The fastest way to kill an Instagram or Twitter account is to make every post about you and your product. The fastest way to build one is to be genuinely useful 90% of the time. The 70/20/10 rule enforces that.
The split
- 70% — educate or entertain in your niche. No CTA, no product pitch. Just stuff your ideal customer wants to see whether they buy from you or not.
- 20% — community. Repost a customer's photo, run a poll in Stories, reply to a comment with a video, share a collaborator's post. You're showing your audience to your audience.
- 10% — direct promotion. New product, sale, link in bio, book a call. This is the slot that pays the bills.
Why the ratio matters
Instagram's ranking signals are dominated by saves and shares, not likes. Educational and entertaining posts get saved and shared. Promo posts get scrolled past. If 100% of your posts are promo, your reach collapses and even your promo posts stop being seen — including by people who already follow you.
The platform rewards posts your followers actively send to a friend. Promo posts are almost never sent to a friend.
Examples by industry
- SaaS for designers: 70% one-shot design tips and tool walkthroughs · 20% reposting customer work · 10% feature launches and pricing
- Solo coach: 70% short frameworks and client wins (anonymous if needed) · 20% "ask me anything" in Stories · 10% open slots and program launches
- Local restaurant: 70% behind-the-kitchen and recipe-style Reels · 20% reposting guests · 10% specials and reservations
How to enforce it
In this app's Calendar view, look at your next 10 posts. Count how many fall in each bucket. If you have 6+ promo posts in a row, delay or swap them. The discipline is the strategy.