834: I Posted 104x on Instagram in 60 Days, Here’s What I Learned

Summary

The Goal Digger Podcast: Episode 834 Summary Title: I Posted 104x on Instagram in 60 Days, Here’s What I Learned
Host: Jenna Kutcher
Release Date: December 11, 2024

In Episode 834 of The Goal Digger Podcast, host Jenna Kutcher delves into her ambitious experiment of posting over 100 times on Instagram in 60 days. This deep dive uncovers valuable insights about content strategy, adaptability, and leveraging tools to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of social media marketing.

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1. Setting the Stage: The Experiment

Jenna embarked on this intensive posting schedule to support back-to-back product launches — first promoting Amy Porterfield's Digital Course Academy and then her own Podcast Lab. Transitioning from a relaxed summer posting routine to a high-volume strategy was essential to maximize visibility and engagement during these critical launch periods.

Key Statistics from August 21st to October 21st:

• 104 Posts resulting in 28 million views
• 6.2 million accounts reached, a 61.6% increase from the previous period
• Reels accounted for 83% of total views, Instagram Stories for 12%, and regular posts for 4.1%
• 54% of views came from followers, while 45.9% reached non-followers

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2. Theme One: Balancing Volume with Quality

Managing to post twice or even three times daily required a meticulous content strategy that balanced quantity with quality. Jenna emphasized the necessity of planning ahead to maintain the integrity of content amidst the increased volume.

“Here is the thing. Just like any garden, running a business has its weeds... but you've got to play the game right.”
— Jenna Kutcher [07:45]

Strategies Implemented:

• Batch Creation: Producing multiple posts in one sitting to ensure consistency and reduce daily pressure.
• Content Scheduling: Using tools like Google Docs, Notion, and Monday.com to organize and automate posting schedules.
• Maintaining Engagement: Ensuring each post, whether promotional or serving, aimed to connect and engage with the audience meaningfully.

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3. Theme Two: Adapting to Changing Trends

Jenna discovered that Instagram's algorithm and user preferences are constantly shifting. Content that performed exceptionally well a year prior no longer yielded the same results, necessitating a pivot in strategy.

“What used to work might not work anymore... you have to be willing to be resilient and adaptable.”
— Jenna Kutcher [12:30]

Adaptation Techniques:

• Analyzing Past Content: Re-evaluating previous top-performing posts to understand why they succeeded and why they may no longer resonate.
• Embracing New Formats: Introducing carousel posts, which became her new top performers, surpassing even Reels in engagement and reach.
• Continuous Research: Regularly exploring trending content and styles to stay ahead of the curve.

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4. Theme Three: Effective Content Types

Throughout the experiment, Jenna experimented with various content types to determine what resonated most with her audience.

a. B-Roll Content:

• Definition: Behind-the-scenes footage that offers a glimpse into Jenna’s daily operations without the need for being constantly camera-ready.
• Benefits: More authentic and engaging, allowing for a diverse range of activities to be showcased.

“Having B-roll shots that are interesting to watch in their entirety... is just something we all need to consider.”
— Jenna Kutcher [20:15]

b. Carousel Posts:

• Structure: A series of images or slides that tell a cohesive story or provide in-depth information.
• Success: These posts not only engaged existing followers but also reached a broader audience, driving significant non-follower engagement.

c. Serving Content:

• Purpose: Posts created purely for connection, engagement, and relatability without a direct call to action.
• Outcome: Surprisingly high performance, with serving content often outperforming promotional posts in engagement metrics.

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5. Theme Four: Leveraging Tools and Systems

To manage the high volume of content, Jenna highlighted the importance of utilizing various tools and establishing robust systems.

Essential Tools:

• Google Docs: For initial content ideas and drafts.
• Notion: Organizing content calendars and mapping out Instagram grids.
• Monday.com: Scheduling posts and managing tasks efficiently.
• ChatGPT: Enhancing captions and generating creative content ideas through AI assistance.

“Batch, create, and prep that content all at the same time... allows you to just log in and hit publish and focus on engaging.”
— Jenna Kutcher [25:40]

Best Practices:

• Batch Creation: Streamlining the content creation process to reduce daily workload.
• Automated Scheduling: Ensuring timely posting without manual intervention.
• AI Integration: Leveraging AI tools to refine and optimize content, enhancing both creativity and efficiency.

