This episode is a really good one and super timely. I did one like this last year, and it got one of my highest downloads. The reason I'm doing it again is because people asked if things changed from last year, if things were different in the summertime.

Why is my engagement down in the summer? Why does it feel like nobody's on in the summer? It's a really normal question to ask. And after this episode I aired last year, I got more DMs about it than almost anything I've ever done before. So everything I said last year still applies, but there's way more to the story now because Instagram in 2026 is just different than it was a whole year ago.

So this is gonna be like an updated version of what to post in the summer, what's going on with engagement in the summer, basically everything that you're thinking about for Instagram in the summertime. The Instagram summer dip is real. It is not your fault. Engagement drops every single year between May and September because people are out living their lives, especially in the US.

We're on summer break, teachers are off, kids are off, kids are home, we're taking vacations, we're doing things, and everyone's freaking busy. I know I am. But there are some things that are new from last year that are different than that. What's new with all of that is that engagement was already down across the board before summer even started.

Instagram engagement dropped significantly platform wide over the past year. So if something is feeling off, you are not imagining it. The platform shifted a ton, and summer now is just gonna add another layer on top of that. So this episode is gonna be about navigating both of these things at the same time.

So we're gonna take this in, like, three different sections. So section one, we're gonna chat about the Instagram algorithm and what people actually want from you. The thing that has changed this year as compared to last year, and this one people still get wrong all of the time, the metric that matters most on Instagram right now is watch time.

If someone watches your reel the entire way through or watches it twice or swipes through your entire carousel, that tells the algorithm that your content is gonna be worth pushing out to more people. Right after that is going to be send or share rate, that little arrow, like it's a little paper airplane button.

If people share or send your reel or your post with their friends, that is going to tell Instagram to share it to more people. How often is somebody sending your post to a friend in the DMs, sharing it to their stories? Likes are still important, but they're not as important as that full watch time and the shares So the question to ask before you post something is not necessarily will people like this, it's will people watch it till the end?

Will they wanna send it to somebody? If you focus on those two things, that's gonna be the most helpful for your account. Section two I wanna chat about is how much you should actually be posting in the summer. So here's what I want to be really clear about because I see two completely different camps on this, and both have validity.

If you have the capacity to post five, six, seven or more times in a week, you don't have to slow down. You can keep going. I really believe that the more you post, the faster you're gonna learn what's working for you and what's working for your content. You get more data faster. You get more chances for something to take off because you're posting more reps.

Volume is a good advantage when you can sustain it without burning out. But If summer hits and life got full, and realistically you cannot show up and you can only show up two to three times a week, it is okay. I'm gonna tell you why. Studies now show that accounts that are posting less but posting more intentionally are still seeing very strong engagement.

The algorithm doesn't necessarily punish you for posting less, as long as you are still posting consistently. So two, three times a week, that's totally fine. This is your summer permission slip to post as much as you can without losing the quality or without losing your mind. That number and that amount is going to be very different for every single person.

That being said, a lot of people do take off in the summer, so if you do have capacity to post, your post might have a better chance of reaching more people because other people are not posting as often. Okay, section three. Stories are your biggest weapon right now. It's your big secret weapon. Here's why it matters more now than it did not in the summertime.

Because when your reach on the feed posts dip in the summer, your stories audience is very likely still showing up to check out your stories. Stories keep you visible and keep you connected without the pressure of looking at all of your performance metrics. This is where the casual summer content can live.

Behind the scenes, polls, quick questions, real moments, and it keeps the relationship warm between you and your audience in between when you're posting. Stories are your summer best friend. And another thing to think about is people are nosy. We are nosy. We want to know what you're doing. We wanna know what snacks you're giving your kids.

We wanna know what you're, where you're going on vacation. We wanna feel like we're there with you and see all the fun stuff you're do- doing, and think about, "Should I go there with my family?" I am doing a deck right now. My husband and I are, are building our deck by ourselves. We're doing a DIY deck. And that story, the stories I post about that, they're getting more watches than a lot of other stories.

