sorry not sorry
I've noticed a weirdly consistent phenomenon on Instagram: when I take a break from posting for a few weeks (which is almost always unintentional), my next post when I'm back gets SO MUCH REACH.
When I mention this to other people, absolutely no one shares this experience (but definitely correct me if you do!)
I always assumed that my algorithm must be uniquely kind or something, but like most "it must be the algorithm" assumptions, I knew that was unlikely.
This week, it happened again. I have a light client load this month (unless you want to change that 😈) and have been should-ing myself about getting back in content mode, but I am still living in moving chaos, and would rather be meticulously organizing my "open pantry" or arranging mood lighting than sitting at my desk trying to think while surrounded by threatening piles.
Obviously the only place for an idea to come through was in the shower, thinking about how I do feel bad about disappearing, but it's kind of annoying to see someone apologizing for disappearing because they dared to live their dang life.
Please don't apologize to me, I don't care, why do you even feel bad?? But here I am, with nothing to share because my mind is elsewhere, and feeling guilty about it. So I thought I would make a little fun of these kinds of posts, sprinkling in drops of truth as all humor does, processing and making light of my own Situation along the way.
I sat down, pulled a bunch of photos from me ~living my life~ recently, had fun editing them, and a rare meme-esque post was born.
Feel free to use any of my excuses for your own disappearances.
It turns out that being "sorry but not sorry" for disappearing is very relatable. No one wants to post when there is other stuff going on, and everyone feels weird about it.
This post, my first in five weeks, had THE HIGHEST reach of any post I have made in the last 2 years.
At first I thought, the thing is happening again — I took a break and got weirdly high engagement.
But once I thought it through this time, I realized it's not the algorithm at all — it's people. (gasp!! in this economy???)
It's that when I get to the point of "giving up" on ideating ~~strategic~~ content, that's when I actually make something human, relatable, and funny that people want to share and talk about.
A good un-strategic post becomes entertainment, not marketing, so of course it performs incredibly well. Yet, it's also a little strategic, because it's relatable to people who feel that obligation to post, who are business owners, who are my target market.
Has that engagement translated to leads? Not really. But it is accomplishing my particular goal on socials, which is to remind my people that I exist — because they all came out to engage (thank you!)
Usually I figure that if I'm going to put in the time to write something nice and design something cool, it better be worth my time and everyone else's. It better be a mic-drop truth BOMB to justify the feed space. It better fucking sell something. That's the ultimate reason for showing up at all, right?
But let this be a reminder to my fellow efficiency freaks that sometimes it is the most strategic move to just say what you want to say, because those on the same page as you are already thinking it, and there's no other way to get back in touch with your creativity around your content.
Showing up as you are, without specific strategic intent, is usually better than not showing up at all. And it's probably still on-brand, because it's YOU unfiltered.
Meanwhile, the sunlight is dappled, and I'm gonna go sit in it before I worry about coming up with my next big content idea.
