What’s Actually Working On Instagram Right Now (132K+ Followers)

If your Instagram growth has plateaued, or you just want to take your engagement to the next level, this guide is for you.

Instagram can be an incredible tool for growing your audience, your email list, and your income; but, the strategies that worked a year ago, or even six months ago, don’t always work anymore.

Luckily, travel creator Emily Cooper is here to help. Emily has grown her Instagram @EmilyEatsAndExplores to over 132,000 followers in less than 5 years — including 5,000 from a single post. We’ll talk more about how she did that below!

In this guide, Emily breaks down:

• What’s changed about growing on Instagram — and what actually works now
• The types of IG posts that will help you grow the fastest
• How to build a content plan that leads to follows, saves, and shares
• Tips for turning Instagram growth into income
• And more!

By the end, you’ll have a repeatable framework for crafting engaging Instagram content that truly grows your creator business.

1) How did you get into travel content creation?

I spent four years working as an epidemiologist before the pandemic hit. While working from home, I fell down the rabbit hole of travel YouTube videos and started wondering how these creators were able to travel for so long.

A college friend who’d quit her job to teach English in Thailand became someone I really looked up to, and I remember thinking I could do that too.

That thought turned into two years of saving for what I called my “career break” of traveling through Southeast Asia for six months to a year.

While waiting, I started an Instagram account documenting the process of budgeting and how I was saving. Additionally, I hired an Instagram coach and learned the platform from scratch.

The account took off, and in April 2022, I left my job for good. Almost five years later, it’s still my full-time business.

2) What’s changed the most about growing on Instagram?

Instagram is constantly changing. A quick timeline of what’s worked:

• Early Reels era: Dancing videos and pointing at on-screen text. Nobody really knew what was working yet.
• The “read the caption” era: Shorter videos with heavy on-screen text, paired with beautiful, polished content.
• Right now: Personality content. Since AI can generate polished visuals in seconds, people want to see and hear an actual person instead.

My advice:

Push past the discomfort of talking on camera or doing voiceovers. That’s where the platform is heading, and it’s going to keep changing. That’s just the nature of it — and honestly, part of the fun!

3) What are your thoughts on niching down, and what does your content planning process actually look like?

I’m a big believer in niching down, at least to start.

My account grew slowly for the first seven months — I only grew to about 100 followers — until I committed to a specific niche: solo travel and budget tips.

A few things that can help with your growth:

• Pick 3–4 core content categories within your niche, and keep returning to those topics.
• Adjust based on what resonates by letting your audience tell you what’s working.
• Stay aligned. Once you grow, make sure any partnerships or new direction still fit what your platform is actually known for, or there’s a disconnect.

On cadence: I started by posting seven days a week, sometimes twice a day, which built momentum fast.

Now I post Monday through Friday, including a mix of carousels and Reels, around noon. Batching has been huge for staying consistent!

4) How can creators use Trial Reels?

Trial Reels is a newer Instagram feature that pushes a Reel to a wider, non-follower audience first, without showing it to your existing followers.

It’s a way to test what resonates before committing to your main feed.

I use it two ways:

Reposting proven winners. If something’s already performing well on my main feed, I’ll repost it to Trial Reels to reach a completely new audience.

A/B testing. Create a few versions of the same concept with different hooks, text, or audio and post them all to Trial Reels to see which performs best.

I use it less now since my priority is my existing community, but it’s great if you’re newer, looking to test an idea, or are nervous posting to people you know.

5) Do you repurpose old content? What does that actually look like?

Yes, definitely! There are a couple of ways I go about it:

Repost proven winners to Trial Reels. If something already performed well on my main feed, I’ll post it there to reach a new audience.

Repost the same video later with slight changes. Usually I’ll wait a month or two, sometimes longer. I always swap out at least one element first, like the hook and first clip in the video.

Repurpose the format, not just the video. If a specific topic or hook style did really well, I’ll create something new around that same structure instead of reusing the exact clip. I save every edited video in a folder, so I always have something ready to repost or repurpose if it’s doing well.

One thing that’s changed with the Instagram algorithm:

Instagram has gotten better at flagging videos that are exact duplicates. In the past, I would fully repost the same video with the same caption without any changes at all; however, I no longer recommend this strategy.

🎁 Don’t forget to grab your free Instagram Growth Cheat Sheet inside the Travel Blogger Resource Library! You’ll also get access to 75+ resources that can help you grow your traffic, email list, and income.

6) You mix carousels and Reels, including vlog-style, short clip, voiceover, and more. Is one type outperforming the others right now?

Right now, two formats are outperforming everything else for me:

Talking-head videos. These include me speaking directly to camera, whether a casual sit-down chat or live in the moment.

