Whether you’re a company just starting out on Instagram, or an IG connoisseur, there are many learning curves that come with seemingly-constant algorithms updates and changes in user behavior.
At Story Mark Studios, we’re always testing and trying different things for our clients, and Milwaukee Uncut, to figure out the ways in which we can maximize not only performance, but ROI as well.
Here are four things we’re currently doing to maximize performance on Instagram:
Breaking up the feed
With Milwaukee Uncut, we release a new episode almost weekly. For each new episode, we like to post 2-3 reels that focus on the most entertaining or interesting sections of the interviews.
We were in the habit of posting those reels in the week or week-and-a-half following the episode release. But, we’ve noticed a sort of ‘fatigue’ that comes when users see the same guest’s clips back-to-back.
For example, in March we posted a series of clips from Marquette players Kam and Stevie’s episode. While we did that for a reason – relevancy of Marquette basketball related content while March Madness was going on – by the third clip in a row, we noticed fewer interactions.
To combat this, we’ve been focusing on mixing clips from different guests as a way to extend the life of the episode and create a stronger viewing experience for our followers.
Boosting high-performing organic posts
While we won’t give away the exact formula we use to decide which organic posts to boost, we do want to talk about how well-received organic posts can translate to better results when putting ad dollars behind it.
If you notice your posts comment feed blowing up, ‘shares’ metric increasing, or just the overall performance is significantly greater than your other posts, this would be a good post to consider putting money behind. Even boosting the post for $5/day for a week can increase your reach and follower count.
Pro tip: don’t boost through the Instagram app on your phone. Boost while on a browser, in Meta Business Suite, or in Meta Ads Manager. Apple takes a piece of the pie when you boost through the app for ‘service charges’.
Testing different content types
Given the competitive nature of the entertainment genre, Milwaukee Uncut’s socials need to adapt as new trends/types of content comes out that viewers are preferring to watch and interact with.
We’ve been playing around with ways to break out of our studio, introduce content that puts everyday people on our feed, and find new avenues for organic reach. This is where our ‘Man on the Streets’ segments come in.
In our first ‘Man on the Street’ clip, we interviewed Brewers and Cubs fans to get their reaction on Craig Counsell returning to Milwaukee. It was a true learning ‘on the fly’ moment for us – we literally rubber-banded a microphone to a mini-bottle of Central Standard bourbon, had a couple tequila shots, and approached people.
It performed well on Instagram and we’re excited to keep testing content like this.
We’ve also utilized a similar strategy for Shorewest’s paid media campaign – running a few different videos that show everything from a day-in-the-life of a realtor and ‘what does $500K get you’ to what it’s like living in the Northwoods.
Utilizing stories
Utilizing as many of Instagram’s features as you can is beneficial for playing favorably into the algorithm. While it is never our intention to put out content just to appease it, it is important to have an understanding of the impact the algorithm can have on your page’s reach.
One such feature we’ve been trying to take advantage of is Instagram stories. We’ve been posting more stories on Milwaukee Uncut to show fun BTS (behind the scenes) moments, find additional collaboration opportunities to reach new audiences, and remain engaged with our followers so our profile is more likely to show up near the beginning of their Instagram Stories and on their feed.
Looking for an organic or paid media strategy? Or, just need help with the production of the short-form videos? That’s where we come in! We’re fully positioned to help companies plan, execute, and track effective content strategies.