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6. Theme Five: Content Styles and Formats

Jenna distinguished between overt and covert content, emphasizing the need for a balanced mix to maintain audience engagement without overwhelming them with promotions.

a. Overt Content:

• Definition: Directly focused on promoting products or calls to action.
• Example: Posts explicitly highlighting sales, discounts, or new product launches.

b. Covert Content:

• Definition: Inspirational or aspirational content that indirectly relates to the brand’s offerings.
• Example: Motivational quotes, personal stories, or content that addresses audience pain points without direct sales pitches.

“When you are creating content, you want to have a mix of overt and covert content.”
— Jenna Kutcher [28:50]

Benefits of a Mixed Approach:

• Enhanced Engagement: Keeps the audience interested and prevents content fatigue.
• Broader Reach: Attracts different segments of the audience, catering to varied interests and preferences.
• Sustained Growth: Balances promotional efforts with meaningful interactions, fostering long-term relationships with followers.

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7. Conclusions and Actionable Takeaways

Jenna's experiment underscored the importance of flexibility, strategic planning, and continuous adaptation in social media marketing. While posting over 100 times in 60 days may not be suitable for everyone, the strategies employed offer valuable lessons for any entrepreneur seeking to enhance their Instagram presence.

Key Takeaways:

• Plan Ahead: Develop a comprehensive content calendar to manage high-volume posting without compromising quality.
• Stay Adaptable: Regularly assess and adjust strategies based on current trends and performance metrics.
• Diversify Content: Utilize various content types and styles to engage a broader audience and maintain interest.
• Leverage Technology: Employ tools and systems to streamline content creation and scheduling processes.
• Balance Promotion with Connection: Ensure that promotional content is interspersed with serving content to foster genuine connections with the audience.

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8. Final Thoughts

Jenna Kutcher encourages entrepreneurs to experiment and find what works best for their unique audience and business goals. By sharing her successes and challenges, she provides a roadmap for others to navigate the complexities of Instagram marketing.

“Dive in. Do some research, do some trial and error. Don't be afraid to experiment to figure out what is best for you and your audience.”
— Jenna Kutcher [38:10]

Listeners are also invited to download Jenna’s free guide, Five Secrets to Grow Your Following, available at jennicutcher.com/forward/5secrets, to further enhance their Instagram strategies.

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Stay Connected:
For more insights, actionable tips, and inspiring conversations, subscribe to The Goal Digger Podcast and join the growing community of entrepreneurs redefining success.

Transcript

[Jenna Kutcher]

My serving content was hopping off like it was performing so well and so it was the post that had no specific call to action. They were created purely for connection, for engagement, for relatability, just to like connect with my audience and remind them like, this is why I'm here. This is why I do what I do. I'm Jenna Kutcher, your host of the Gold Digger Podcast. I escaped the corporate world at the age of 23 with nothing more than a 300 camera from Craigslist and a dream. Now I'm running a a seven figure online business that feels even better than it looks, all from my house in small town Minnesota with my family here.

[Unknown Guest]

We value time as our currency.

[Jenna Kutcher]

We mix the woo and the work.

[Unknown Guest]

And we are in the pursuit of building businesses that give us the freedom.

[Jenna Kutcher]

To live lives that we love. I've always loved turning big goals into reality and I'm here to help you do the same.

[Unknown Guest]

This isn't just a peek behind the curtain. Come along with me and my guests.

[Jenna Kutcher]

As we tear the whole curtain down. Every week we tackle practical, no fluff marketing strategies and host honest discussions on what works and what doesn't.

[Unknown Guest]

Join me and my expert guests for.

[Jenna Kutcher]

Actionable insights to help you grow your dream business with confidence. Pull up a seat and get ready to be challenged, inspired and empowered. This is the Gold Digger podcast. What if I told you that posting over 100 times in a 60 day period on Instagram taught me more than any article on Instagram or Trend Report ever could? Yeah, I dove in headfirst and the results were eye opening, to say the least. In today's episode, I am spilling all the tea on what worked, what flopped, and what I am never doing again. We're talking about the posts that made people stop scrolling, the behind the scenes tricks that kept me sane, and why some of last year's top performing content completely tanked this time around. If you've ever wondered how to crack the Instagram code or you're just curious what it takes to truly stand out, then this is the episode that you do not want to miss. If you want to get my brand new free guide, 5 Secret Secrets to Grow your Instagram following, head to jennicutcher.com 5 Secrets to Grow. We've tagged it in the show notes and show description for you. That's jennicutcher.com forward/the number five secrets to grow, all one word and you can grab your free guide. Now, without further ado, let's dive on in to today's experiment. Picture this you're at a party and someone asks you what you do as a marketer.

