Last week, I posted on Instagram every single day. Seven posts. Same account. Same audience. Same effort.

One post got 59,109 views.

Another got 2,652 views.

Same week. 22x difference in reach.

I tracked everything. The formats. The hooks. The CTAs. The engagement. And I found something that completely changes how I think about Instagram.

Here's what I learned.

The Week 1 Data

Let me show you exactly what happened:

Look at that spread. Day 1 got 22x more views than Day 7. Same account. Same week.

What made the difference?

The Discovery: It's Not About Comments

On Day 6, I ran an experiment. I asked people to comment 'HERE' if they were following along. It was a test: does high comment volume increase reach?

189 people commented. That's more than any other post that week.

And the reach? 2,798 views. The lowest of the entire week.

More comments didn't mean more reach. In fact, it got the opposite.

Compare that to Day 1:

• 310 saves

• 28 shares

• 10 reposts

• 59,109 views

Instagram doesn't care if people comment. It cares if people SAVE.

The Pattern: Saves Drive Reach

When I laid out all seven days side by side, the correlation was impossible to ignore:

Day 1: 310 saves → 59,109 views

Day 2: 8 saves → 6,403 views

Day 3: 4 saves → 4,344 views

Day 4: 13 saves → 4,079 views

Day 5: 5 saves → 3,703 views

Day 6: 5 saves → 2,798 views

Day 7: 12 saves → 2,652 views

The posts with more saves got more reach. Every single time.

Why? Because a save tells Instagram: 'This content is valuable. I want to come back to it.'

A comment just tells Instagram: 'This post got engagement.' But not necessarily that it's worth showing to more people.

Why Day 1 Worked

So what made Day 1 so save-worthy?

The hook was specific and shocking:

"174 people saw my last post. I have 25,000 followers."

That number contrast made people stop scrolling. 174 out of 25,000? That's a 0.7% reach rate. Brutal. Relatable.

I named the exact frustration:

"What's the point of Instagram anymore?"

Not 'here's how to fix your Instagram.' Not 'try these 5 tips.' Just the raw, honest question everyone's thinking but not saying.

I was vulnerable, not polished:

I didn't position myself as the expert with all the answers. I positioned myself as someone in the trenches, confused and frustrated, figuring it out alongside everyone else.

The format was a carousel:

Multiple slides meant multiple touch points. People could swipe through, save it to come back to, and revisit specific slides later.

People didn't just engage with Day 1. They saved it. Because it put words to what they were feeling. Because they wanted to reference it later. Because they wanted to share it with other coaches who felt the same way.

What Didn't Work

Days 2-7 all had something in common: they weren't as save-worthy.

Day 6 (the comment test):

I asked people to comment 'HERE' to test if high comment volume drives reach. It got 189 comments but only 5 saves. Why would anyone save a post that just says 'comment HERE'? There's no reference value. It was engagement bait, not valuable content.

Days 2-5:

These posts had good hooks and relatable content, but they didn't hit as hard as Day 1. The frustration was there, but it wasn't as visceral. The numbers weren't as shocking. The vulnerability wasn't as raw.

People engaged. They commented. But they didn't save. And without saves, Instagram didn't push the posts.

The Real Lesson

If you want reach on Instagram, create content people want to save.

Not content that gets comments (though that's nice).

Not content that gets likes (those barely matter).

Content that people want to come back to. Reference. Share with someone who needs to hear it.

What makes content save-worthy?

• Deep relatability - 'This is SO me, I need to remember it'

• Reference value - 'I'll need this later'

• Shareable truth - 'My coach friends need to see this'

• Emotional resonance - 'This put words to what I'm feeling'

• Actionable insight - 'I want to implement this'

Day 1 hit all of these. Days 2-7 hit some. But not all.

What I'm Testing Next

Now that I know saves are the metric that matters, I'm doubling down.

Week 2 is all about creating save-worthy content. Different angles. Different formats. All designed to make people want to bookmark, reference, and share.

I'll keep tracking everything. And I'll report back next week with what works and what doesn't.

Because if one post can get 59,000 views while another gets 2,600, there's a formula here. And I'm going to figure it out.

This is Day 10 of my 90-day Instagram experiment. I'm posting every day, tracking everything, and sharing what actually works for real business owners running real businesses. Follow me here if you wanna tag along.