A video published on Instagram by Rovaniemi-based photographer Toni Eskelinen of a surfer on an electric -- or efoil -- board skimming across a Lapland river has become one of the platform's most popular Finnish reels of 2021.
The video — produced by Eskelinen and fellow photographer Samuli Rosenberg and featuring Jaakko Tossavainen on the efoil surfboard — has so far been viewed nearly 32 million times.
Eskelinen told Yle that the trio have been overwhelmed by the popularity of the video.
"I would not have thought that such a social media phenomenon would still be possible in 2021. Yes, it's difficult to comprehend," he said.
Instagram introduced reels — short video clips — to the platform last year in order to compete with the hugely popular TikTok video-sharing service.
Instagram therefore tries to turn the most popular reels into viral hits, according to Katarina Laaksonen, a digital marketing specialist with the Oulu-based marketing agency Kuulu.
"But more than 30 million global views is a huge figure," Laaksonen said.
Viral hit recipe: beautiful, different and striking
The most popular reels on Instagram can reach hundreds of millions of people.
For example, some of Khaby Lame's reels — in which he wordlessly responds to 'life hack' videos — have garnered up to 280 million views.
According to Laaksonen, reels go viral when they have a striking quality but are also easy to understand — both of which are the case in Eskelinen's surfer reel, especially as it is not dependent on understanding a certain language.
"The viral video must be different from the other videos that are already on the platform, or very beautiful or funny, for example. This works especially well in tourism marketing, where one can provide a glimpse of specific natural conditions or cultures," Laaksonen said.
Instagram becoming increasingly popular in tourism marketing
The surfer reel has been shared by many popular accounts on Instagram, including 9GAG, which has 65 million followers, as well as many tourism-related accounts with large followings.
Social media is a very important channel for photographers to market their own work, Eskelinen said.
"A lot of work has gone into making the video really take off. I have tried to remember to thank everyone with whom I have been able to cooperate," he said.
Eskelinen often collaborates with the travel marketing company Visit Rovaniemi, but the surfer reel was initially produced without a commission. The photographer said the main idea behind the reel was to showcase the "best of Lapland" in the hope of attracting more tourists to the area.
Instagram has become an increasingly important tool for tourism marketing, Laaksonen pointed out, as the industry also invests in influencers.
"Certainly the attention received by this reel will have a positive impact on tourism in Lapland. I would even say that this is the kind of advertising that money can't buy," she added.