The results? Were undeniable (and entirely unexpected).

🚀 Our account exploded, our engagement skyrocketed, our sales directly from Instagram took off, and more importantly —

The shifts — and results — we witnessed? They are *ENTIRELY* as a result of five primary things we’ve changed.

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Keeping up with Instagram (or any social media) can feel like a huge chore, – right?

You want to spend less time creating content and more results from what you post.

Now that you have over 60 graphics at your fingertips, what comes next?

How do you know what kind of content you “should” be making?

In Spring of last year, we committed to this resolution — stop creating content you don’t actually like — and dramatically shifted our content strategy.

We committed to creating content we actually *liked* and more of what WE wanted to see. For us that looked like:

✅ Carousel posts that are jam-packed with value that’s relevant to our people

✅ Real, relatable, and really fun– that’s the kind of content that we want.

✅ Make it so good that people want to get off Instagram and explore your website.

So, if you are where we’ve been, these are the 5 content principles we swear by that make creating content much more enjoyable (and sustainable!)

Let’s dive in 👇.

TONIC’s 5 Rules to Make Social Media Suck Less

👉 01. Show up when you actually have something to say

A bid to connect with the actual audience you want, or some form of value to add (and yes, silly, funny, beautiful things add value.)

If you don’t have something to say, plan something to say. Your new social media templates are designed with prompts and ideas to help make this easier.

Post as often as you can while creating content you’re actually proud of. (We gained almost 30k followers posting twice a week. Quality > Quantity.)

👉 02. Add value, not noise.

After every post you draft, think, What benefit does this have for my reader? What’s their takeaway? How can I add even more value?

Add examples to your informational posts. Show what you’re learning + working on in real time (people love following a story!). Show up to serve, problem-solve, and connect.

👉 03. Create the kinds of content you actually want to see.

Sure, maybe you post that pretty, crowdpleaser Reel, but you attach a caption in your own, real freaking voice.

The motivational quote post has an honest, vulnerable, actionable caption instead just a breezy, “LIKE IF YOU AGREE.”

Study the content you like. Start telling better stories (here’s how). Try new things. What’s the worst that can happen — that post doesn’t perform? Test, iterate, refine, grow.

👉 04. Build a community, not an audience. 

Respond to your comments with more than a few heart emojis. Ask good questions in your DMs. Engage with the people engaging with you. Create more of the content your insights show people want from you, and ask what they need help with next. (Then follow through.)

And hey, when you stop thinking of them as “followers” and start treating them like individual people, this app gets 10000% better. 

👉 05. When you see someone creating content you love, engage like hell with it!

Make it absolutely clear you want more of THAT, damnit. Comment, share, save, sing it from the rooftops. The algorithm has to serve us more of what we love, so put it to work for you. Let the algorithm KNOW.

And take heart, content creators (which is all of us at this point): Don’t give up making the original, thoughtful, excellent work you’re entirely capable of just to be seen on this app.

Do it, whatever it is, your own way.

(And now, do it much easier / faster with your new Canva templates!)

Use your real voice, lean into your weird, your gifts, and create the kind of content only *you* can create. (We’d argue you also need a killer website and an email list where that content can live sans-algorithm).