As a Social Media Manager, I spend a fair share of my day on social media and the advice I sometimes see is...well...BAD. I want you to succeed on Instagram which is why in this blog post, I'll uncover 3 pieces of outdated Instagram advice - and what to do instead!
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1) $1.80 strategy:
Sorry to say it, Gary Vee, but your $1.80 method is outdated advice.
How does it work?
Every day, research 10 hashtags in your niche. Then, leave a meaningful comment (= your 2 cents) under the 9 top posts of each of the 10 hashtags. If you're good at maths, you'll quickly see that that means writing 90 comments every single day.
$0.02 x 90 = $1.80
Similar to this strategy, many Instagram gurus also recommend engaging 15 min before and after you post - sometimes I even see 30min.
Why is it outdated?
Don't get me wrong: engagement is a great growth strategy but I think it needs to be sustainable for people who have a busy life and it shouldn't lead to burnout.
Secondly, if your profile isn't optimized or your content is simply bad, then you can engage as much as you want and people won't follow you.
I think engagement is a very individual thing especially because it doesn't come so easily to everyone. If you are an introvert like me, then it might not come as easily to you to write a nice and meaningful comment to someone that you don't really know in real life.
If other growth strategies haven't worked out for you so far, then I think there is a bigger problem behind that and yet another strategy that is just a huge tedious task on your never-ending To-Do list won't change that. You first have to fix the other problems
What you should do instead:
Engage whenever you can - try to find windows in your day when you can do a little bit of engagement. For example, when you're waiting for the pasta water to cook, when you're waiting for the bus, or when you're picking up your kids and you have to wait in the car for them.
Write high-quality comments but don't force yourself to write a specific number of comments
Engage with accounts that you really care about. The type of content you interact with on Instagram shapes your experience in the app.
2) Liking someone's comment only when you just posted your next post
How does it work?
Whenever someone comments on your post, you reply to them but you don't like their comment. Only when you post your next post, you will go back to the last post and like all the comments that people have left. This is supposed to give these people a signal that you have posted again & that they should check out your profile. Or it's just there to make them remember you.
Why is it outdated advice?
First of all, it seems way too complicated to have to remember to like all the comments every time you post. For someone like me who schedules posts in advance so that I don't have to actually be on the app when they go online, this seems very counterproductive.
Secondly, it only works if a few conditions are met:
The person that you are doing this to doesn't get a lot of notifications. If you get a lot of notifications, you won't have the time or energy to check every single one of them.
The person actively checks every single notification to see what happens - again, only feasible if you have a very small account
The person is interested enough in checking out your profile
Or the person knows about this trick and sees it as a signal to check out your profile
What you should do instead:
Make great content: this is the easiest way to get more engagement on your posts
Spend your time in a more meaningful way: go for a walk, have a drink with a friend, walk your dog...
Engage authentically with your audience: like comments when you actually enjoy them & don't play silly games with your audience
3) Focusing only on Reels
How does it work?
Your whole content strategy is focused on posting Reels. If you want to take it to the extreme, you will ONLY post Reels to your feed.
Why is it outdated?
It's not sustainable for business owners to only post Reels. They mostly take more time to prepare than regular posts. They also require more set-up/equipment than a carousel post.
We don't have much insight into the analytics of Reels. Unlike other posts on Instagram, Reels don't give us much data. The more data we have, the better we can make decisions. Focusing solely on Reels would mean forgoing a lot of valuable information.
It's relatively easy to get high views but mostly, Reels aren't as engaging.
Main reason: You are neglecting the rest of your funnel. Reels are located at the top of your customer funnel. If you don't nurture your audience after they have become your follower, they will never turn into customers.
What you should do instead:
Use a good mix of content and different content types. This will give you the best results.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Let me know if you have any other outdated tips you want to add here, I would love to hear your opinion! Or if you aren't sure if a tip that you hear a lot on social media is still relevant, send me a message on Instagram and I can check it out for you.
Talk soon,
Hanna