← Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
Ep. 79: Why Your Instagram Posts Are Flopping (And 10 Fixes That Actually Work in 2025)
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Hello friends. Welcome back to Call Her Creator, the podcast that helps you turn your content into cash and build a business you love. I'm your host, Kaitlyn Rhodes, and today we are diving into one of the most frustrating parts of being a creator. When your content totally flops. If your posts are getting ghosted, your reels are stuck under 1000 views, or you feel like you're just shouting into the void, this episode's for you. I'm breaking down exactly why your posts might be falling flat in 2025, and most importantly, what you can do to fix it. Now, quick heads up. If you haven't started your free trial of Stan Store yet, hit the link in the show notes or go to Stan Store, Call Her Creator. It's the exact platform that I use to sell my reels, challenge my growth kits, my membership and more. And if you're ready to monetize smarter and faster, this is your sign. Before we get into the episode today, I wanted to update you guys on a money walk. So I was doing a walk on Sunday and I didn't feel great, but I'm like one of those overachiever, like high functioning. Like if I'm laying around, I just feel like a piece of garbage and I think it's a trauma response, I don't know. But I got in my tennis shoes, put on my clothes, put on my headphones and I started walking and, and I listened to my episode over on Cubicle to CEO with Ellen and it was a really good episode. I hate re listening to myself, I hate listening to my voice. But we did some good tidbits over there. So I wanted to encourage you after this episode, go listen to it. I talk about how I turned a $19 product into a six figure income stream last year and it continues to grow year to year. But what was funny is while I was walking on my money walk, someone rolled down their windows and yells money walk. And I was like oh my God. Like one, I was embarrassed, but two, I was like oh my gosh, I'm starting a movement. For real? For real. Like someone in my hometown. Well, not okay, I'm not super duper hometown here. I'm actually from Okeechobee, but I'm very close to Okeechobee and it's a small town but someone in our small town called, called out a money walk and it made my day. And Ashley, I love you. She's amazing. She is a hard working business owner slash mom slash. She's always busy but she told me that the call her creator Podcast has really been helpful for her. So if this is your first time listening, thank you for being here. If you're a continued listener, you're my freaking best friend. I love you so much. And take a little selfie of you listening to today's podcast episode. Share it to your stories. Tag, call her creator. I will share you to my stories. And let's just spread the word on the money walks. Okay, got a few different hacks that we're going to talk about when it comes to Instagram. Now, a lot of these can be used on Facebook as well and TikTok, really? But TikTok and Instagram Reels are a little bit different. I've noticed that longer videos work well over on TikTok and Instagram's kind of short and sweet. So take what you can from some of these hacks. You'll know, like, okay, I can use this for both platforms, or, okay, this is a specifically an Instagram hack. But as we go through these, you'll know which ones work and which ones don't for which platform. The first hack I wanna talk about today is original content, prioritizing that original content. Instagram no longer rewards repost or recycled content unless you're doing trial reels. That's the caveat here. But if you're just reposting other people's content, you actually can get flagged for it, first of all. But other than that, if you're not creating original content consistently, your reach is gonna shrink. Whether it's a brand or a solo creator, you have to start prioritizing fresh, unique content. And the way to do that is show behind the scenes, share exclusive ideas, showcase your personality in a way that makes people wanna stop and say, okay, okay, this feels different. I noticed the other day I had shared a talking head reel. I think it was on call her creator. And someone had commented that it was a breath of fresh air to not see me dancing all the time with turning audio on, it kind of hurt my feelings. But then I'm like, okay, actually, what do you mean by that? So I messaged the person and they're like, oh, I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. I was just letting you know, like, I see so many viral reel ideas or people dancing. So it's a breath of fresh air just to hear you talk, just to hear you be you and raw and unfiltered. And so I just, I took that into account and I want to, want to. I'm still doing a mix of trending audio and regular original audio. But I really do sometimes want to lean harder into what makes me uniquely me. And you should do the same. What makes you uniquely you? I saw a reel earlier, before I got on today's episode, and it was this girl. It was actually. It was a girl in the video, but. But the. The Instagram handle was a coffee business, and she was paddle boarding, but she brought all the supplies with her to make matcha. And so it was. I. I looked at the engagement, and there was, like, thousands of likes, thousands of comments, thousands of shares. And I was like, what the heck? So I stared and I kind of studied at the video, and I'm like, okay, she's doing something completely, like, off the cuff, like, who brings coffee stuff to go paddle boarding? Like, yeah, you might throw in, like, something from the gas station. But she was, like, chopping up the matcha. I don't know if that's exactly what you would say. She was mixing the matcha, and then she was mixing the coffee. And then you can see her, like, moving