Carousel posts — which have made a real comeback after a couple years of Reels dominating.

Carousel tip: Instagram shows the first and second slide separately if someone doesn’t engage with the first. Put a hook on both slides so the post still makes sense either way.

I also run a longer voiceover vlog series (about a minute long). It doesn’t get pushed to as wide an audience since watch time matters so much, but my audience loves it, so I keep it going anyway.

Shorter trend-based content has become less of a priority overall, but I will do this if a trend speaks to me and I think it would be fun.

7) When you’re planning a specific post, do you start with the hook, the CTA, or something else?

It depends on the situation:

• If I have a story to share, I start with the hook.
• If I’m in a selling phase, like promoting a product or service, I think about the CTA first.

Every caption ends with a short blurb: a quick intro, an invite to follow along, and a specific ask when relevant — like “comment HANDBOOK to get my free travel creator handbook.”

People still read captions even when the CTA isn’t spoken aloud, so I treat that first line as valuable real estate. It’s the only part visible before someone taps “see more.”

🎥 For more tips, check out this video on how to script engaging Reels:

8) You recently gained 5,000 followers from a single post. What made it work?

Followers have become one of the hardest metrics to grow. People are more hesitant to hit follow, and even if they do, they might not see your content afterward.

The post that grew my followers quickly was a talking-head video of my completely authentic reaction to an unexpectedly gorgeous hotel view in Switzerland. I had a ManyChat automation set up so people could comment a keyword to get the hotel link.

Once I saw that the post was getting traction, I gated that link behind a follow as a test — and it worked!

A few people pushed back, and I provided them the link anyway even if they didn’t want to follow. That said, most followed anyway, and I’ve held onto that boost two months later.

It’s not a tactic for every post, but it’s a good example of testing a strategy on content that’s already gaining traction.

9) Beyond followers, how do you increase other engagement metrics on Instagram?

Right now, saves and shares matter more to the algorithm than follows or likes.

Savable content tends to be educational, like detailed itineraries, specific breakdowns, and information that people will want to reference again.

Shareable content tends to be relatable or funny — the kind of thing someone forwards to their group chat or tags a friend in.

I also drive comments by asking direct questions. One of my most viral videos simply asked people to share a popular destination they didn’t enjoy.

When it comes to Instagram engagement, specificity matters: broad tips (“visit the Amalfi Coast!”) don’t earn saves the way specific details do (why stay in Sorrento instead, and what that trade-off actually looks like).

10) How can people use IG Stories strategically?

Instagram Stories won’t grow your account the way Reels or carousels do, but they’re one of the best tools for:

Connecting with your most loyal audience. I poll my community regularly (like asking what platform they edit on) to understand who’s actually following me.

Selling. The people watching consistently tend to be my most invested followers, so it’s my go-to spot to promote a launch or group trip.

I also use Stories for more personal, behind-the-scenes content — what I’m doing, eating, reading day to day — stuff that doesn’t always fit my main feed but that my audience genuinely enjoys.

11) You monetize in a variety of ways, like group trips, a membership, and brand deals. How do you leverage Instagram to build these revenue streams?

Instagram is the foundation of my entire business:

My email list was built almost entirely through Instagram, via ManyChat automations tied to my free travel creator handbook.

My membership and offers came from listening to my audience. I kept getting asked the same questions, so I built paid programs around them.

Brand partnerships started organically through tagging products I already used, then reaching out for my first affiliate deal after watching what similar-sized creators were doing.

One practical tip: keep a running list of brands sponsoring content similar to yours. It’s a good signal they already have budget for creator partnerships and will be helpful when you sit down to do collaboration outreach.

12) How do you know when a content plan isn’t working, and what’s the first thing you change?

I recommend testing new strategies and content types for at least 90 days.

I’ve watched so many creators abandon a new series after just a few underperforming posts, only to miss the algorithm eventually picking it up.

13) Thank you so much for sharing your Instagram tips! Where can people find you?

• @EmilyEatsAndExplores (Instagram)
• Free Creator Handbook

Recommended Tools For Instagram Growth

ManyChat (includes 30 days of the Pro Plan free). An automation tool that lets you send freebies, blog posts, and other links via Instagram DMs when someone comments a specific word or phrase on your post.

➡️ Click here for a full list of recommended tools and resources for creators.

Bonus Social Media Strategies

Learn how to:

• Create engaging Reels that get saved and shared
• Become a viral travel influencer
• Use Instagram Stories to grow as a travel creator
• Create content that sells & converts on social media
• Enjoy social media (growth strategy included)

➡️ Click here for the full Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast episode list!

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What Instagram strategy tips would you add to this guide?