Chapter 08 · Reading the numbers
After
you post.
Most travel advisors stop thinking about a reel the moment it goes live. That's where the biggest learning gets left on the table.
The reel itself is one data point. What you do with the data is what compounds over the next twelve months.
This chapter is short — but it's the chapter that turns reels from random acts of effort into a system.
What to track (and where).
Open your reel inside Instagram. Tap the Insights button at the bottom of the reel. You're looking at four numbers.
Plays.
Total views. The headline number. Useful as a directional signal but not the most important one.
Reach.
How many unique accounts saw the reel. This is the truer measure of distribution.
Watch time / completion rate.
What percentage of viewers watched to the end. Above 50% = strong. Below 30% = your hook held but the body didn't deliver.
Saves and shares.
The two highest-quality signals. Saves mean "I want to come back to this." Shares mean "I want someone else to see this." Both extend distribution further than likes ever will.
The 7-day review.
One week after you post, look at the reel and ask three questions:
-
Did the hook work?
If the reel got plays but watch time was low, the hook earned the stop but the rest didn't earn the watch. Next time, tighten the body.
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Did the watch time work?
If completion was high but reach was low, the hook didn't earn the stop. Next time, harder hook.
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Did it drive any business signal?
New followers? Saves? DMs? A reel that gets 50,000 plays but no new followers means the audience didn't care enough to follow. A reel that gets 5,000 plays and 80 new followers is doing more work than the one with 10× the reach.
The "do more of this" pattern.
After eight reels, you'll have enough data to see a pattern. One of your three categories (Travel Taste & Style / Business Owner Life / Shared Experience) will be outperforming the other two for you, on your account, with your audience.
That's your signal. Lean in. Do more of that category. Don't fight your own data because you assumed a different category would work — your audience tells you what they want by watching it.
If your numbers are flat across all three categories — same reach, same low engagement, nothing standing out — that's not a pattern problem. That's a reach problem. Jump to the Troubleshooting Appendix before you keep posting into the same pattern.
When to delete a reel.
Almost never. Even a reel that flops at posting can pick up reach months later — Instagram resurfaces older content periodically, especially if the audio comes back into trend.
The only reasons to delete:
- Factual error that can't be corrected in the caption.
- Image rights issue.
- The reel's tone is wildly out of step with where your brand is now.
Otherwise leave it. A "failed" reel is a free data point that costs nothing to keep up.
The repurpose loop.
Every strong reel can be:
- Re-cut as a carousel (text + still frames)
- Re-edited as a story sequence
- Turned into an email subject line
- Adapted as a podcast intro line
A reel that worked is a piece of content the universe has already validated. Get more mileage from it.
The pattern
The advisors who grow on reels aren't the ones with the best ideas. They're the ones who pay attention to what worked and do more of it. Volume without analysis is just noise. Analysis with volume compounds.
End of Volume I
Reach is the beginning.
Not the goal.
A reel that goes viral and brings no new clients is a vanity metric. A reel that brings 500 plays and one DM from your dream client is a business asset. Don't confuse the two.
The strategy in this playbook will get you reach. What you do with that reach — your carousels, your email list, your discovery calls, your follow-through on the DMs — is where the business actually gets built.
Reels are the front door. Walk people through it. Then have a house worth being in.
If you've made it this far, you already have what most travel advisors don't: a plan. The rest is repetition.
We'll see you on the algorithm.
Take flight,
Claire & Georgia
Paper Planes Co.
hello@wearepaperplanes.com
wearepaperplanes.com