along with the paddle board because the waves are kind of crashing. Well, she's on a lake. But it. It was just out of the ordinary. And so it just kind of got me thinking, like, I need to start documenting more than creating. And I'm sure you've probably heard that before, and if you haven't, it's one of the most sound advice I've heard, is just to document things that happen in your day to day so that you can share about them later and talk about them. And it just kind of makes you stand out from all of the monotonous content that we see day to day on Instagram. So. So an action step for you guys when it comes to prioritizing original content. I want you to brainstorm weekly content ideas that are rooted in your story, your audience's needs, and what only you can offer. This is exactly what we help you do. Inside of my reels challenge the Instagram Growth Starter Pack, which I will put in the show notes. It's in my Stan store. But I basically pull out from you what you do for people, and we tell your story. Like, storytelling is just. There's something about it. And I actually, I was doing a Instagram profile audit on someone last week, actually, here's a perfect example. And she's a photographer. And when I first looked at her profile, I was just kind of like, okay, she's a photographer. Wow, she's very talented. Her photos are unbelievable. But I was like, but what makes her different? And so I end up going to her website. And she has this backstory about how she almost died from bearing a child. And so I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, this is what you're missing. You're not telling this story like you're a survivor. And you take these photos because you know how deeply important it is to document memories. So if that doesn't wake you up and just make you say, okay, wow, she's not a photographer. She's documenting important memories. Like, really think about your own story and think about what helped you during that time and then be that help to someone else that's probably going through the same thing you did, if that makes sense. I heard that in a podcast episode on one of my money walks. But it's really just stripping down all the generic and really getting raw and deep into your own story. So prioritize original content. How do you find that you. You strip it down. Hack number two, optimize for Instagram SEO. So there was actually a update state that went live this month where Google can now serve your social media posts to anyone that's searching, like relevant keywords or something. So that's why it's so important to use SEO in all of your content. If you're not searchable, you're invisible. Instagram SEO basically means you're using relevant keywords, whether that's in your bio, your caption, your alt text, so that your content can be found by the people who need it. So now when I go to Instagram, I've kind of noticed this early on. I think this has been slowly happening, but they just officially announced it now when I Google Kaitlyn Rhodes, a lot of my top searches are from my Instagram reels or just my Instagram page in general. So definitely if this isn't a sign for you to utilize social media, it should be. This is why it's so important to have a presence on there. It's if people are not finding you on Instagram, maybe they're finding you on Google because of your Instagram. So it's very important to optimize your action. Step for this would be to carve out 10 minutes today. Not this week, but today. This is your homework. 10 minutes to review your Instagram bio. Does it include keywords? Would people be able to know what niche you're a part of? Is your offer a parent? Are there searchable keywords? If not, it's time for a quick update. And I have a ton of resources on this. Whether you go to influencestudio.com and look at my blog or Go to just my Instagram profile. I give a ton of information about optimizing your profile, your content, your reels, your post for SEO search engine optimization. And basically what that's going to do is if, if anyone is searching for a specific keyword that you have used in your content, you would show up in the search engines. And it's going to help your business, it's going to help you, it's going to help your searchability, it's going to help you grow your brand. So make sure you are optimizing your Instagram with SEO. All right, Hack number three, post Instagram Reels and Stories. This isn't new, but it's very critical. Reels are still favored by the algorithm for reach and stories keep you top of mind for your followers. So both formats allow you to be super quick, relatable, engaging, but you need to do a mix of both. So Instagram, I want you posting consistent reels every week. And if you need help coming up with content pillars, I do have a 30 day content calendar. I try not to give you all too much because I don't want to overwhelm you. But if you need some ideas on what to post, you can grab that free 30 day content calendar. I'll link it also in the show notes for you. But you need to have some consistent content pillars that you just repost on a weekly basis, so it makes it easy for you to show up on reels. And then when it comes to stories, I actually took a little hiatus from stories for a little bit just because I didn't know what to post anymore. My views were really down. I was just kind of getting down on myself. But I came to the realization that when I post on stories, I'm posting to a warm audience that already knows who I am. They're following me already. They typically kind of understand what I'm offering. So it's easy for me to talk to these people because I'm not having to reintroduce myself all the time. So I've kind of just been sharing like behind the scene moments or if I'm launching something, I'll mention it. We're trying to push the membership right now just because we ended up revamping everything