It is so funny to me how people are, just wanna know what you're doing. Like, literally think it's boring. I think building a deck is boring and it's not fun, but people wanna know about it. Go figure. All right. So let's talk about some practical fixes for your summertime content. I want you to think about batching two or three reels or posts before any vacation time or time off, and I want you to just schedule them ahead of time.

That way you don't have to think about it when you're out on your vacation having fun. Last year, I thought I was going to have time while I was on vacation to, like, post a few times, um, like post a few reels. I didn't. I think I posted once for a whole week, and that's fine. Totally fine. But if I would've maybe planned ahead and posted one or two during that week, then I wouldn't have felt as bad for taking a little bit of time off.

The next thing I want you to focus on is shift your content towards focusing on watch time. Think, would somebody watch this the whole way through? What's my reason for giving them all of this information? What's their reason for making it all the way to the end of the carousel or the reel? Second, I want you to think about, why would somebody share this with somebody else?

Think about content that will hook f- hook them in fast, deliver everything that you say you're going to deliver, and then make someone wanna send it to their friend Next thing to think about is I want you to repurpose your top three performing posts from earlier in the year because new followers haven't seen that yet, and the algorithm will still push them.

You don't have to post the exact same thing, but think about your top three posts from January so far till now and see how you can kind of put a spin on that for the summertime. That way you don't have to work as hard. Next tip is let stories carry your connection, your personality, so that way your feed can kind of just stay your feed.

But if you just bring that connection piece into your stories, it's gonna be super helpful. And lastly, if you take a full week off, maybe schedule one reel, maybe do a couple of stories. That's enough to stay visible. Do not beat yourself up in the summertime. It is okay. I need you to remember that showing up less in the summertime is not quitting.

Sometimes we really do need this reset. We need time off of Instagram because we just get overwhelmed and burnt out, and then we can come back refreshed and with a new perspective and wanna try a new strategy. It's not falling behind. It's not quitting. The people who burn themselves out are trying so hard to post consistently and keep up with their schedule that they burn out by the end of summer.

So I really just want you to think of a schedule that you can stick with this summer and just do that. Do your bare minimum. And if you can do more than that, fantastic. Truthfully, after I took that, like, almost that week off, I came back and I was so jazzed and excited about my new content because I had so much more to talk about because I wasn't just constantly, like, pumping out random things.

It was like I had a strategy and I had actual things that I wanted to say. So that break can actually be the best thing for you. As with all of these episodes, I love ending with a recap and an action challenge. So your recap is that you need to know that summer engagement dip is normal. Platform-wide shifts are making it feel bigger this year because engagement is already down across the board this year as compared to last year.

Remember, watch time is the number one signal right now, then followed by sends and shares. If you can post a lot, keep doing it. Volume is gonna help you learn faster. If you can't, that's okay. Two to three quality posts a week is still good. Stories are gonna be your lowest effort and highest connection tool for your entire summer.

I want you to repurpose what already worked earlier this year. Do it now in the summer, and rest is part of your strategy You don't need to continue to post. I don't recommend taking a whole month off, but if you gotta take a week off or if you wanna take a week off and schedule a few posts while you're taking a week off, do that.

Your action challenge for this week, you're gonna look at your top three posts from January through May. You're gonna pick one, and you're gonna repost it this week with a fresh caption. That's it. That's your summer post. Done. Don't double think it. And if the stories piece is where you wanna start because it's just super low pressure, it's a way to stay visible, and you can still sell in your stories, I have something for you.

It's my $17 100 Stories That Convert, and I'm gonna link it in the description. It gives you done for you story prompts so you can stay connected with your audience. So it has 100 stories that sell, and then it also has another 150 engagement stories as well on top of it. So it's $17. If you never know what to post on stories, it's fantastic place to start.

I highly recommend it. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day, and enjoy your summer. I'll catch you next time. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you're walking away with at least one actionable takeaway to make creating content easier. If you loved today's episode, it would mean the world if you could take 10 seconds to leave a review or screenshot this episode and tag me on Instagram.

I'd love to connect and see your new content. Always cheering for you. See you next time