If you use Instagram for marketing your coaching business I’m sure you’ve experienced some changes in the app and the engagement your content receives.

You’re absolutely not alone!

Instagram is certainly not how it used to be, Reels have become more popular and it makes sense for us as business owners to adapt how we approach the app to get the best results for us.

In this post I’m going to share a new strategy I’ve discovered and implemented called the Evergreen Instagram Funnel Strategy.

You can see it on my Instagram Grid right here.

If you love the idea of never having to post on the grid again, this might be for you!

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How I approach Instagram

Instagram is a very interesting app. It’s always been the place where I felt the most triggered and caught up in comparison.

Due to that, a couple of years ago I made a conscious decision to shift how I viewed Instagram in my business. Instead of being the main thing I did to market myself, I shifted Instagram to be somewhere that amplified what I was doing in other places – my blog, YouTube channel and email list etc.

I focused on using repurposed content for Instagram and really lent into the platform being a fun place for me to share my whole self, behind the scenes stuff and amplify my other work.

This completely shifted how I showed up on the platform and I started to really enjoy it without the pressure of likes and followers.

I found that writing myself an ‘Instagram Manifesto’ was massively helpful, whenever I started to feel crap about the platform I could revisit my manifesto and remind myself why and how I was showing up there and put everything into perspective.

The changes to Instagram

Instagram, like all social media platforms, has changed a lot over the last couple of years. Short form video in the form of Reels gained the most attention and engagement but even creating this kind of content, engagement as a whole has dropped on the platform, it can be glitchy and I think there’s a general feeling of more and more people falling out of love with the platform.

With these changes in mind, it makes sense to shift how we approach the platform. If we’re there with the purpose of marketing our coaching businesses, it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of time doing something that simply isn’t working or that isn’t enjoyable.

My own WTF moment came after I’d taken a couple of weeks off posting regularly and had then created a carousel post which only got a handful of likes and minimal engagement.

It made me realise that my return on investment in terms of time spent creating the post v the engagement just didn’t make sense.

That was when I decided to do something a bit different.

What is working on Instagram right now?

Before I get into the new strategy I’ve implemented I just wanted to touch on what actually is working on Instagram right now. These are all alternatives to what I’ve ended up doing, but I didn’t feel these would work for me for lots of reasons:

Posting loads

Basically this is where you post a fuck tonne of content, ideally 2-3 times a day 7 days a week. Lots of Reels. I did actually try a version of this, because content repurposing has always been a part of my strategy, in theory I felt like I would have more than enough content to create posts with.

However I quickly burned out trying this, not because the content wasn’t there but I just didn’t have the brain space. Plus I don’t really believe this is sustainable unless you’re putting 100% of your effort into Instagram for your marketing – and even then, that is a risky move given that none of us can control what happens to Instagram or your account in the future.

Focusing on Reels

It’s no secret that posting short form videos is what’s working right now across a lot of platforms. I’m still finding my feet with Reels and even with this new strategy I’m going to want to be doing more of them so watch this space!

The Evergreen Instagram Grid Funnel Strategy

So I was feeling pretty despondent with Instagram and then I came across Laura Willson’s post in Elizabeth Goddard’s group about this Evergreen Instagram Strategy. I learned that it was created by Kirsten from Going Ultra Violet and the more I learned about it the more I wanted to try it.

Do go and check out Kirsten’s posts about it here.

Like me, the others who had implemented the strategy were seeing that the ROI for creating grid post content (graphics, images, carousels etc) just wasn’t stacking up as the engagement was so low.

Instead of churning out this content that wasn’t exactly winning any engagement awards, the concept of this strategy was to post a set of 9 (or 12 etc) grid posts, often in an ‘Instagram Puzzle’ where several separate posts all connect visually when viewing the grid.

The content of these posts acts a bit like an email welcome sequence funnel or a sales funnel towards a particular product or service.

The idea is that once you’ve created your 9 post Instagram Funnel, it sits there on your grid, new followers can learn more about you instantly and it saves you having to create any more grid post content leaving you free to direct your energy into Reels and Stories – the bits most of us find enjoyable and where we get some engagement!

How I implemented it

Since experimentation and play are big values in my business, and because the summer holidays are fast approaching (where I reduce how many hours I work) I decided now was a great time to give this strategy a try!

I started off writing 9 captions for my posts taking inspiration from Kirsten’s feed and Hunter’s feed. My approach is to use the posts like a welcome sequence and I plug a few of my different services in the grid.

Then I designed a puzzle of grids in Canva (you can also purchase templates from Creative Market which make this a lot easier!)

Then I just posted it all and done!

I also explained to my followers what it was and why I’d chosen to do it.

Would this work for me?

If the idea of this sounds appealing then definitely check out everything on Kirsten’s site and her Story highlights on IG.

I think this is definitely a strategy worth considering if:

• Instagram is not your main marketing platform
• You don’t really bother much with IG but want to have some kind of presence there if people might be searching for you
• You’re not a massive fan of social media and want to reduce how much time you spend creating content
• Experimenting with new things feels fun and exciting

Something worth noting about this strategy is that it’s really designed for new followers and to get those new followers you’re probably going to need to be posting Reels and on Stories consistently. On its own, it gives you a presence on the platform and takes a lot of pressure off you but that’s it.

Next steps

I’m going to leave my Evergreen Funnel Grid in place over summer and then review it in September. In the meantime I want to find my feet with Reels again and post a bit more often to Stories.

I’ll report back how things go in my next BTS post!

I’d love to know if this has inspired you to consider this strategy? Let me know in the comments.

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