There’s one thing I think we keep getting wrong about “valuable” content.

We assume the more useful sh*t we can cram into one post, the more valuable it becomes. But if you want to know how to get more shares on Instagram, that’s usually the first habit to undo. Posts get sent when they give people something to DO with the information, not when they hold every tip you know.

So we pack in one more tip. An extra slide. Another example. Maybe a checklist at the end. We basically turn the post into a PDF.

And what we’ve made is something VERY comprehensive that someone saves, nods at and quietly files away with the other 472 posts they’re “definitely coming back to one day.”

You know that folder. You’ve got one too. (Mine has recipes in it from 2022 that I have never once cooked.)

Why do my Instagram posts get saves but no shares?

Because saving and sending are two completely different decisions.

A save says “this is useful, I might need it later.” Very polite. Very private. Nobody else is involved.

A send says “this is about us.” Me and my business partner. Me and the client who keeps asking for “just one small change.”

We don’t only share information because it’s useful. Sometimes we share something because it carries on a conversation we were already having.

Maybe it explains the thing we couldn’t quite get across to our partner over dinner. Or it reminds us SO specifically of a friend that sending it without any context is enough. No message. Just the post, sitting in their DMs, doing all the talking.

That needs a slightly different kind of value. And the jam-packed post usually doesn’t have it, because there’s no room left in it for the person reading.

Why do shares matter so much?

Think about where a sent post actually goes. Straight into the DMs of someone who probably doesn’t follow you yet, with a personal recommendation attached. “You need to see this.” That’s a stranger meeting you through a friend they already trust, which is a much warmer introduction than turning up on their Explore page between a cat video and a cake.

A save mostly stays with the person who already found you.

And look, I love a save. Saves tell you the post was useful. But if every post you make is designed to be filed away, you’re mostly talking to the same people over and over, and wondering why nobody new is turning up.

There’s also something lovely in it, if I’m honest. Somebody sat on their couch, saw your post and immediately thought of a specific person in their life. Your content became part of their relationship for a minute. I find that a much nicer thing to make than another very thorough document nobody opens again.

What makes a post shareable on Instagram?

Room. Enough room for the person consuming it to bring their own situation into the post and see themselves reflected in it.

Maybe it’s their clients. Their business. Their weird person who keeps resending reels in their DMs. That thing they’ve been trying to get off their chest for six bloody months.

When a post explains everything, start to finish, with every caveat and all eleven sub-points, it’s finished. There’s nothing left for the reader to add. They can learn from it, sure. But it’s hard to use it to say something to someone.

When a post names one thing really precisely, the reader fills in the rest with their own life. And then they want another human to see it.

Which is probably why some incredibly simple posts travel ridiculously far while the 14-slide masterclass you spent seven hours making sits there collecting saves. It’s sad and borderline unfair, but true.

One gave people information. The other gave them something to DO with the information socially.

What kinds of Instagram carousel ideas get shared?

There’s no magic formula, but I see a few patterns again and again in posts that get sent.

The “this is what I was trying to say” post. It puts words to something people feel but haven’t managed to explain. They send it to whoever they’ve been trying to explain it to.

The “this is so you” post. It describes a person, a habit or a situation so specifically that a name pops into the reader’s head straight away. Usually Helen. It’s always Helen.

The “see, I told you” post. It backs up an argument someone’s already been having with their partner or their team. Now they’ve got proof, and it comes with nice fonts.

The “we need to talk about this” post. It raises something slightly uncomfortable that’s easier to send than to say out loud.

What they have in common is that the reader can picture exactly who they’d send it to. The number of tips barely comes into it.

Should I stop making educational content?

And before someone reads this as “Tinna says stop making educational content”… absolutely f*cking not.

Teaching posts still matter. People come back to a good one, and sometimes a save is exactly the job you need that post to do.

I just think we need to stop using “how much did I teach?” as the only measure of how valuable something is.

You can teach and still leave room. One idea per carousel instead of five. A cover that names the situation instead of the topic. Picture “7 tips for better client boundaries” next to “When a client sends ‘quick question’ at 9pm”. People save the first one. The second one goes straight to their business bestie with a single eye-roll emoji.

Fewer slides, too. A carousel doesn’t need 14 slides to be valuable. Often the shareable version is six or seven slides that build one point properly and then stop. And if you’ve got 14 slides of material, that might be two or three carousels… which means you’ve also just sorted next week’s content.

How to make your next carousel more shareable

• Pick ONE idea. If you’ve got five, park four of them for other posts.
• Before writing anything, ask “who would someone send this to?” If you can’t picture that person, rethink the angle.
• Write the cover so it names a situation or a feeling, not only a topic.
• Leave room. Cut the slide that covers every exception and let the reader bring their own example.
• Use as many slides as the idea needs and stop when the point is made.
• Check shares in your insights, not only saves, and note which posts actually got sent.

Sometimes the most useful thing your content can do is make someone grab another human and go, “Helen, THIS. This is what I was trying to say.”

Helen will appreciate it. And honestly, so will your reach.

Want to build carousels people actually send?

Carousels are what grew my account in the last couple of years. 40K new followers in 8 months from carousels alone, and most of those carousels were bloody simple.

The Carousel Studio is where I teach how I put them together: the hooks, the covers, the slide structure and the design in Canva. It’s a self-paced course with 29 lessons and lifetime access, so you can work through it around school runs and real life.

If you’re tired of carousels that only collect saves, have a look at The Carousel Studio.