[Unknown Guest]

Like how do you even begin to describe it? You have to generate leads, score them.

[Jenna Kutcher]

Contact them, create content, gather their data.

[Unknown Guest]

And tomorrow you have to do it all over again. And you also are spending time wondering.

[Jenna Kutcher]

If all that you're doing is even working.

[Unknown Guest]

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[Jenna Kutcher]

That's HubSpot.com marketers so let me kick this off and just kind of give a lay of the land of where I was before I did this experiment and why I decided to do it. When I did so this summer I was honestly very chill on social media. I think I posted on Instagram stories maybe three times total all summer. I'm talking like once a month appearances. And then I kind of just posted whenever I felt like it or whenever inspiration struck. And that worked really well for me. I shared a little bit in previous episodes just about how I wanted this summer to not have any launches, not feel like one big promotion, and just really be with my family while Coco was home from school. And so as I was gearing up for the fall, I knew that I had to kind of change my strategy. Because while my summer strategy was amazing for a million reasons, it wasn't necessarily going to support what we were going into when it came to the last few quarters of the year. So as I was entering into fall, we actually ended up having back to back launches. So we had two back to back launches, which meant that I had to massively upgrade my posting schedule and I had to figure out how was I going to post a ton of content within a short time frame. And that's where this episode kind of originated from. So I want to share a few different stats before we dive into the main themes of what I discovered in posting over 100 times in 60 days. And these are not just stories, I'm talking about actual in the feed posts. Okay, so here are some stats from August 21st to October 21st which is a 60 day time span. So I had over 28 million views. 18% of those views came from paid ads. 54% of those were followers. 45.9% were non followers, which is important. I reached over 6.2 million accounts, which was up 61.6% from the previous 60 day period. My Reels ended up getting 83% of the views, Instagram stories were about 12% and my posts were 4.1%. My top 10 performing pieces of content in that window was all serving content. And then all of my top performing posts were reels, minus one carousel. And I'm going to fill you in on something interesting that's happened since these stats came out. So first, let's talk about some of the main themes. And I'm going to review five main themes that I discovered during this experiment. So the first thing is this. When you think about showing up 100 times in 60 days, that means most days I was figuring out how to post twice a day or sometimes even three times a day. I really had to figure out a content strategy, meaning a volume and quality balance. So the two launches that were happening during this time were my partner promotion with my best friend Amy Porterfield and her program, the Digital Course Academy, which happens every year in September. And then right after that, we went into my promotion of the Podcast lab. And typically speaking, we do not do back to back launches. It is not something we plan for, it's not something we aim for. But this year we made an exception for a couple reasons. One, one of the launches was a partner promotion. So Amy was doing a lot of the heavy lifting and I was just supporting her and her program, which has changed my life. And then the second launch was a podcast lab. And typically we do the podcast lab a little bit later in October, but this year in the election and everything kind of feeling up in the air, we wanted to just get out before the election so that me and my team could just chill out once November hit. And that's kind of what we've been able to do. And so when we were looking at this back to back strategy, we really had to recognize that there was going to be a lot of volume and how do we keep the quality of our content up when the volume is dialed up so much? So yes, we were looking at a volume game here. I mean, a hundred posts, that's a lot of posts. But we also wanted to maintain quality. And if you're counting on social media to move the needle, it has to be about quantity and quality because Here is what I have found. In the past, it was pretty easy to predict what type of content was going to perform well. We kind of say, like, what's going to pop off? But I have found, especially in the last year, you have no idea which posts are going to pop off, which means it is best to up your quantity and to kind of hedge your bets that at least one of your posts is going to perform well. And what was interesting is that we really quickly started seeing that what worked a year ago was no longer working. And so one of the strategies that we've done for years is that oftentimes after launch, we'll take an inventory of all of the social content that we've posted and we'll make notes on which our top performing posts were either posts that got a ton of comments, posts that got a ton of engagement, posts that got a ton of shares, and we basically