📧 The Social Buzz Newsletter - Instagram Focus
Your Guide to Mastering Instagram with Messy Consistency and Smart Engagement
🌟 Introduction:
Are you feeling overwhelmed with Instagram marketing? You’re not alone.
Many creatives struggle to balance consistency, engagement, and quality.
This mini-series will walk you through practical social media strategies to help you maximize your presence without burning out, all while staying true to your unique style.
Starting with Instagram 📸
😊 Your Profile: a moment for the basics
your image should be clear and likely an image of you
use keywords in your profile
use all links available to you (and use a 3rd party link page)
I do recommend paying for your account, there are a lot of benefits most importantly is the support you receive and added boost
🔑 Embrace Messy Consistency
Let’s talk about my philosophy of "messy consistency."
It is NOT about being perfect—it’s about showing up consistently (once a week IS consistency btw) with quality content, even if things don’t always go as planned.
Here’s how you do it:
Flexible Routine: Create a schedule you can stick to. If you can’t post daily, no big deal! Aim for 3 well-optimized posts a week rather than half-hearted daily posts.
High-Quality, Low Frequency: Three or four impactful posts (think 3 reels, 1 carousel would be optimum) will perform better than frequent, rushed posts. When you optimize your content using SMO (social media optimization) —hashtags, captions, and timing—you’ll gain further reach without overextending yourself.
📈 Engagement & Tools: Grow Your Community
Follow and Engage with Key People: Start by finding people in your niche with 5,000+ followers. Follow them, like their posts, and comment with thoughtful questions. Build relationships by keeping the conversation going. Do not hijack a post, friends! Be supportive and uplifting.
Respond Thoughtfully: Don’t feel pressure to respond to every comment. Meta suggests pinning comments or sharing stories to maintain engagement.
Hashtags in the Caption: Only hashtags IN your caption will be categorized for keyword search, so always include them there!
Notes are hot: This is the latest and hottest 🔥 tool to use! Find it under a post, as the paper airplane icon (as if you’re making a story) and the first choice will be “make a note”. Now go create a note on a post! And, remember using new tools is always helpful to your account.
Collaborations & Reels: Collabs are fantastic for growth—partner with others to share audiences. This is a great way to not have to worry about creating a post each and every time. Use tools like CapCut to turn carousels into reels, repurposing your content in creative ways. Reels drive visibility, so make 3 reels and 1 carousel part of your weekly strategy.
Show up in Google search: Maximize that SMO! To make your Instagram posts public, you can change your account's privacy settings to public. I understand that people want to keep some things private. I recommend having a separate account from your business account. Here’s how to do it:
Go to your profile
Tap the three lines in the top right corner
Tap Settings
Tap Privacy
Toggle the Private Account setting to the off position
Tap OK to confirm
ESC (email collection system) you must have one: Email collection is the MOST important part of your digital marketing strategy. I love what social media and what it can do, but remember you don’t own that real estate or your followers.
Download your data: lastly, please please for the love of all that is good, download a back up of your account. Go to this link and follow the directions per your device.
📊 Optimized Posting Times
Maximizing reach means posting when your audience is most active. Here’s a simplified schedule for various industries:
Travel and Tourism:
Weekdays: 10 am - 12 pm, 7 pm - 9 pm
Weekends: 9 am - 11 am, 4 pm - 6 pm
Best Days: Tuesday, Wednesday
Fashion and Apparel:
Weekdays: 12 pm - 2 pm, 7 pm - 9 pm
Weekends: 9 am - 11 am, 5 pm - 7 pm
Best Days: Weekends, especially Saturdays
Fitness and Wellness:
Weekdays: 6 am - 8 am, 5 pm - 7 pm
Weekends: 8 am - 10 am, 4 pm - 6 pm
Best Days: Tuesday, Wednesday
Food and Beverage:
Weekdays: 12 pm - 2 pm
Weekends: 5 pm - 7 pm
Best Days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Digital Marketing/Social Media:
Weekdays: 9 am - 11 am, 1 pm - 3 pm
Weekends: Occasional posts 10 am - 12 pm
Best Days: Monday to Thursday
IT Brands:
Weekdays: 10 am - 12 pm
Weekends: 1 pm - 3 pm
Best Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Creatives - Teachers - Artists
Post during off-work hours
11:00 am to 1:00 pm and evenings 7:00 to 9:00 pm
any days, Sundays can have the least traction
Regarding posting schedules… I’ve done a bunch of research for you, but here’s the thing… look at YOUR insights and see when YOUR people engage. Do that. 😉
💡 #ProTips straight from Meta:
Content Portfolio: Think of your posts as a portfolio of value. Share how-tos, tutorials, and insights to position yourself as an authority in your niche.
Use the Notify Sticker: Let your followers control the frequency of notifications with Instagram’s notify stickers. This helps them stay in touch with your posts without feeling spammed.
Shares > Direct CTAs: Instead of using direct calls to action, encourage organic shares. People love sharing content they find helpful, and that boosts your visibility more than any like or comment.
Watch Your Activity: Too many actions on a post (comments, likes) could get you flagged by Instagram’s algorithm. If you receive a lot of engagement, spread out your responses to avoid the risk of getting temporarily restricted.
🦋 Closing Thoughts:
You don’t need a million followers to succeed on Instagram or on any platform.
What matters most is growing a dedicated, engaged audience that loves your content. Please take a moment to read one of the BEST blogs I have ever read (continued thanks to my mentor and teacher, Jimmy) One Thousand True Fans… especially useful to my fellow beloved creatives. Yes, that’s you.
With a little “messy consistency,” thoughtful engagement, and leveraging the platform’s tools, you can boost your visibility and foster meaningful connections without burning out.
Slow and steady growth with content that feels true to you is the real magic formula.
Until next time, next Friday I will be featuring YouTube! 🦋
Karen Michaels, your social media guide to positive vibes and authentic growth.