Your end of year recap…but make it Instagram!
Your Instagram feed may’ve been inundated with people sharing their “Top Nine” of the Year.
Aka the top performing Instagram posts for 2020.
It’s not only the chance to get a sneak peak behind the curtain of some of your fave businesses…
But it’s also a glimpse into the trends of social media and content creation…the trends that will actually help you create content!
Now I love using IG insights to guide my content creation – it shows you the magic content you already have. The content that resonates with your community so it only makes sense to bottle this magic and DO MORE OF IT!
So I’m going to give you a recap of my top nine Instagram posts of 2020 and share why I think Instagram post insights are an important indicator for your content creation heading into the new year.
Instagram Insight Post #1
This Instagram post had 329 likes, 51 comments, 3 shares and 36 saves.
It was one of my “content creation tips” posts and in this case I was sharing some things to consider and some tweaks to make when your post doesn’t do as well as you expect.
These kinda posts always perform well for me.
Why?
Because it adds value. It gives my followers actionable morsels – nothing fancy, but simple and impactful tips.
The reason it’s my “top performing” post of the year is because I got the spell just right…
⚡️ Eye-catching image that stops the scroll
⚡️ An intriguing first sentence (aka the hook) that is relatable to my followers
⚡️ I speak directly to the frustration that they feel when their post “bombs”
⚡️ A solution to this problem
When you nail the above – your notifications are going to be poppin’.
Instagram Insight Post #2
This Instagram post had 298 likes, 29 comments, 4 shares and 10 saves.
This is one of my favourite posts I’ve ever written.
It goes to show that promo posts don’t have to be overtly salesy.
By weaving storytelling into your promo posts, it helps you to form a connection with your audience – the kinda connection that builds trust and ultimately gets them to buy from you.
Instagram Insight Post #3
This Instagram post had 254 likes, 87 comments, 6 shares and 11 saves.
Another relatable “content creation tips” post.
The success of this post comes down to me having a deep understanding of the struggles my ideal clients / audience face when it comes to creating content.
I know this is a key pain point for them because they’ve told me!
I’ve had many conservations about the pressure people feel if they don’t post on social media every day and that sometimes they simply don’t want to be on social media…even though they know it’s important for their business.
So I shared that sometimes I feel the same way as them…but I do a couple of things that help me to show up on social media consistently (even when I don’t feel like it).
If your audience is telling you what they’re struggling with…and you can help them – CREATE CONTENT TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS.
That’s how you know it’s going to hit home with your kinda people.
Instagram Insight Post #4
This Instagram post had 245 likes, 100 comments, 1 share and 9 saves.
When I celebrated The Social Bolt’s 1st Birthday I decided to share 10 reflections from my first 12 months in business.
The power of this is that other business owners can relate and share their own experiences too. So it not only builds connection, but it also fosters engagement (100 comments) – a double winner!
Instagram Insight Post #5
This Instagram post had 238 likes, 95 comments, 0 shares and 3 saves.
Another favourite of mine #onbrand.
The way you turn followers into customers is by giving them an insight into you and your business – behind the scenes access to what’s happening.
This includes sharing exciting things that are happening within the business like expanding the team (as I did when Jessie joined Team The Social Bolt).
That way they feel like they are a part of your journey because you’re inviting them into your world, to get to know you and the business on another level.
Instagram Insight Post #6
This Instagram post had 219 likes, 44 comments, 27 shares and 33 saves.
Forget the likes.
This is my most shared post of all time. It’s also my third most saved post of all time.
Why?
It’s inspirational, relatable and shareable.
Quotes are always a winner because of their shareability. 27 people have shared this post with their communities. So that’s a whole lotta new eyeballs seeing my content.
Shares & Saves are WAY more important and impactful than likes ever will be.
Instagram Insight Post #7
This Instagram post had 193 likes, 53 comments, 2 shares and 6 saves.
Another promo post of mine that’s performed exceptionally well.
Again this post is the perfect mix of sales and storytelling, with a dash of showing mine & Ned’s faces.
I’ll let you in on a secret about this post – I repurposed it from a launch email that I’d written for the School of Content Wizardry. It was a bloody good email, so of course I’m going to share it on social media too.
Instagram Insight Post #8
This Instagram post had 190 likes, 55 comments, 1 share and 25 saves.
This is another “content creation tips” post.
I believe that the magic of this post is in the opening line.
Hey all you cool cats & kittens!
I posted this not long after COVID19 happened and we were all in our Tiger King phase of lockdown. I myself had binge watched it and I’d seen it all over my social media…so I used a hook that would capture attention.
This shows the importance of monitoring trends and what’s happening in your community so you can create relevant and relatable content.
Instagram Insight Post #9
This Instagram post had 183 likes, 26 comments, 1 share and 19 saves.
And would you look at that…another “content creation tips” post!
This is not a coincidence – it’s a result of listening to what my audience is saying and monitoring what they are engaging with…and then doing more of it…on repeat.
Funnily enough, this post is about checking your insights to see the kinda content you should be creating more of.
It’s also been repurposed from a post from a couple of months earlier.
It’s not magic, it’s simple and intentional content creation at its finest.
Lessons Learnt
Firstly, the whole premise of the “Top 9” is flawed because it measures success by the number of likes each post gets.
That’s sooooo 2019.
It’s SO easy to get caught up on the number of likes your post gets… but I want you to remember that likes don’t pay your bills.
Yes these posts above did perform well…but to me, my most important posts aren’t the ones with the most likes…but the ones with the most website clicks.
Website clicks indicate that the content has encouraged the reader to take action. To progress their customer journey off social media, and onto a marketing channel that I own (aka my website or email list).
Social Media is great, but the goal is to move people forward in their customer journey – from followers to customers.
My posts with the most website clicks were my promotional posts.
Yes the number of likes is much lower than my “Top Nine” posts (promotional posts ALWAYS have less likes), but the key here is:
? This post had 55 website clicks. I sold 33 copies of my DIY Content Strategy.
? This post had 38 website clicks. I sold 12 spots in the first round of the School of Content Wizardry.
This doesn’t mean that the “Top 9” isn’t useful. It’s still giving you an insight into the content your community is loving. It gives you themes and topics that can be reused, repurposed and recycled so that your messaging is consistent and powerful and leads to paying customers – that’s the point of content afterall!
Want to know I how use my insights to create even more magic content (on repeat?!) – sign up to the waitlist for The Social Bolt School of Content Wizardry for $200 off the full price of the course – and I’ll show you the exact process I use to take an idea and turn it into bucketloads of content ⚡️⠀