kind of keep that in the Rolodex in terms of content. And so then since our business is very rinse and repeat, we lean on some of that top performing content of the past and we either repost it entirely or we recreate it with a spin on it now. What was interesting is that we very quickly discovered that what was working a year ago is no longer working on Instagram. Like, things have shifted, which means that we as creators have to evolve and adapt as well. And maybe you're listening to this and you're like me right now thinking, I am old, I am too old for this. Like, I have been on Instagram creating content and sharing my life since 2011, right? It's a long time. And so I get it that the people that are in my stage of business, we are sick of evolving and adapting. But that is the nature of this beast, right? We don't own our social media followers. We cannot control how our content is shared. This is why I'm constantly talking about things like email lists. And this is why my social content is purely created to hopefully get people off of these apps and onto my email list. But if we're going to play the game, we've got to play it right? And recognizing that what used to work might not work anymore, and that you're going to have to be willing to be resilient and adaptable is a part of the game. And so a year ago, it was like these super short looping reels. People loved financial claims. Like, these were the types of reels that were popping off. I mean, we would get thousands of comments on reels like that. And those posts are not landing anymore. So what's really interesting is, is that we really quickly started taking last year's content, redoing it, repurposing it, and we discovered, okay, wow, we've really got to change up our strategy this time around. And so it was helpful testing on some of our old stuff just to see like, is this still going to work? Okay, no, it's not. So what are we going to do and how are we going to pivot? Which we'll talk about in just a minute. But when we are talking about the content strategy of volume, you have to have a plan to be able to post at volume. So let's say you are going into a 10 day launch period and your goal is two posts a day. That's 20 posts you need to create. And so you want to have a plan in place that will allow you to post at that volume. And so I created this system that helped me organize. And so it started with inspiration, then I was breaking things down into a posting schedule, then I was, you know, mapping out the actual content and what I needed to record for it, then I was writing the captions and then I was getting all the content plugged in. And so it was interesting because one of my really good friends recently let go of her social media manager and she was like, can we get on a zoom call? Like, I need to see how you're doing this because I know that you are the one creating everything and posting everything. And I have been so out of the game, I need to do it. And what was interesting is, is when I started walking her through how I was doing it, I was noticing that we were using Google Docs, we were using Notion boards, we were using Monday.com and so it was like, it required like four different ways of planning in order to get that volume scheduled out and like basically ready to drop. And so one of the things that when you go into this volume game, specifically if you're going into a launch period. So one of my biggest recommendations for this number one content strategy when we're talking about this volume and quality balance, is to batch, create, prep the content, sit down and map out a bunch of the content all at the same time, have it all ready to go. I'm talking captions, locations, audio, everything ready to go. So that when you are in that launch period, all you have to do is look at your schedule of posts, hop onto the platform, hit publish, and then you get to focus on engaging. Because a lot of times what happens is we wait to create until we're in that launch period and we're frazzled and we're not creative and we have no ideas and we have no time. And then it either doesn't get done or it doesn't get done well. And remember, this first tip is about volume and quality balance. And so what I would end up doing is I would sit down and I would create like 8 posts all in one sitting. And I'd have them all the way done from start to finish, cover photos, captions, everything ready to go. And this helped my sanity so much, just so that I wasn't creating a ton on the fly, but I left room for inspiration or magic. And what's funny is, is that as I'm recording this episode, we're also coming out of our Black Friday Cyber Monday promotion. And I was managing to post three times a day, but I didn't do as great of a job batch creating. And so I would find myself telling Drew, like, hey, I need like 20 minutes right now to really quickly go get a post up. And I was like, quick going through the archives, trying to find content because my kids were home, we were all home together, we were hosting. And so I very much recommend and love myself when I sit down to batch create and have a schedule because it just makes it so much easier and it makes you not have to feel like you need to be creative on the fly.

