Key takeaways
- Filming in one block and spreading the posts over the week saves you most of the daily effort.
- Three formats you can repeat are easier to keep up than a new idea every day.
- Profile visits and tracked clicks tell you more about a post than views do.
What does a three-hour week look like?
| Day | Task | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Film four to six clips, safe for work and within each platform’s rules | 90 min |
| Tuesday | Edit, write captions, schedule and send for approval | 45 min |
| Wednesday to Sunday | Posts go out on set days and you answer comments | 25 min in total |
| Friday | Check reach, profile visits, tracked clicks and the minutes you spent | 15 min |
That comes to roughly three hours, although the times are only a planning estimate and you’ll want to adjust them to your own pace. If a team takes over editing, scheduling and posting, the filming and the final yes or no are all that’s left for you.
Which formats are worth repeating?
A format is a template with the same structure and new content each time. Three are enough to start with, as long as they stay within what you’re comfortable with and within the platform’s rules.
- A short story: 15 to 20 seconds about one small thing from your week or your work, such as a shoot day that went sideways.
- An answer: a short reply to a question your followers keep asking, without anything explicit.
- A reused clip: a safe-for-work clip from material you’ve already filmed, with a new first line.
From one shoot you can usually cut several posts, such as a teaser, a close-up detail, a short story about the day, a text-led version and a still. Each platform should get its own cut and caption, because formats, rules and audiences differ. Our traffic mix guide helps you decide where your main effort should go, and a one-page brand brief keeps everything sounding like you.
How do you know whether a format is working?
For each post you log reach, profile visits, tracked link clicks and the minutes it took, and you judge every post at the same age, such as 48 hours after it went live. Ten clicks can’t tell you which format won, so you’ll need more data than that. A video with huge view counts and no profile visits may help people get to know you, but it won’t do much for your subscribers this month.
A format deserves a few more rounds with a new opening before you drop it, because one weak post doesn’t say much, while four weak posts with clear numbers do. Anything that crosses your limits or breaks a platform’s rules should stop, however well it performs.
Instagram introduced Trial Reels in December 2024, which let you test a reel on people who don’t follow you before your followers see it. Availability can change, so check your own account. Trial Reels don’t exempt a post from the platform’s rules, and they don’t guarantee reach.
How does approval work when a team posts for you?
We send you ideas and finished posts for your approval before anything goes out. Your limits are agreed once and written down, including whether your face appears, whether your location could be recognized and anything else you want kept off the page. After that, approving a post mostly means checking it against that list, which saves you from briefing everyone again each week. You can read more on our social media growth page.
What does the first month look like?
In the first week you write down your baseline (profile visits and tracked clicks per week), your limits and your three formats, and you set up one tracked link per channel. During weeks two and three you run the routine as planned and leave everything else alone, so you have clean numbers to look at. In week four you compare profile visits per post and per hour, put more time into your best format and drop the weakest one.
A month is long enough to see which format deserves your time, although it can’t tell you what the following months will bring, and we wouldn’t promise a particular result either.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I post on social media?
Pick a number you can keep up for three months, for example three posts a week on your main channel, and raise it only when that feels easy. A schedule you keep will do more for you than a burst you can’t sustain.
Should I post the same video on every platform?
No, each platform should get its own cut and caption. Formats, rules and audiences differ, and a file pasted across every channel often fits none of them.
What shouldn’t I post just for reach?
Anything outside your limits or a platform’s rules, because reach from content that gets an account restricted costs you more than it brings in. If you’re unsure about a format, check the current rules first or leave it out.
Would you rather spend your week filming than scheduling? Tell us about your page and we’ll get back to you within 12 hours.