I posted one Instagram Reel everyday for 30 days straight.
I have a goal to grow my Instagram account, so I’ve been trying out various strategies this year. On a weekly basis, I participate in a few Facebook engagement groups, but I don’t always gain followers. It’s more of a like-for-like – which is great when I’m making sure my paid collaborations get enough reach.
I didn’t try to post any static photos during these days. My only goal was to post one video every day for 30 days.
Here’s how it went!
Day 1 – Sunday June 19, 2022
I visited the Nasher Sculpture Center in the middle of June for a media day. I got to tour the art in the gardens and see two of their exhibitions for the summer.
I love to try the Amazon Prime Try Before You Buy program. It’s perfect if you want to check out what they have to offer since they don’t have retail stores.
I didn’t need to post a second one today, but I had this one ready to go!
Day 2 – Monday June 20, 2022
I received a complimentary PR box from Good Molecules in the mail. They sent quite a few items! I was surprised. The items are clean beauty products and have a great, low price.
Day 3 – Tuesday June 21, 2022
Walt Disney World sent me this video of my ride on the Tower of Terror (I’m in the back row) and it’s so twilight zone 👻
Disney Memory Maker is a way for you to download all the Disney PhotoPass photos during your visit – including select attractions and dining locations! The photos and videos are connected to you online Disney account with your MagicBand. You can view, download and share your memories on the My Disney Experience app 🙌
This was easy for me to create because I already had posted another ride video they shared. I duplicated it and changed out the video.
Day 4 – Wednesday June 22, 2022
I found the cutest way to display a collection of pins 💕 Zack and I bought so many collectible pins from the Walt Disney World and Universal Studios parks that we didn’t know what to do with them 🤷♀️ We’re not the collector types 😂
I created a Floating Frame Disney Pin Collection Display Board | DIY. You can also see what it cost us to go to Disney in 2022.
Day 5 – Thursday June 23, 2022
I added a new item to my home office, so this video is a timelapse of assembling the Ikea Trotten cabinet with locking doors. It comes in white or black. And the middle has an open space for whatever materials you need in an easily accessible area. I added this item to my home office!
And for a second video today I shared a simple summer brunch outfit. This one did really well because I used Beyonce’s new song. When writing this it has 26K reach and 1.2K likes. This is the most viral of any of my content in less than 24 hours.
*This is still the best reach any of my content has done since posting. It may have messed up my stats over the long-term growth.
Day 6 – Friday June 24, 2022
I shared how to use the Algenist Prebiotic Balancing Mask, which is a vegan probiotic and prebiotic color-morphing mask that detoxifies, rebalances, and hydrates the skin. It doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin. You can read more about my sensitive skincare routine here.
And for a second reel, I was painting all day, but my husband and I took a break to go out to dinner. So I shared a short clip of my outfit. No thought went into this one.
Day 7 – Saturday June 25, 2022
This one is just a clip of the delicious desserts we picked up from la Madeleine French Cafe and Bakery. We got a fruit tarte and a mini cheesecake.
Day 8 – Sunday June 26, 2022
I painted the house most of the day and this is how far I got in my office. We painted over the blue walls for a crisp white!
Day 9 – Monday June 27, 2022
I was working on a blog post for this reel. It’s how to paint the doors when you take them off the hinges! I replaced all the hinges and knobs throughout my house.
Step 1: remove door from hinges and remove knob hardware
Step 2: paint panels with brush
Step 3: paint the rest of the door with a foam roller, let dry
Step 4: lightly sand (with 220 grit) and sand out any imperfections
Step 5: repeat steps 2-4 on same side, let dry
Step 6: flip, repeat steps 2-5 on other side
Day 10 – Tuesday June 28, 2022
I got the Ikea Baggebo glass cabinet for my keepsake items. It’s another piece that I’m assembling.
Day 11 – Wednesday June 29, 2022
I tried to clean my area rug with a power sprayer, but the weather was so overcast that it didn’t dry out. I shipped this rug off to Stanley Steamer for a deep clean! Talk about wasted energy on my part and having to pay someone else to fix my mistakes.
Day 12 – Thursday June 30, 2022
I saw another person use this sound so it was really easy for me to film this because I was sitting at my desk. I had also cleaned everything the day prior, so my desk is not always this good looking, haha.
Day 13 – Friday July 1, 2022
I shared some highlight moments from my camera roll of Disney’s Animal Kingdom! I had the best time with Zack at that park. It was our first day of the trip and we got through the entire park by 3 p.m.
Day 14 – Saturday July 2, 2022
We went to Hopdoddy for lunch. I really love their classic burgers! We probably stop by every other month after running errands.
Day 15 – Sunday July 3, 2022
I liked the sound for this reel. So I scrolled through my camera for a quick video and I thought this one was cute. Again, no strategy behind posting other than finding a sound I liked.
Day 16 – Monday July 4, 2022
I woke up and found a funny sound to use, so I put this reel together from my trip to Universal Studios. They did not have any Flaming Moe’s… which was such a bummer!
And later on we took the dogs out to a park, so I ended up posting twice this day! It’s a feat in itself when I find it easy to post.
Day 17 – Tuesday July 5, 2022
A short video of me and my walking buddy, Hank.
Day 18 – Wednesday July 6, 2022
I curled my hair before heading off to the Swimply pool party. It’s an easy before and after transition.
I also jumped on this sound for a second video of the day before I left the house.
Day 19 – Thursday July 7, 2022
My friend used this sound, so I created a quick video. It got one like! Haha, apparently feet videos are too cringe for the “cringe” sound.
And I saw someone else create this video using this sound. I always have multiple types of drinks are my desk, so I feel this relates to me!
