Underperforming posts indicate a willingness to experiment with new formats, hooks, and ideas outside of what has already worked. This experimentation is crucial for long-term growth and creativity, whereas a feed of only successful posts suggests a stagnant, risk-averse strategy.
When a post outside your core topic goes viral, it attracts followers interested in that tangential subject, not your primary niche. This new audience segment won't engage with your regular content, leading to lower overall engagement rates and confusing the algorithm about who your ideal audience is.
The strategy of using a short, looping video with a long caption to "trick" the algorithm into seeing a high watch rate no longer works. The algorithm has adapted, and more importantly, audiences find this clickbait-style format annoying, leading them to disengage, scroll past, or even block the creator.
Contrary to popular belief, hashtags are no longer an effective growth strategy. Data now indicates that posts with zero hashtags, on average, receive more views than posts that use them. The more hashtags you use, the fewer views you are likely to get. Focus on content quality instead of hashtag research.
When a post with a valuable idea or story underperforms, don't discard the concept. The failure is often due to the format or hook, not the core message. Instead of starting from scratch, remake the content using a different style or visual presentation to give the strong idea a second chance to succeed.
While sharing a feed post to your Story can slightly boost the post's views, it harms the Story's performance. The Stories algorithm prioritizes watch time and DMs. Sharing posts encourages users to click away from the Story, signaling negative engagement and causing the algorithm to show your future Stories to fewer people.