What’s Working on Instagram Halfway Through 2025

I remember when two reels with trending audio could reach thousands and fill a program with a couple hundred followers. That was a season. Today, a reel can still land, but buyers take a lap. They follow for a bit, read your emails, listen to your podcast, maybe skim a blog, and only then feel confident enough to say yes. That is not a problem to fix. It is a sign to adjust.

If you are building your business in the mom cracks of your day, the last thing you need is a plan that demands constant posting plus heavy outbound engagement. In this solo episode, I walk you through how I am shifting my five step framework so Instagram plays to its strengths and the rest of your marketing carries the pieces that actually require time and depth.

We get into

• What changed on Instagram and why buyers now take longer to decide

• How to use Instagram as part of your bigger picture marketing plan, given these changes

• Why that slower path can create better fit clients, stronger testimonials, and more referrals

• How this change saves time and brain space when you do not have hours for engagement

• The role of clear, consistent messaging so every piece connects and nothing starts from scratch

If Instagram has felt harder or slower, you are not doing it wrong. We are in a new stage. Let Instagram open the door and start the conversation. Let your long form and email build confidence so when you make an offer, your people are ready.

Mentioned in this episode

• Buyer Journey Content Map my free guide to plan what to say, where to say it, and how each piece supports the five steps to sales.

Episode Transcript

Sydney (00:00):
If selling your stuff on Instagram feels slower or more difficult
lately, you are not imagining it.
Things have changed both on Instagramonline marketing in general, and
how buyers are making decisions.
It's kind of like when your kidshit a news stage and the routines
you used to rely on don't quite workanymore, so you have to make some
tweaks to fit where they're at now.

(00:21):
That is exactly what we're doing here andwhat I'm going to explain in this episode,
the overall five steps to sales frameworkthat I teach . Is still applied, but
how Instagram fits into that needs to bechanged given the changes we're seeing.
Because as always, I never wantyou to waste time and effort on any
kind of strategy or tactic that isnot gonna get you that return on

(00:44):
your time and energy investment.
'cause you have so littleof those two things.
We need to make sure it's goingtowards the things that are actually
going to help your business withoutyou losing your ever loving mind.

(01:56):
Now, I don't know how long you havebeen in business, but I remember a
time where you could post a coupleof reels with trending audios.
It would reach thousands and thousands,even if you only had a couple hundred
followers and you could fill yourone-on-one spots or fill your group
program without a ton of effort.
It was a magical time.
I'm not gonna lie to you now.

(02:18):
Instagram is more selective aboutwhat it shows and who it shows it to.
And there's also been ashift in buyer behavior.
Buyers are taking more time.
They wanna get to know you, understandyour approach, and feel super,
super confident before they say yes.
And this can be contributed to a lotof things, you know, the economy.
So many people having online businesses,the amount of marketing we see every

(02:42):
day, all day, like so many things.
So it's not a bad thing, okay?
When someone chooses to work withyou after following your account,
reading your emails, listening to yourpodcast, checking out your blog, all
of these things, they're a better fit.
They're more excited and they'remore committed, which is great
for both returning customers, forgetting testimonials, for future
customers, for getting referrals.

(03:03):
We love this.
This is great.
This is not bad.
However, given the changes in buyerbehavior and Instagram marketing,
we're need to shift our marketingstrategy to make sure we are still
getting these top notch quality, likethe best of the best dream clients.

(03:24):
So, like I said, the five step to sales.
It hasn't changed.
Growth, engagement,connection, trust, and sales.
Still the same.
But now, given what we know aboutInstagram, how it's not as reliable
for consistent sales without a ton anda ton of time and effort and outbound
engagement, that I'm pretty suremost of us just don't have time for.

(03:45):
I'm switching it around.
I'm not doing all fivesteps just on Instagram.
Instagram is gonna be good for stepone and two, growth and engagement,
getting that visibility, gettingin front of the right people,
starting to foster relationshipswith those people through engagement.
And right now you might be thinking, I'mstill getting sales on Instagram, or can
I still sell directly from Instagram?
Absolutely, yes.

(04:06):
If you're still gettingsales, I love that for you.
Keep doing what you're doing.
That's great.
I am not saying I'm nevergonna sell on Instagram.
I'm saying
when I plan all of my marketing contentyou know, emails, blog posts, podcasts,
all of these things, I am not goingto have Instagram be its own thing
for all five steps when I plan it,I'm going to make sure I am really.

(04:28):
Utilizing Instagram, mostlyfor steps, one and two.
Now, when I have a big launch, amI gonna mention sales on Instagram?
Absolutely.
Of course.
Um, it would be silly not to, but I'mnot going to stress too much about
getting sales from Instagram 'causeit's not the best use of our time.
When you're building a businessin the mom cracks of your day, you

(04:48):
want the effort you put in to giveyou the biggest possible return.
And asking one platform tocarry all five steps is a lot.
And right now it's notthe most effective way.
Knowing what we know about buyerbehavior, um, and your lack
of free time and brain space.
. So like I said, now when I plan mymarketing content and I am working

(05:10):
through steps one through five, . ForInstagram specifically, I'm gonna use a
lot of step one and two content there.
With those goals in mind.
Steps three, four, and five isgoing to not only be, but mostly
be my long form content, my emailmarketing, things like that.
So think of your email list, yourpodcast, your blog, anything like that.

