Starling isn't growing. Here's exactly what to change.
We pulled two years of Starling's Instagram, 993 posts. The posting keeps up fine. The problem is the mix: we spend the most effort on the posts that reach the fewest people. This page shows the numbers, then gives you the plan and a checklist to run it.
The problem in three numbers
39%
of our posts are plain color "beauty shots." They reach the fewest people of any topic.
9%
of our posts are how-to / tips. They reach the most, about 2.5x a beauty shot.
2 in 3
posts are Stories. They eat most of the effort and bring only 18% of the reach.
Put simply: we make 4x more beauty shots than how-tos, and beauty shots reach the least. We're making the most of the weakest post and the least of the strongest.
The proof
What we post vs. what it reaches (2 years, 332 grid posts)
What we post
Share of posts
Avg reach
How-to / tips the reach winner, we barely make it
9%
693
Salon / booking / offers
18%
403
Stylist / team / behind the scenes
22%
301
Color "beauty shots" our biggest bucket, reaches the least
39%
279
And by format: a Reel reaches 2.3x what a photo reaches (500 vs 216). We post about 50/50, but Reels bring 70% of the reach. So the fix is two moves at once: more Reels, and more how-to.
The plan
What to post in a typical month
Same 15 posts a month you already do. Just this mix instead of the current one.
Post type
How many
Format
How-to / tips up from about 1 a month
5
Reels
Color, but written to teach "how to keep this color," not "look what we did"
4
Reels
Stylist / personality / BTS
3
Mix
Salon / booking / offer
2
Mix
Trend / popular audio
1
Reel
That comes out to about 11 Reels and 4 photos a month (roughly 70% Reels), up from half and half. Same amount of work, a lot more reach.
The rules that make it work
Five things, every month
1Hook on every post. Open with a problem or a question. Never a label like "auburn balayage by Wendy."
2A color photo only goes up if it teaches. How to keep it, who it suits, what upkeep costs. If it can't teach, cut it.
3Put a named stylist on camera whenever you can. People follow people.
4One trend or popular-audio Reel a month. No skipping it. Our one all year was our most-shared post.
5Stories are reminders only. Stop treating them as the real work. They're two-thirds of the effort for almost none of the reach.
See the difference
Post more like the left. Less like the right.
✓ More like this · 2,645 reach
Reel, opens with a problem: "Stop fighting your hairline every morning." A hook plus a tip. Reached the most people all year.
Photo, caption just labels it: "Warm brunette with airy, face-framing layers." Beautiful work, but the words only describe the picture, so there's no reason to save it. Reached 100 people.