writing at your desk.
- Closing your laptop.
- Packing a client order.
- Walking to your car.
- Making your morning coffee.
- Laying out your tools.
- Even just breathing for a second between tasks.
These videos might feel too simple to matter, but they’re exactly what makes your content relatable, confident, and magnetic. And when paired with intentional messaging (which I’ll help you with in my easy to do 4 week B-Roll Reels Mini Course), they become powerful, sales-ready reels.
The starting point is just to start noticing the moments that already exist in your day, and press record.
Easy B-roll ideas for Instagram Reels
Here’s a few ideas to get started with.
The first thing to note is that my work mainly happens at my desk, just like many other solo business owners. But before we even step out of the space we spend most of our time in, there are many b-roll ideas we can capture right there, without breaking your stride. If I was needing to stock my B-roll folder with video, I would film
- A timelapse of me presenting to the Content Collective on Zoom
- Walking into the room and sitting down to plan content for a client
- Taking a sip of tea and staring out the window mid-thought
- A simple scene of me typing, scrolling, or adjusting my laptop
- Writing notes, sketching ideas, or highlighting a list
None of it is staged. It’s just small, natural moments that tell the story of my work day. The only difference between how you are working and how I am working, is that I’m hitting record and building my library of future reels.
That’s the magic of b-roll, it’s not about creating new scenes, it’s about noticing what’s already happening and pressing record.
Next step would be to head out into the office, broader house and outdoors to capture some more moments that will become the canvas for future reels.
Still stuck with B-roll ideas to film for Instagram Reels?
When I have stepped away from my desk this year, it’s been to drive around the UK filming B-roll for clients. I’ve done bespoke shoots for individual clients, I’ve captured B-roll at the UK Edit where I team up 3 x a year with personal brand photographer Sally Dreams Photography. And on the way, I’ve learnt a lot about filming B-roll.
I’ve created a b-roll reels mini course to help you make this style of content too. Some of the easiest possible content you create. I’ve taught over 120 solo business owners to make b-roll reels to build, nurture and move their audiences. When you’re ready to learn too. The B-roll reels mini course awaits you… and it’s brimming with B-roll Ideas for Instagram Reels.