inside. You're getting a full content drop with a strategy now along with your reels and your Canva templates. So I'm trying to make it a part of my weekly posting strategy to let people know what's going on inside the membership because I've noticed that I don't Talk about it enough. So if there's an offer that's really close to your heart, or you love it, or you want to just push it, you can always mention it in your stories a couple times a week as well. But I would stick to behind the scenes content and then sprinkling in those offers. And if you need help with any of this, if you want to stay consistent, here's a couple tips for you. Tip number one is to use a Monday to batch record. Like make that your day to get yourself up, ready to go. Throw on some makeup if you need to, if it makes you feel more confident on the camera, and then go ahead and film like three reels all at once. This is again while I plug my membership, because every Monday we actually send you an email with trendy reels that week. Like they are timely for that week. So you can literally log in, open the email, record your three reels, and then you can schedule them Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So you've got something on the books to be posted throughout the week. And then when it comes to stories, you're welcome to batch post stories as well. Like take some screenshots and photos of everything and save them. And then you can just post them live, you know, every couple days throughout the week. Or you could schedule them in something like metrical, I believe, even meta business suite. It's free. I believe they let you schedule stories as well. I personally don't schedule stories. I post those in real time. But if you are somebody that's busy and social media is hard for you, then schedule it. It's better to post than to not post at all and leave in drafts. Hack number four is to encourage meaningful conversations and engagement. Instagram wants to see content that people actually engage with. They want comments, they want saves, they want shares. I have a collaboration reel going on right now with someone and I'm noticing that the views are a little bit lower than normal. But I was looking and I noticed the call to action is not as strong as it could be. So I tell everyone, if you are missing comments, if you're missing shares, then you probably have a CTA problem. You probably have a call to action problem. You are probably not being very clear with what you want them to do next. So you need to tell them, do you want them to comment a word? Do you want them to share it to their husband? Do you want them to tag a friend who needs to hear this, like, tell them what to do? And I promise you this, they will listen. Use your captions wisely, guys. Even with the algorithm shifting or, you know, people spending less time on the app. Like, as long as you're being very clear with what you want them to do, they're probably gonna do it. And conversations are what drive more reach on this app. So don't post stuff without starting or opening up that conversation. The next Instagram hack I have for you is to post at all optimal times. Even when there's the ebbs and flows of the algorithm, timing still matters. If your audience is asleep or offline, your content more than likely is not going to hit and it's going to flop. I try to remind my husband this all the time. Like we might even be fishing or something. And he's like, I'm going to post this. You know me, engagement girl over here. I'm like, don't post it right now, post it later when people are home. Like, he'll try to post something like two o', clock, which sometimes two o' clock hits. But I personally like posting either in the morning or in the evening when people are not focused on work or they're not like running around, maybe they're in bed. Do I sometimes post it like 1pm? Absolutely. Especially like if I make a video that I really love. I can't hold it in and I can't wait till the evening to post it. So I'll post it. But most of the time I'm posting something in the morning and then in the evening when I feel like people are in their beds checking their phones or scrolling and netflixing. And here's another thing with this too. I'm kind of smart about this. If I'm posting like a launch, like a product or something, I tend to post that earlier in the day because I feel like people are more motivated to pull out their credit card versus at nighttime when it might be harder for them to pull their card out of their purse. You know what I mean? Which they totally could be like scrolling and Amazon shopping and have that card nearby. But I feel like at the nighttime I'm trying to do more like share worthy content or funny content or relatable content. And then my salesy content kind of goes towards the beginning of the day. I am just giving you guys all of the hacks right now. Like I charge people to tell them this advice. So you're welcome if you need help coming up with optimal times. By the way, you can always look at your analytics to determine when your audience is most active. Online Meta Business suite shares information on this metrical does a really good job at Sharing info on this. I notice Instagram's dashboard, we have literal, like so many clients here, and we have kind of compared what the time says for each client, and they all say the same thing. So I would not trust Instagram's dashboard when it comes to posting times, But I do trust metrical hack number six. Ooh, this one's really good. Adapt quickly to changes. Instagram doesn't always announce its algorithm changes, but when you start to notice dips or spikes, it's a sign to adjust something. So follow creators like me who live in the algorithm trenches and share updates in real time. You can stay in the loop by following me on Instagram the Caitlin Rhodes, and just keep tweaking as you