I run my own author account for my Christian fiction/romance books. I also help promote other authors on my account. My target audience is Christian romance readers who enjoy gritty faith-filled romances.

I have been utilizing carousels, reels, and trends to share my content. Since I am not currently launching a specific book, I am creating credibility and authority, promoting other authors and books, teasing upcoming books, and connecting with my audience.

This post is a carousel, because Instagram has been known to push carousels more lately. This is also a trend. You use a split screen effect where the top is something you say to yourself or do that is negative or has a negative effect, and the bottom is something that is more accurate or better for you. This post is relatable and works on building relationships with my target audience. You can see this in the sharing of my personal story, the comments, and the reposts.

There is a focus on God since my audience is Christian and the hashtags are top hashtags within my niche.

I have come to realize that my audience likes it better when there is a photo I have taken as the main photo. They don’t just want a graphic. So I post my TBR (To Be Read) every month with a photo I’ve taken. The caption is a quick write-up of the books, how I’m reading them, and why. I use hashtags that correlate with the types of books I’m reading and I tag all of the authors. Many times, the authors share the post through reposts or on their stories. You can see how well it connects through the comments and reposts.

This reel is my most viewed and most liked post. Instagram is still pushing reels more than anything on its platform. This is a review and aesthetics reel for Amber Nicole’s book Dare to Fall. The hashtags included in this post are the tropes of the book, which people are constantly searching. You can see how well it connected through the comments, reposts, and shares. The audio, visuals, and hook are also popular and eye-catching for Christian readers.

I’ve learned a lot about my audience through analytics and observations. But mostly, I’ve been focusing on building authentic relationships with other authors and readers on the platform, which I believe is the most important (and a lot of fun!).