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[Jenna Kutcher]

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[Unknown Guest]

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[Jenna Kutcher]

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[Jenna Kutcher]

Okay, the second main theme that I noticed, and I've already touched on this, but let's dive a little bit deeper, is having to adapt to changing trends. So again, we like to take past top performers, and I think this is smart no matter who you are, is to take a look at your past content and see if you can either reuse that content, recreate it, reimagine it, and just see if it still performs well. Because it can often give you insight and information as to maybe why it performed so well the first time. And then it can help guide your creative process forward. And so we tested some of our top performers from last year. Again, they didn't perform as well. And so then we had to figure out, okay, how do we adjust and adapt to what is working now? And so I would sit down, I would set a timer for 10 to 20 minutes and I would scroll through reels and I would just look at, like, what is working well, what is performing well? I would go to different accounts and look at, like, what were their top pieces of content? Why do I think this was a top piece of content? Why did this one go viral but this one didn't? And so doing some research is really important. And making sure that you're not only just saving posts that you like, but you're actually looking in and like asking yourself, was it the audio? Was it the timing? Was it the video clips, was it the caption? What was it? Because the more that you investigate it, the more that you get the confidence to take what is working for someone else and figure out how to apply it to your own thing. So one thing that has been working really well for me, and it worked well in this time period, but it's worked even better since then, are carousel posts. And honestly, it's kind of become one of my favorite ways to show up on Instagram. And so we were leveraged these a little bit in that 60 day window. But I have gone really ham on them recently doing a couple of these a week, and they are doing really well. And what's interesting is, is that a lot of times we can see how many views people's reels get. But I will tell you that out of my top performing posts recently, 90% of them are carousels. Meaning I am telling a story in each slide and it's building on the last. And I'm using a good hook that generates curiosity in that first field. And I will just say, do not sleep on carousels. Right now. I feel like this is a really great way, especially if you have a lot of information to get out or you have a fun story to share that might not actually translate into a caption or a reel. And so again, we were adapting to changing trends, figuring out like, okay, maybe carousels are the way to go. Let's start creating those. How do we create those better? What does that look like? And so it was a really interesting thing in posting at volume in the way that we were, because we were very quickly seeing what types of content was resonating, what wasn't. How do we pivot into this fresh content? Take that is happening right now. And here's a fun fact I absolutely like, I will tell you this time and time again, I hate talking about how much money I make. It is literally the worst. My team knows I hate creating these posts, but a lot of times they will task me with them because a lot of times they perform well. They do well. But what's interesting is, is that a lot of times it takes something big to catch people's attention and then you have to pivot that attention into the direction that you want people to go. And so it's one of those strategies that like, I absolutely hate, because it actually does work. And the strategic side of me is like, okay, just suck it up and do these posts. They work. But I don't like doing it because money is just one very small reason of why I do what I do and why I teach what I teach. But it's often the one that grabs attention. It's like, if you say, like, how I made $10,000 today while sitting on my couch online shopping, that's interesting, right? People are like, wait, what it? But if I said, like, how I saved two hours today and braided my daughter's hair, like, people are like, that's really cool. But, like, it's not, like, shocking. And so again, figuring out and adapting to changing trends and just paying attention a little bit more. And I don't spend a ton of time on Instagram consuming. I like to keep up with my friends. I like to check in with my dms, but I don't spend a ton of time consuming. And so what was interesting during this 60 day window is I felt like, like I was having to spend a very intentional time on the platform, not just looking at, like, ooh, what inspires me, what do I want to double tap? But, like, what is working right now? And coming out of the summer where I was very seldom showing up, it was interesting to see how quickly the content types had shifted. Okay, number three are the types of content that worked for us. So we've talked about them a little bit. But let's go deeper. The first one is B roll. So B roll is essentially just like behind the scenes shots. And I have loved B roll reels since people started creating them a couple years ago, because you don't have to be camera ready constantly. You don't have to shoot specific clips for specific reels. With B roll, you can be doing basically anything. And it