Day 20 – Friday July 8, 2022
I tried out the trend “the video versus the pictures” from the Swimply pool party.
Day 21 – Saturday July 9, 2022
I wasn’t feeling creative, so I went through my camera roll. I had some photos of my dinner at Provender Hall this spring and turned it into a video.
1. I tagged the restaurant and used it’s location in my post.
2. I shared the menu items in the photos.
3. I used relevant hashtags to Fort Worth
It got 30 likes so it genuinely did better than a lot of the previous reels I’ve posted during this challenge.
Day 22 -Sunday July 10, 2022
I made a summary video of the Swimply pool party I attended.
This video got 35 likes (at the time I posted this article). I think this video did well because I was with 10 other Instagram friends at the event. Not only was I being tagged in their posts, but I was also tagging them in my own posts.
Day 23 – Monday July 11, 2022
This morning I woke up to 1,004 followers, so I finally hit 1K! Thank you all for following me, I’ve also changed my title to be “Fort Worth Blogger” to see if that has any effect on my posts.
For lunch this morning I was invited to attend the Portillo’s grand opening of their Beef Bus tour around the metroplex – before their grand opening of their first Texas location in The Colony.
And this one had 34 likes at the time I posted this – same with the Swimply post the previous day.
Day 24 -Tuesday July 12, 2022
I ordered some clothes over the July 4th sales. I’ve been working on the videos for my try-ons lately. I love these red shorts, but they are a size 8 and too big on me (such a good thing since I haven’t been consistently working out since I lost 10 pounds.).
Shop Loft Look
Day 25 – Wednesday July 13, 2022
I’m working through more clothing try-ons, but I didn’t add a title to the video like I did with yesterday’s item. It didn’t do that well.
Day 26 – Thursday July 14, 2022
I’m still working through my clothing try-on, but this one did so much better than the previous day. I didn’t post a cover, but I think I edited the images first.
I posted a second time today, and it did okay, but I thought it would’ve done better with the engagement growth I’ve seen over the previous few days.
Day 27 – Friday July 15, 2022
Since the meal at Provender Hall did well, I tried to recreate it with a meal from Mi Dia in Grapevine. It got 13 likes – so not as well as I hoped.
The restaurant did reach out to ask me to use my video as their own and give me credit back. They, of course, had a lot better engagement.
Day 28 – Saturday July 16, 2022
The sound I found this morning said “show me a beautiful view” so I scrolled back to my Disney content. I found this gorgeous video of the Epcot Flower and Garden festival to share. I love all the colors!
Day 29 – Sunday July 17, 2022
I was invited to my friend’s house for swimming and dinner today. The food was beautiful and in-season, so it was difficult not to share.
I worked on a blog post about how much my Disney vacation cost. I spent time creating all these Instagram story posts to put in a highlight and Instagram asked me to turn the highlight into a video.
This has 85 likes at the time of this post. It did surprisingly well after the Sunday dinner post only got 3 likes.
Day 30 – Monday July 18, 2022
I created a summary reel of all my try-ons from the Nordstrom #NSale. I threw it together and it only got two likes.
What I Learned from posting one Instagram Reel Everyday for 30 Days
Since I took the time to post every day for 30 days, it should’ve been easy, right? No. Not easy at all.
I felt rushed to create some days and I think that’s why some posts did worse than others.
- The reels that I shared to my grid had significantly lower performance than if I only posted a reel.
- I didn’t focus on time of post, so that may have affected any early morning posts. Since a lot of my engagement happens in the evening.
- Reels didn’t always get many views within the first couple of hours. Sometimes it took overnight to see the reach climb over 1K.
- Anything in the travel category seemed to do the best overall.
- Any of my influencer event posts received the most engagement.
Is it worth it?
It’s tough.
There’s a mental toughness that comes when you’re forcing yourself to be creative. I found that I was languishing because I didn’t feel “good enough” to post some of the videos.
And reviewing the likes on this post has made me think to myself “why do I even do this?”
If I share what I want to share, I only get three likes. You can see why some people feel miserable on social media.
It was about halfway through the challenge that I finally saw my followers reach over 1K. At the end of the challenge I had a total of 1,029 followers. After 30 days of posting reels, I’ve seen a growth of about 96 followers overall.
Are you creating reels? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments below!
XOXO,
Katie
10 Responses
These results are so interesting and helpful, this blog post can help many creators. Thanks for sharing!
This is a really great idea to gain more followers. I agree that it’s tough but I know soon you’ll get more followers!
I absolutely agree that it is so tough, I am also having hard time gaining more followers but I know it’s part of the process so I just need to push it more.
The post that you used Beyonce’s music in seemed to blow all the other posts out of the water by means of likes, wow! It’s also interesting to see how hit or miss posts can be with consistent posting. It feels like anyone who has a lot of bad things to say about how easy content creation is doesn’t understand all the work that goes into what we try to do, too. We have to wear so many hats to retain and gain any kind of following outside of like-for-like type services too!
I really need to create reels but it’s hard for me. I’m camera shy and don’t like doing it.
I like your patience and determination. I’ve heard that Instagram does show your posts to more people if you post on a regular basis and it’s better if it’s every day.
This is a great experiment. I was wondering if reels can really help especially for followers growing but it’s not how I thought.
That’s interesting! I think influencers have all wondered what the results would be from doing this… So cool that you actually did it!
I struggle with posting videos. This is an accomplishment for sure! It is interesting to read what you ended up with for results.
I’ve read somewhere that reels are getting more reach than static posts. With your experiment, I think it’s a case to case basis. Thanks for sharing your experience.