(05:34):
These are the spaces whereyou can tell deeper stories.
Really foster that connection.
Share client wins, share case studies.
Explain your process in a waythat truly builds confidence.
And it's the same idea that I've alwaysshared for Instagram content, right?
Every post should worktogether to leads to sales.
Now, as I'm shifting my strategy, asI'm shifting my business with these

(05:56):
changes, we're just zooming out a bit.
We want every piece of your marketingto work together to lead to sales.
And like I said before, owninga business is very much like
parenting, as is marketing.
When your kids grow, you don't throwout every strategy that worked before,
but you do need to be able to adapt.
That's all that we're doing now.
This is just like.

(06:17):
When a bedtime routine needs to changebecause what worked before just no longer
fits and you, you gotta adapt and moveon so you can still get that end result
that you need, which is hopefully.
An easy bedtime where they stayin their own beds the whole night.
That's, that's the goal anyway.
And that's exactly what we're doing here.
The five steps to sales still applies.

(06:38):
We're just letting Instagram play toits strengths right now and letting
your other platforms do the rest.
So we're not putting so muchtime and energy into one thing
and expecting results that we'rejust ultimately not gonna get.
And again, it's not that you're not goingto get them, but if you are short on time,
like I'm sure you are it's not as doable.

(06:58):
It takes a lot, a lot of engagementand a lot of posting, and I know
that my audience being mostly mombusiness owners or just busy woman
entrepreneurs, that's not super doable.
And it doesn't make sense tocontinue to give you advice on
solely using Instagram for sales.

(07:20):
When we have very little time to work andfor it to work, we need a lot of time.
So when you have all of your marketingworking together, you can stop feeling
like you're starting from scratch.
Every time you post, every time you writean email, write a blog, whatever it is,
Instagram can help get people in the door.
It can start those conversations andthen you can use your other platforms

(07:42):
to continue the conversation, to buildthat trust, to build that confidence.
And when you do make anoffer, they're ready.
And as we're making thisshift, I really want to.
Talk about the piece thatmakes everything work.
Like the big picture strategy isso important, but even that is
not going to work if you don'thave your messaging down pat.

(08:04):
And this is more than just, youknow, knowing these generic pain
points or knowing who you help.
It's digging in really, really deep.
So that you can turn these casualfollowers and email subscribers into
someone who feels like you are intheir head, describing exactly what
they've been struggling with, andshowing them that you can help them
with the solution for their problems

(08:27):
you could have the perfect mix ofplatforms and know exactly which steps
in your strategy belong where, where topost what for those steps in the strategy.
But if your message isn't clear andconcise and consistent, your audience
won't be able to connect those dots.
You're not gonna get those dream clientsI talked about earlier, and they might
see your posts, they might join youremail list, but without the message

(08:48):
that speaks directly to their needs,their experiences, their goals, it's.
Not likely they're ever gonna beready to buy for you, especially when
there are so many people doing onlinebusinesses that could also help them.
And I'm not saying this to scareyou or make you rethink anything.
This is a real opportunity here to justdig deeper into why you do what you

(09:11):
do, who you help, why you help them,why your offers are perfect for them.
When your messaging is strong, creatingyour content feels a lot easier, and
it stops feeling like you're throwingrandom pieces out into the void, and
you have this overall strategy to guidepeople to being ready to work with you.

(09:33):
So this is how it all fits together.
So Instagram, like I said, stillplays a big role within the strategy.
It's gonna be steps one and two.
It's where you're most likelyto get in front of new people
and start the conversation.
But now, instead of expecting it tocarry the whole sales process because
we just don't have time for all theengagement it takes to do that right now
we're letting it do what it does best,
and letting your other platforms handlethe rest and messaging needs to be

(09:57):
the constant throughout all of this.
It's what makes your growth andengagement content actually connect.
So you're attracting the absolutedream clients that work with you,
that give you referrals, that give youthe great testimonials, all of that.
It's what makes your connection, yourtrust, and your sales content feel
like a natural next step, like a warminvitation instead of, you know, these

(10:19):
hard sales pushes that just feel so icky.
We hate that.
And it's also why your audience recognizesyour voice no matter where they see
you, whether it's on Instagram and apodcast, on a blog post and an email.
All of that is what makes your marketingfeel intentional instead of scattered.
So when you combine a clear, consistentmessage with a marketing plan that
spreads the five steps to sales acrossthe right platforms, you get more out of

(10:43):
every minute you spend creating content.
You're not starting from scratch everytime you post and you're building on
a story that your audience alreadyknows and believes in, and that is
how you work smarter and not harder.
So you can still get results withoutspending a ton of time on Instagram
where you might not be getting the most.
Return on that time investment.

(11:03):
So again, if Instagram sales havefelt slower or harder lately, it's not
because you're doing anything wrong,it's just because we're in a new stage.
All right?
That's kind of online business in general.
Our job now is to workwith it, not against it.
We're gonna use Instagram for whatit's best for right now, and letting
your other platforms carry the rest.

(11:24):
Keep your messaging front andcenter so everything you share
is pulling in the same direction.
Marketing is gonna start to feel easierbecause you're not relying on one post or
one platform to do all the heavy lifting.
You are gonna have a connected strategy.
You're gonna have that clear, concisemessaging that guides your audience
towards buying, and that message is gonnabe everywhere your audience sees you.

(11:48):
If you want help mapping this outso you know exactly what to say,
where to say it, and how it all fitstogether, I've created a new freebie.
It is linked in the show notes.
It's called the Buyer Journey Content Map.
This is the exact process I use toplan content across Instagram, email,
and long form content platforms, thinkpodcasts, blogs, things like that.

(12:09):
So every piece is working togetherto guide your audience from.
Oh, hey, I just found you too.
I am so excited to work with you.
So go ahead and grab the buyerjourney content map in the show
notes, and I am so excited to beback in your earbuds next week.