Optimizing Your Instagram Settings
for Maximum Growth:

Ensuring your Instagram settings are correctly configured is crucial for performance. Misconfigured settings can negatively impact growth, while the right ones can enhance reach and engagement. Since this course focuses on growth, let’s ensure your account is optimized for success.


Step 1: Check Your Account’s Niche Alignment to verify if Instagram’s algorithm correctly understands your niche:

1.Open Incognito Mode (to avoid personalized bias).

2.Search for your account.

3.Click "Suggested For You" under your profile.

✅ Ideal Scenario: You see accounts related to your niche (e.g., if you’re in motivational

content, other motivational pages appear).

⚠️ Red Flag: Unrelated accounts suggest the algorithm doesn’t recognize your niche,

requiring optimization.

How to Fix Niche Misalignment:

1. Tweak your content to be more niche-specific.

2. Engage consistently with similar accounts (liking/commenting).

3. Adjust hashtags/bio to reflect your niche clearly.

4. "Warm up" your page by gradually increasing activity.


Why This Matters:

* Ensures Instagram pushes your content to the right audience.

* Maximizes growth opportunities by aligning with the algorithm.

* Stay tuned—more high-impact strategies are coming up in this course!


Avoid Instagram’s In-App Scheduler for
Optimal Performance

A common question I receive revolves around Instagram’s built-in scheduling and auto-publishing feature. While the convenience of automating posts is appealing, extensive testing—both in my experience and among other marketers—reveals that auto-publishing often limits content performance.



Why Auto-Publishing Caps Your Reach

Algorithmic Impact: Scheduled posts frequently hit unexplained view ceilings (e.g., stalling at 2K or 10K views), with only rare exceptions.

Lost Optimization Opportunities: Last-minute refinements (thumbnails, captions, video edits) are impossible with pre-scheduled content, yet these tweaks often make the difference between virality and underperformance.


The Manual Posting Advantage:

When posting in real time, you can:

✅ Optimize thumbnails based on real-time previews.

✅ Refine captions and hashtags for maximum engagement.

✅ Adjust video length or formatting to better resonate with viewers.

These micro-decisions—made while actively posting—significantly impact performance. Instagram’s algorithm appears to reward hands-on, intentional publishing over automated workflows.


Key Takeaway

For growth-focused accounts, manual posting remains the gold standard. While scheduling tools save time, they often sacrifice reach and adaptability. Prioritize being present at the moment of posting to seize every optimization opportunity.