can be super random, but it can be interesting. And so one tip with B roll is that you don't want boring B ro. I think it's really easy to just like set your camera up and you can be like, typing on your computer and that's fine. That works as B roll. But one thing that we've noticed that works really well is that you want to be doing something that people want to watch and see what happens next. So whether it's doing your makeup or, you know, walking on your treadmill, but you are getting off of it or turning on a light switch or lighting a candle or cutting a watermelon or kneading your sourdough, like just something interesting. And so, so having B roll shots that are interesting to watch in their entirety is not only going to help your content perform better, but it's just going to be more engaging overall. And so I have an entire folder on my phone of B roll. It has thousands of clips. And whenever I think about it, I try to just set my camera up and shoot clips of me getting ready or me doing something interesting. And then I can use those clips for months on end using them in different pieces of content. And again, this is so helpful, especially if you want to batch create content and you're creating content that requires B roll. You could literally be sitting on your couch in your sweats creating a bunch of reels without having to be camera ready and dancing in front of the camera. And so that's why I love B roll. Again, the second type of post that we already talked about are carousel posts. And so the key here is that you want to make sure that the first slide has a really strong hook on it and it generates curiosity. And then with each slide, you want to build on the last. So tell the story as each slide goes. Keep it interesting, keep it moving. You don't want a ton of text. And what we found best is we've used a few different models. One of my friends, Jordan Dooley, does this really well, but she can. Sometimes she'll just use literally the same photo for all the slides and just change the text. We found that changing the photo on each slide helps people continue on with a carousel in terms of the swiping. And again, right now what we're seeing is that a lot of our carousels are getting significantly more views than even our top performing reels, which I think is really interesting. And they tend to reach more non followers, which is awesome if you're trying to grow your following or if you're trying to get out of your own little bubble of your audience to reach other people. And so again, start with a hook, tell a good story, make sure you have some sort of call to action on the last slide or let people know what to do once they finish reading the story. And then the last type of content that you do not want to forget, and I want you to hear me loud and clear on this is serving content. So a lot of times, especially when we go into promotion mode, all we are thinking about is promoting, right? And what's interesting and what we were so conscious of this time around is that if I was going to do a hundred posts in 60 days, I needed to make sure I was not just talking about out two things in those 60 days. Right. Because people would unfollow so quickly if they weren't interested. And you have to understand that no matter what your offer is, even if you think every person in your audience would benefit from it, not everyone is interested in it. And so we kind of found a very good strategy. And I'm going to share how we're using it now because we've even refined it since this experiment. But you do not want to forget about having serving and connection content in between promo posts. So again, let's say you have a 10 day launch period and you want to do two promo posts a day. That would be 20 posts. I would argue that in that 10 days, you would probably want to post 40 times so that you had the same amount of serving and connection content as you did promotional content. And for a lot of people, they're like, oh, crap, that's like a lot of content. Yeah, it is. And that's why we posted so many different times, is because not only were we so supporting different launches, but we were also making sure that in between those promotional posts, we were connecting with our audience and engaging with them. And so, surprisingly, what was so interesting during this experiment is my serving content was popping off like it was performing so well. And so it was the post that had no specific call to action. They were created purely for connection, for engagement, for relatability, just to, like, connect with my audience and remind them, like, this is why I'm here, this is why I do what I do. Even my friend Mel Robbins texted me and she's like, your social has been off the chain good lately. And I just like, loved that, because it's hard when you go into a promo mode and you just feel like you're annoying and you feel like you're saying the same thing until you're blue in the face. And so when I was getting comments from my friends of like, your social is killing it right now, it made me feel so good. And I would say that the reason why I feel good about how we did this is because there was so much content strategically created just to serve and show up and connect, which is ultimately, at the end of the day, what we all want. Now let me just give you a little bit of a spin on what we've been doing since this experiment. Right. And I just want to remind you too, I feel like people in entrepreneurship do not experiment anymore. Like, they just don't. They either