What to post on Instagram for your business: short educational or story videos, built from formats that already worked in your market and rebuilt in your own voice. On an established account, about 70 percent of posts should be useful to people nearby, 20 percent proof and 10 percent offer. When posts get no engagement, the usual reason is that they are about the business, and the person watching has no reason to care.
My posts get no engagement. What should I post instead?
Open Insights, write down the views on your last 20 Reels, and sort them. The middle one is your median. Any post near five times that number is an outlier, and something in it worked. Most stuck accounts have one or two. Make more like those.
Then look at the bottom of the list and ask one question of each post: would someone nearby watch this if they never planned to buy? "We're open Saturday" fails. "Three things to ask before you hire a roofer" passes. The posts at the bottom are usually flyers, sale graphics and product photos with nothing happening in them.
If the posts get watched and the problem starts after the view, why your Instagram is not getting customers tests each step.
How do I find post ideas that will work?
Danny Quesada calls this the Reference Method. You stop inventing posts and start from what has already worked near you.
- List 10 accounts: competitors, businesses on your street, and the local accounts your customers follow.
- On each account, compare its recent posts with each other, using whatever count the post shows you (views, likes or comments). You want the post sitting about five times above that account's usual. Never compare one account with another.
- For each outlier, write down the opening line, the topic, the angle and the length.
- Rebuild the format about your business. Keep the structure and write it about your own work.
A landscaper notices that a nursery's Reel, "Which plants survive a dry summer?", sits far above the nursery's other posts. The rebuild is the landscaper walking a client's yard: "Three plants I would pull out before August." Same question, same shape, his yard and his voice.
How much of my content should be promotional?
About 10 percent. The rest has to earn the attention first.
| Type of post | Share on an established account | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Useful to locals | about 70 percent | A dentist explains a first cleaning. A coffee shop shows how it dials in the morning espresso. |
| Proof | about 20 percent | A customer story, a before and after, a review read out loud. |
| Offer or about you | about 10 percent | A new menu item, open booking times, the team behind the counter. |
A brand-new account runs closer to 90/10: nine useful posts for every one about you. At three posts a week, the 10 percent is about one offer post a month.
What kinds of posts work for a local business?
Educational and storytelling posts. The process behind the thing you sell. The person a customer will meet at the counter. The product close up and in use. One customer and what changed for them. The owner talking to camera works too, so try it at least once. Instagram content without being on camera covers the rest. One batch day on your phone gives you Reels, carousels and stills; filming Reels at your business has the setup.
What should I stop posting?
- Dances and trending audio. A neighbor learns nothing about why to walk in.
- Flyers and sale graphics as the main feed. Keep them inside the 10 percent.
- Anything that could have been filmed in another city. If a neighbor cannot tell it is your shop, reshoot it in your space with your people.
The outlier check takes an afternoon. If you already know which formats win and the unfilmed ideas keep piling up, Launch Social brings a crew to your business 2 or 4 days a month to film them.
Questions people ask
What should a small business post on Instagram every day?
Daily stories: quick, low effort, and seen by people who already follow the business. Feed posts and Reels go up on a schedule the owner can keep, usually three to five a week. The guide to how often to post has the hours behind each schedule.
Should my business use trending audio on Instagram?
No. A business account grows on educational or storytelling posts. A trend tells a local customer nothing about what the business does or why to come in.
Can I copy what other businesses post?
Copy the format, never the words. Keep the structure that made another business's post work and fill it with your own business, people and opinions.
Why does one of my posts do well and the rest flop?
A post that does far better than the rest is an outlier: a format that worked. Write down its opening line, topic and length, then make the next three posts in the same shape before trying anything new.
Related
- Social media management in San Diego
- Why your Instagram is not getting customers
- How to write Reel hooks
- How often to post on Instagram for a business
Want this done for you? Book a free 15-minute call with Danny. We look at your account and the businesses you compete with, and you leave with a written plan for your next 90 days, whether you hire us or not.