In May, I came across an Instagram post that mentioned posting daily as one way to grow both on the platform and fuel mailing list growth. Many authors and influencers make a point of posting daily, so I decided to take the bull by the horns and try it. Here’s how I did it and what I learned.
Posting every day for 30+ days: How I did it
First, I created a simple Excel spreadsheet on Google docs where I prepared a calendar to throw ideas in and *gasp* plan ahead – just a little bit.
I used some easy ideas to make sure I had content throughout the month as a starting point: Work in progress or “WIP” Wednesdays, and “Collabs” from a group of authors I am a part of who tend to create and post collaborative posts twice a week (I don’t participate in all of them but that still ends up being roughly one post a week give or take that is an easy lift).
The other tactic I used was a low bar – no, really – because this was about showing up, not being perfect. So, some posts were completely improvised and snapshots of my day or whatever I could come up with.
I tried to make sure I did regular reels where I was talking and sharing an idea or insight, however trivial or silly – because even when I wasn’t posting daily, that kind of content often seemed to resonate quite well with my audience.
Here’s what my Excel spreadsheet looked like by the end of June:
What happened during those 30 days?
My takeaways from the 30 day challenge were simple:
- It wasn’t annoying or daunting to post daily; it was… fun! I think I had a mental block, a voice that kept telling me daily posts would make me a slave to Instagram and I didn’t want that because social media is a tool for me to use, not a platform I want to be a slave to. A fair point, but a misguided one as it turns out.
- Canva is a lifesaver, and investing in “Canva pro” is a gamechanger if you can afford it. You still need the ideas, but creating designs doesn’t have to be time consuming or painful.
- Showing up isn’t enough: posting every day led to more follower growth than usual (I lost some people, too) BUT that didn’t translate to any book sales, Kindle Unlimited page reads OR newsletter signups. Zero, zilch, nada.
If you like numbers: Between May 27 and June 30, I published 12 reels and 13 posts (of which 6 were carousels), and I was part of 6 collaborations. That lead to a gain of 73 followers but 20 unfollows, which is about double what I get on an average month.
Although I don’t go into that much detail, you can see my “June in Review” post here (and follow me if you don’t already!).
Lessons learned from 30 days of posting on Instagram & what comes next
This is going to sound absurd, but it’s the honest truth: My biggest takeaway was that showing up wasn’t enough – I needed an actual Instagram strategy if I wanted the effort to pay off beyond some uptick in my number of followers. Duh, I know.
Here’s the thing, though: it’s not that I didn’t know this going in. It’s that I didn’t have the bandwidth to do things right, and I figured “done is better than perfect”. I stand by that choice, because over the past 18 months I’ve connected with some amazing authors and bookstagrammers, and initially what I wanted was a writing community – which I now have (cue happy dance).
Now, I am ready to do my research, figure out my strategy, and level up how I am showing up on Instagram.
What I’ve learnt along the way is priceless, because now I know why I am engaging on Instagram, what I am hoping to get out of it, and I’m not fighting myself on whether or not it’s a tool I’m using or a platform I am ending up enslaved to (which doesn’t mean I am immune to the stupid dopamine hits that make me crave checking IG way too often on any given day, unfortunately – but that’s another topic for another day).
If you have any sources of inspiration or strategy that you swear by for Instagram, let me know! Otherwise, once I figure things out, maybe I’ll share some resources and key elements to my strategy – let me know if that’s of interest at all.
Ps. It’s super basic, but if you WANT a copy of my Excel planner just so you don’t have to create one from scratch, let me know and I’ll send it your way via email or Instagram!