find something and they're like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, or they're not Even willing to try something new. And I am constantly experimenting within my business, not only so that I can come on this show and tell you what is actually working, but also just out of curiosity, like, it keeps me creative as an entrepreneur. And so after this experiment wrapped up, I really took some time of like, okay, how do I want to like approach this for our next launch? And honestly, what's amazing is that the way that we did these back to back launches means that November and December, all we have is like fun partner promotions and things like that. But alas, there's still content to be created. And so I kind of created a different posting cadence following these big launches based off of what I learned from this experiment. And so my goal now is, is for every one promotional post, AKA a post with a call to action, most of the time I'm using those trigger words. So you know, comment 20x or comment deals or whatever that is. So for every one of those posts, I want to do two posts that have no trigger words. So that means that if I want to do five promotional posts, I need to create, create 15 posts for social. And yes, it does up the volume, especially when you're in a promo period, but it helps keep people engaged and connected, even when you're promoting something. And so when we went into Black Friday Cyber Monday, where it's just this very condensed time for like one week, we had so many posts. I pretty much stuck to this idea of one promo post, two serving and connecting posts, one promo, two survey, which meant I had a ton of content to create. I remember going to bed, said last night, and I was like, babe, I managed to post three times a day over the weekend. Like, I'm so proud of myself because the kids were home. I didn't do a great job planning in advance. And he was like, wow, that's a lot. A lot of people don't even post three times a month. So three times a day. And so just really making sure that you are balancing out your promotion with content that connects and engages and serves and making sure that you're planning for that when you're planning out your content strategy. Okay. The fourth theme and trend that I learned in this experiment is that you have to leverage tools and systems. There is no way that you can create an amass volume like this or even really, I'd argue, execute a really solid promotional strategy for a launch if you are not leaning on and leveraging other tools and systems. And so like I said when I was literally walking my friend through this the other day, I'm like, okay, okay. So we save inspiration in Instagram. Then I'll look at the inspiration and figure out what is my spin, what is my take on that, how do I take something and make it totally my own and different? Then we bring it into a Google Doc and I map it out and I separate it from different posts that I need to record specific clips for. And then other posts where I can just use B roll or already created content for from there. Then I create the content. Then once I have the content, then I create the caption. And we've kind of figured out and piecemeal this plan together where it's like Google Drive. Then I pull it into a notion board. Notion is this cool platform where it kind of just helps organize different thoughts and projects and ideas. And so I was able to like lay out my Instagram grid on notion, save in the actual content, link to the audio, have the caption ready to go. And then when I was ready to sit down and plug it all into my phone and have it all ready to go, I created my schedule in Monday.com, which is where I keep my to do list. And so then I just basically had one task of like, here's a social post for start date to end date. And then it mapped it all out and it would say like Tuesday a.m. and then I would have it and I'd mark posted when it was posted. And so you're gonna have to figure out what is your tool, what is your system, what does that look like? And another thing is like, do not be afraid to leverage things like Chat GPT to help you take your ideas and figure out like, okay, how do I take this idea and make it into a carousel? How do I take this idea and make it into Instagram story slides? How do I take this idea and make it a really strong hook? And what's interesting is, is that the more prompts that you feed it, the better your output. And so a lot of times too, I would drop in my caption. So I'd write the caption for the post, and then I'd ask ChatGPT for tips. How can I improve this caption caption? How can I figure out how to make this caption more convertible? How can I make this more clear? And so don't hesitate to use tools like ChatGPT. Just make sure that you are doing it in an original way and that you're feeding it prompts that will help you create your idea of what your post is going to be. And then I will say too. Again, batch, create and prep that content all at the same time. So once you've done all these different pieces, the goal should be that you can just log in and hit publish and focus on engaging. And so having a system in place helped me maintain consistency without overwhelming myself and without like saying like every single night, like, hold on, I've got to create a post to get up. Like I was sitting there and I could just hit publish. And that was honestly the best feeling in the world because a lot of times my procrastination tendencies mean that I'm not as organized as I would like to be.

