14 Things To Do (& Not Do) When Your Instagram Post Gets 5 Likes

'throw phone at wall' may or may not be included

We’ve all been there. Spending upwards of 133 minutes on a Reel—finding the clips, editing them together, choosing the right audio, making sure the text appears when it’s supposed to, writing a clever caption, hitting publish with a teeny tiny sense of accomplishment, and then…

crickets.

or… possibly even worse… a few measly likes from a friend, maybe a family member if you’re lucky, and a couple of people you don’t really know…

What is a mere mortal meant to do in this most dire (and relatable) of situations???

Take my hand, I’ve got you 🤗

Photo by Nathana Rebouças

To Do

• Pretend you’re a mad scientist and, in a few weeks’ time, analyse the post (along with others from the past month) like you’re analysing various parts of a small creature under a microscope—is there anything about this post that could be affecting its performance? Don’t be sentimental about it… this is cold hard analysis

• Review your content creation process—do you have one? Does it involve coming up with an idea, creating it, posting it on the same day? The process may need to change

• Review your overarching strategy—do you have one? If you answered sort-of-not-really, then book onto a training course or hire someone to help you. It’s nigh-on impossible to see results from social media marketing without dedicated time, focus, and strategy

• Get off Instagram. Learning what works best comes from analysing other high-performing accounts but your next idea(s)? Those come best when you’re away from your screen walking the dog, jogging, cooking, doing anything else

• Accept this universal truth (& repeat after me): Sometimes great content performs badly. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason.

• That being said, the majority of content posted on Instagram could be better. If you find that yours keeps missing the mark, consider booking time with a social media strategist to audit your account

• Remember that Instagram can be great—but it’s not the be-all and end-all and one (or three or eight) rubbish posts will not make or break your business. Promise

• Show another marketing channel some love—ideally email, but it could be LinkedIn or YouTube or Substack, too! The great thing about diversifying your marketing strategy is that you don’t have all your eggs in one basket. Less eggs = less tears of frustration when one gets a little cracked

To Not Do

• Hover over the ‘delete’ or ‘archive’ button for 10 minutes

• Down a shot of the nearest available alcohol

• Question your existence

• Take a long leave of absence from the platform

• Spend 25 minutes scrolling through your competitors’ content

• Give up… because social media success isn’t about singular posts doing very well—it’s about the bigger picture. Are we trending up and down, increasing or decreasing engagement across the month? (not day to day)

Any do’s or dont’s you’d add?

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