Reeling in New Followers

In September 2023, my @beeraficionado feed hit 30k followers on Instagram, exactly ten years after the account made its first post. One year later though, the audience now sits at 44k followers (+47% in Year 11) and has never had more engagement. While what I do on the platform is far from a 1:1 match with what a brewery or brand should do to grow on social these days, the core principals apply to any type of account, including breweries. This article is going to focus on building a simple system to ensure that an Instagram account is able to balance staying true to its core, while also putting itself in position to grow in this wacky algorithmic world.

I think of social media strategies & plans the way I would an offensive system in football. There’s different formations for different situations and each has a series of if/then scenarios that require the ability to improvise. Like any sport, you don’t start out having mastered the playbook. Instead, you improve through repetitions which, like exercise, gets easier and easier each time you do it.

An example of a simple system to build around would be to break your content and the planning that precedes it into different categories, such as:

• X% - Content that takes you wide

• Y% - Content that takes you deep

• Z% - Content that’s authentically you

Content That Takes You Wide

Content that takes you wide has to be relevant to millions of people. It can’t be about the impact of thiolized yeasts on lagers. Wide aiming posts tend to be less about you and your brand, and more about the industry, interest, or setting you’re a part of. They can still find parallels to your brand, voice, ethos, or sense of humor. The point of these posts are to appeal to what most people come to social media for these days whether that’s to shut off their brain, have a laugh, or learn something new. Nobody opens Instagram hoping to be sold a new 4-pack of Hazy IPA, so that shouldn’t be the goal when trying to go wide.