[Unknown Guest]

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[Jenna Kutcher]

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[Jenna Kutcher]

Okay, the last theme that I noticed in this experiment were the different content styles and formats. So let's talk about what was working and just a different way to look at content. So one thing I don't hear a lot of marketers talk about, and it's something I literally remember back from my days in marketing in college, is the difference between overt content and covert content. So overt content is content that is strictly focused on and aligned with the offer or the call to action. So this would be like an example of did you know that 41% of Americans tune into podcasts weekly? They could be listening to you. So that is a very overt way. It's very clear. I'm talking about podcasting and I'm talking about you starting a podcast. Podcast. Now, covert content is inspirational or aspirational content where people read the caption to learn more about your offer. So an example of this would be, you know, there's like those really motivational audios, and like, one of these times it's going to stick and you can use that audio and add podcast clips in on the B roll, but then explain the offer inside of the caption. And so what's interesting is, is that I think a lot of times when people go into promotion mode, they focus on that very. On the content style, where it is very about their offer. It's very clear what their offer is, and it's almost attracting or repelling too much, I would argue. And so when you are creating content, you want to have a mix of overt and covert content. And what's been really interesting to me is seeing in the past, like, I could talk specifically just about Pinterest, and I'm obsessed with Pinterest, and it's a search engine and it's not social media, and it, you know, elongates the lifespan of your content by 120 times. I could say all those things, right? And that's very over. Or I could talk about the pain point of how we are spending eight hours a week on our marketing and all we want is more time and we're creating posts that live and die. And it's so frustrating. And notice I'm not actually talking about Pinterest here, but I'm striking a nerve with people that understand and that want a solution. And so when you are figuring out what type of content you're going to post, especially in a promotion, I would just argue to figure out ways to do both overt content and covert content. And that will also make it feel like you are not heavily promoting over and over and over again. And so think about, like, what are you ultimately selling here? Is it time? Is it energy? Is it freedom? Is it beauty? Like, what is it? And how can you market towards that idea in a different way? And again, it's going to use you flexing your creative muscle. And I would argue you can do this so much better before you launch Star Starts than when you're in it. And then the last thing I will say is that one of the things that we learned in terms of content styles is with Instagram stories, this was like an area that was just a pain point for me because I have just like over the last, I don't know, probably eight months, maybe even longer. I have not loved the, like, hey, guys, it's me. Here's what I'm eating for breakfast. Like, I just. That type of content isn't resonating with me anymore. It's like the talking head content. I don't feel like creating it. I never even think to create it. I no longer really think of my life as content. And so a lot of times I'll go to my camera roll and I'm like, how do I, like, show what I've been up to lately? And since we no longer show our kids faces on the Internet, it makes it really hard to, like, share life. And it's interesting because for so long, I just deeply integrated my life and content, and they were so intertwined. And now that there's this, like, greater degree of separation, Instagram Stories feels a lot trickier to me. And so one of the things that helped me with Instagram Stories is kind of using a similar strategy to what we were using with the carousel in treating Instagram Stories, using it like a set. And my friend Jordan Dooley, like, totally helped me see this because I remember messaging her, and I'm like, I don't even want to show up on Stories. And she's like, dude, you're missing, like, reaching your people with this. Like, you've got to use it. And so it was like treating Instagram Stories like a set, having, like a start and then having an end. And so she was giving this, like, really great idea of, like, signing on, making it very apparent, like, hello, this is a start of the set. And then when you're done having kind of a clear sign off. And so then what's so nice is that you can either loop in whatever your promotion is or things like that and make it make sense, but it's like telling a little story in a set of Instagram stories and then letting it expire, and then you could do it again. And so I just had to really change how I thought about Instagram Stories and my strategy there. And it's something I'm still working on. And so this was another area where, like, I could probably prep more story ideas in advance for Instagram Stories, whereas in the past I just thought, like, Instagram stories are just sharing your life exactly as it's unfolding right now. You know, here's this, here's that, here's this, here's that. And I think that that has also changed. And, you know, for me, that feels like a refreshing change. Okay, so here is the summary for everyone wondering what did I learn posting more than a hundred times? Again, these are like a hundred real posts in 60 days. So my top post type were reels, but I would argue that that is because I posted mainly reels. The best timing to post for me was the evening. So later in the day and the evening my top themes that I found were the inspirational and relatable content did really well and those were kind of the big things that I saw. It was really just an interesting experiment all around. I don't know if I would 10 out of 10 recommend it posting much, but maybe you say, you know, over the next three weeks I'm going to post 15 times and sit down and batch create it and see how that feels like. Maybe now is a good time to just refine. What is your strategy for planning and posting and engaging on the platform if it's something that you want to focus on. So there you have it. Needless to say, over a hundred posts, 60 days. It taught me a lot about the ever evolving Instagram landscape. Whether you are someone who is just diving into reels or you're testing out these carousel posts, or you're batching your content like a pro, I hope that today's episode left you finding some inspiration and some actionable takeaways. Now, of course, I just want to say there is no one size fits all approach to anything in life or business, especially Instagram. So here's where I encourage you to dive in. Do some research, do some trial and error. Don't be afraid to experiment to figure out what is best for you and your audience. And I hope you loved today's episode. If you did, can you take a minute to just leave a review? It would mean the absolute world to me. I love doing these experiments and sharing them with you and I love to know what is the most helpful insight that you're gaining. And if you are ready to take your Instagram game to the next level, download my brand new free guide. It's called Five Secrets to Grow your Following. You can get it at jennicutcher.com forward/5 the number five secrets to grow. All one word. That's jennicutcher.com forward slash five secrets to grow. We've also linked it for you in the Show Notes today. Until next time, Gold diggers, keep on digging your biggest goals and hopefully I'll see you over on the Gram. Thanks for pulling up a seat for another episode of the Gold Digger podcast. I hope today's episode fueled you with inspiration, gave you information that you can turn into action, and realigned you with your true north in life and business. If you've enjoyed today's episode, head on.

[Unknown Guest]

Over to gold diggerpodcast.com for today's show.

[Jenna Kutcher]

Notes, discount codes for our sponsors, freebies to fuel your results, and so much more. And if you haven't yet, make sure you're subscribed so that you never miss a future show. We'll see you next time. Gold Diggers.