I’ve been spending a lot of time on Instagram lately. Like, a lot. And the more time I spend on there, the more it comes back to me how much I really enjoy making content.
But the scene has changed so much since my glory days of making gaming content on Twitch and Twitter, so cue the rabbithole.
I must learn. I must ‘get good‘.
During one of my ‘Google all the things’ sessions I came across this post by Hey Jessica where she experimented with posting reels every day. While it’s now over a year old, I was intrigued and decided to shamelessly copy be inspired and see what kind of results I could get.
I got about half way through the month before life happened, but to be fair posting 16 consecutive reels is more than I thought I’d do!
Here’s what I learned:
the pros of posting one reel per day
It’s great for follower count:
‘But Neri, why are all your other stats lower?‘ I hear you ask. Excellent question!
The reason for that comes down to The Algorithm™.
Unfortunately for me I decided to try this challenge after I had already posted a few reels. You see, if you’re trying out a new feature, the great and wise Meta will give you that sweet, sweet dopamine by flying some views into your early content.
But only those first few reels….
Once they’ve hooked you, you’re on your own and you can expect the stats to balance out and become more in line with your account size.
Reels seem to have more shelf life than a standard post:
It’s not all doom and gloom once Meta cuts you off from the drip feed though, because every once in a while you will post something with the right recipe that will continue to reward you.
For example, I have posted seven reels since the below cactus one I shared a few weeks ago. Guess who is still getting likes while the others are languishing in the 100+ views club?
Hint: I literally say in the copy that it’s low effort…
Even then, 26 likes and 941 views is not that good (in my opinion), but at least it keeps growing well after posting.
Remember how I said Meta acts like a freakin’ crack dealer and they give you your first few hits for free? My earlier reels broke all the ‘rules’ and they still have 60+ likes and literally thousands of views.
and this brings me to my next point…
Hashtags matter
Instagram veterans will be rolling their eyes at this, but it bares repeating that hashtags matter. You can post the sleekest, most epic reel in the world, but if you don’t have hashtags on it, chances are nobody willl ever see it.
I mean, sure, if you’re an established account they probably will and other metrics will come into play, but if you’re here reading this post thenI’m going to go on a limb and guess that you’re like me and that’s… not your journey.
So if you don’t have a hashtag strategy, it’s time to put in some elbow grease and come up with one 🙂
and now for the cons…
You need a plan
Remember earlier when I said that I was impressed I managed 16 consecutive reels? That’s because posting reels daily is hard. You have to be things like organised, and strategic and motivated. All things I’m usually… well I’m usually not.
Hey Jessica talks about how she would do batch recordings and I 100% recommend you do the same. Just remember, at the time of writing this article you can’t actually schedule in reels, so be sure to set yourself reminders to post at the time you have deemed the best for your content.
The music matters
In the last few days my reel feed has been full of marketing influencers preaching about how trending music matters. And I guess that, for now, they’re right. Because I’ve never followed anything even remotely “small business needs this!” with my Instagram account, and yet there they are…
Pro tip: If you’re trawling reels and you find a tune you like and it has the little ‘trending’ icon next to it, you can totally save the track so you can shamelessly steal that idea for youself.
It might not be the right strat if you’re starting fresh
Utimately, though, as someone who started this challenge with under 100 followers I don’t think it’s the right strategy. Hey Jessica started this challenge with a following that I find quite impressive and that’s probably a contributing factor in her success.
You can google all kinds of things about the right strategy for growing your account, but at the end of the day it needs to be sustainale. For me, posting daily reels and stories is not for me – but it might be for you!
Part of the fun of making content is experimenting about what works for you and what doesn’t.
While I do think there is definintely merit to posting daily, I think it’s mostly about balance and I’ll be posting my strategy for April very soon, so stay tuned.
Whittle Grove Communications 
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