go. And when new features come out, test them. If they're pushing edits, do edits. If they're pushing broadcast channels, do broadcast channels. If you can't handle all of them, don't do all of them, but at least try to do one and stick with the changes. The more that you utilize what they're pushing, the more that Instagram's gonna keep pushing you out there to new audiences. Okay, hack number seven, Focus on your views. Views are the top indicator for post performance, especially for reels. You need to hook your viewer in the first three seconds or they're gone. So I'm actually going to pull up Instagram real quick, because actually, I'm going to pull up edits. So if you're using edits right now, at the very bottom of the screen, you'll see, like, almost like a bar graph, and it kind of shows you insights on your videos. And I've been noticing at the end of each month, they actually give you a little summary of how all of your content's doing. And it says, like a little blurb, like, congratulations, you kept them hooked in past three seconds, or blah, blah, blah, this is working. It also tells you when your stuff is doing really bad, which I'm like, okay, Instagram, shut up. But I'm just gonna click. Let's go to my most views. All right. This is so awesome. Like, right now, it's telling me, in the last 30 days, I've had almost a million views. Reels views. 910,000. Let me go to the last 14 days. Okay, last seven days, it's not showing me. Hold on. Boo. Okay, it's not working properly over here. Let me go. Let me go to the Instagram app. Okay, okay, let's just go to this one. All right, I'm looking at a Recent reel. Had 4000 views. Clicking on it. Let's see what Instagram has to say about it. Okay, here it is. Wow, this is. This is really amazing because this did not used to be like this. So when you go to look at a specific insight on a specific you pull it up. It's going to start by giving you an overview of your views, Instagram versus Facebook, your watch time, how many interactions you've had. And underneath that there's a graph that says views over time and it shows this reels views which this one shot up really fast and then continued to grow versus my typical reels views which are a slow burn. They're like slowly making their way up. So. So it's kind of cool to see the difference between which videos shoot up and which videos are a slow burn and then retention View rate past the first three seconds it's saying this reels view rate is 46.5%. Your typical view rate is 57%. Still not great. But it shows you the different it shows you like what is your view rate? Are 50% of people watching past the 3 seconds or are only 30% of your audience watching? Passive 3 seconds. If you really want to get nitty gritty, you can come in here and look and get into. You can get deep into these demographics and these, these analytics to see what is actually hooking them in and keeping them there for the first three seconds and beyond. I always tell people the best thing to do to increase your views or to get people past those three seconds is to practice writing stronger hooks. And you can use ChatGPT to help you with this. You could just do it by practicing, but lead with a bold statement for your hooks. POV hooks work really well too. Again, I give you plug and play reels hooks weekly Inside Club Influence. So if you need help with that, you can always join us inside of the membership. But just practice. Practice makes perfect. And I literally I will change a hook 5,000 times before I post a video. That's how important they are. Hack number eight hashtags. I'm still using hashtags. I sprinkle in about five to 10 each post. You can use up to 30. I like to mix in niche specific hashtags but then just keyword friendly hashtags too. This is gonna help with your SEO as well, which again we're ranking over on Google now. So make sure you're playing with at least a few. 3 to 5 is fine. That that would make me happy versus not using any at all. Analytics are also very important for your strategy which brings me to hack number nine. Your best perform holds the key to your growth, so you want to look at what's working and do more of it. So I always tell people each month, go back to your dashboard and look at your top three to five performing posts in the last 30 days. What do they have in common? There a specific topic? Is there a specific format? Is there a specific hook? Is there a caption style you use? Study that, write it down, kind of see what each reel has in common and then do that as you go along. Keep, keep going. Repost things if you have trial reels. I've been reposting viral reels that I've had as a trial reel and it's performing really, really well. And it's the most laziest marketing I've ever done, but it works. So if you have not tried trial reels yet, go look at your dashboard, find your top three performing videos and repost them as a trial this next month with new audio and just see how they perform. I promise you, you'll be very surprised. Final takeaway from all of this. The Instagram algorithm may always be changing, but your strategy doesn't have to be chaotic. When you lead with your original, raw, authentic self. When you show up consistently, when you pay attention to what's performing and what's not, you're gonna win on Instagram. Now, if you guys need help doing this, I've got a roadmap for you inside of Club Influence. I'd love for you guys to join the membership this month. I will put that in the show notes again, show up for your people and be of value. Like, if you can continuously be of value to people and just think about that person that you once were and what you needed most, then if you can be that to someone else, you are going to grow on this app and you are going to make money from this app. Until next time, guys, keep creating with confidence and I will see y' all next week.