If you have an Instagram account for your business, you know that it’s a lot to keep up with. Not only are there a ton of features, they often change and new ones are introduced throughout the year. Even as a social media manager, I sometimes get overwhelmed, too.
Stories, Reels, IGTV, Lives, Shopping, Guides, Feed, plus captions, graphics, photos, your bio, messages, and engagement – that’s a lot for one person to handle.
If you have a team working alongside you, that’s a bonus. But for most of us solopreneurs and small business owners, it’s just us. So we need to manage our time well on Instagram to avoid overwhelm and burn out.
Here’s one way to do that:
Take a look at your best skills and then use the Instagram features that best pair with those skills.
Before I explain that, it’s important to note how important your Instagram foundations are: stories and feed. Start in those places.
Stories are where you nurture and connect with your audience. Your Feed includes all sorts of things like graphics, photos, and videos. This is where you grow and serve your audience with your expertise and relatable content.
It’s really difficult to grow on Instagram and build a community of ideal clients/customers without curating a valuable feed and consistent stories. So that’s why I say start in those two places.
Now back to my point about pairing your best skills with an Instagram feature.
Instagram users read content and watch content. I’m going to assume that you either enjoy writing or enjoy speaking. If you like both, that’s even better.
If you love writing, get really good at writing captions and create educational carousels.
Start your caption with a hook and end it with a call to action. Captions can be long or short. Mix it up depending on what graphic or photo you’re sharing. If something warrants a longer, blog-like caption, use line breaks and emojis to make it easier to read.
When your caption gets really, really long, turn that post into an educational carousel. A carousel simply means more than one photo or graphic when you upload, which allows the user to swipe left and right to see more. An educational carousel is a term that’s used on Instagram for carousels that include multiple slides of graphics that teach or inform on a particular topic.
People read quickly on social media and often skim for words or phrases that stand out. When you have really valuable info to share, putting it in a carousel format will likely get more engagement. It’s easier to consume and more enjoyable to look at. If you’re sharing valuable info in your captions, but you are NOT creating educational carousels, you are missing out on potential growth and engagement from your audience because your full caption is only visible if someone clicks on it.
Repurposing tip: Look back at a recent post that had a really long caption. Can that caption be turned into a carousel? Create it using Canva or another design program like Illustrator, or work with a brand designer to create templates that you can use.
IF YOU love speaking, training, and coaching, short-form video is your new best friend.
Don’t waste your time on Instagram trying to write the perfect caption or create a branded graphic when you could just say what you want to say in a Reel. Especially if you don’t even like writing!
Short-form videos are entertaining, easily consumable, and the algorithm loves them. Connect with your audience by using Reels and going Live. IGTV is great for longer videos if you have more to say than what can fit in a 30-second Reel.
Video is the quickest way to grow on social media, so if you are a great speaker or you want to get better at showing your face on camera, Instagram Reels are where you should focus your time. The beauty of social media is that videos don’t have to be perfect. Done is better than perfect.
Repurposing tip: Look back at your Story archive or past feeds posts. Was there a teachable moment that can be repurposed into a Reel? Answer an FAQ, teach a how-to, or share one of your best tips.
So are you a writer or a speaker or both? Will your feed be filled with videos like Reels or inspiring and educational words in captions and graphics?
You’re using Instagram for your business because you have something to say and something to share – at least I hope so!
Share your expertise in ways that come naturally to you. Your audience will connect with that because it shows authenticity. If you’re trying to be someone you're not, you’ll quickly burn out.
There isn’t a one size fits all for Instagram strategy. There isn’t a magic formula for instant success. Lean into your strengths and share your message the best way you know how.
