Last month, a founder came to us frustrated. Their Instagram was running at 14 posts a week. Their team was burned out producing content. Engagement had flatlined. And the question they asked us was: “Should we post even more?”
The answer was no. But the more important answer was: you’re asking the wrong question.
Activity is not momentum
There’s a seductive logic to volume. More posts means more chances to be seen. More content means more touchpoints. And in the early days of social media, this was essentially true—the algorithm rewarded consistency and frequency above almost everything else.
That era is over.
Today’s platforms—and more importantly, today’s audiences—don’t reward volume. They reward relevance. The question isn’t how often you show up. It’s what happens when you do.
The brands that win aren’t the loudest. They’re the ones that make you feel like they made something specifically for you.
The three things marketing actually has to do
Before you think about tactics, channels, or cadence, get clear on what marketing is actually for. In our experience, it has exactly three jobs:
- Make the right people aware you exist. Not everyone—the right ones.
- Give them a reason to trust you. Faster than your competitors do.
- Make it easy for them to take the next step. Whatever that step is.
Notice what’s not on that list: frequency, reach, follower count, or likes. Those are proxies—sometimes useful, often misleading.
The signal we actually look for
When we audit a client’s marketing, the first thing we look for isn’t output—it’s signal. Specifically, we ask: Is there any piece of content or any channel that’s doing the work? That’s generating the leads, the referrals, the DMs, the enquiries?
Almost always, yes. There’s one piece of content that keeps getting shared. One channel where the quality of engagement is different. One message that resonates. And almost always, it’s not getting the attention—or the budget—it deserves.