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At the end of 2025, I shared two podcast episodes breaking down my best and worst Instagram posts from the year. And when I teased those episodes on Instagram, I got a bunch of questions like, “Okay, but how do you actually decide what makes a post good or bad?”

The short answer is: data. I looked at analytics. I looked at engagement. I looked at what performed well and what didn’t.

But the longer answer, and the one that actually matters if you’re a brand photographer or creative business owner using Instagram to grow your business, is that it’s a lot deeper than the data alone. Because years ago, I realized there was one metric that mattered more than anything Instagram could show me. I call it the ground beef metric.

And today, I want to talk about what that means, why it matters for Instagram marketing for brand photographers, and how it can completely change the way you look at your content.

Why Instagram Isn’t “The Problem”

Here’s the thing: I don’t actually think you hate Instagram. I don’t think you’re truly burned out on Instagram. I think Instagram just isn’t doing what it could be doing for you.

Because if every time you logged in, you were getting new followers, comments, DMs, and inquiries coming in, you’d love it. You’d be like, “This is the best 20 minutes of my day because I know this is driving traffic into my business.”

You don’t hate Instagram. You hate that it’s not working. And a lot of the time, that frustration comes from how we’re interacting with our content and the data around it, especially when we rely too heavily on vanity metrics.

Instagram Vanity Metrics: Helpful, But Not the Full Story

Likes, comments, saves, shares…all of those things are data points. And I’m not in the camp that says metrics don’t matter at all. They do. They can tell you whether content is resonating. But metrics are not the end-all, be-all.

There are a million reasons why a post might not perform well:

• It was posted at a weird time
• It went up on an off day
• Something big happened in the world
• The hook didn’t land
• The graphic wasn’t eye-catching
• Or honestly… Taylor Swift announced something and nobody saw your post

Every month, when my social media manager Jayden and I review content, we absolutely look at analytics. We learn from what worked and what didn’t. But there are always posts where we’re like, “That’s weird…historically, this kind of content does really well.”

That’s normal. If you’re going to publish 20–30 pieces of content a month, you’re not going to have all of them perform amazingly. That’s just not how Instagram marketing for brand photographers and service-based businesses works.

Which is exactly why you need another way to gauge success.

What the Ground Beef Instagram Metric Actually Is

This is where the ground beef metric enters the chat. Here’s how it works.

You hop on Instagram Stories and say something like: “I have a pound of ground beef and no idea what to make for dinner. Help. What are you making tonight?”

And then you wait. If your DMs start popping off (and this looks different for everyone), that’s your signal. Maybe it’s 10 messages. Maybe it’s 100. The number itself doesn’t matter. What matters is that you can feel it. You know when the response is substantial for you.

That’s how you know your content is doing something. People are logging into Pinterest to send you recipes. They’re digging through their camera roll to share a family favorite. They’re going out of their way to respond.

That is connection. And connection is the real currency of Instagram.

Why Connection On Social Media Matters More Than Numbers

Instagram success isn’t just about numbers. It’s about relationships.

Yes, we want to make money. Yes, we want inquiries. Of course we do. But connection comes first.

Because when someone feels connected to you — when you’re the only option in their mind — they don’t shop around when they’re ready for brand photography. They come to you.

Not because you posted a perfectly optimized reel. Not because one carousel went viral. But because your content built trust over time.

At first, it feels slow. Then one month you get a couple inquiries. Then the next month a couple more. Then bookings start stacking. It compounds. Without connection, you have nothing. You cannot build a business, especially a brand photography business, without relationships.

How Instagram Stories Build Trust (Without Constant Selling)

This is why I’ve always used Instagram Stories primarily for connection.

Even now, most of the time, I’m not selling on stories. I’m asking things like:

• White people tacos or authentic tacos?
• Big spoon or little spoon?
• Did you see Taylor Swift’s new post?
• Here’s my new favorite coffee order.

It has nothing to do with my business…but everything to do with being human.

Now, on Stories, you still see me working. You still see my desk. My business shows up naturally. But the job of Instagram Stories is connection first. When you do that well, selling becomes easier – for you and for your audience. There’s already trust there!

If you jump straight from barely posting to selling, the hill is steep. If you lead with connection, everything feels lighter. Even when a post flops. Because you can say, “That post didn’t do well… but my ground beef metric still slaps.” And suddenly, it’s way less emotional.

How Brand Photographers Can Improve Their “Ground Beef Metric”

If you’re wondering how to create content that builds connection, trust, and engagement, that’s exactly what we’re doing inside my Instagram Consistency Challenge.

The goal is content that makes people feel like: “Oh my gosh, this feels like you’re talking to me.”
“This is exactly what I’m struggling with.”

When you create content like that, Instagram becomes fun again. And it actually starts doing its job: helping you grow your business.

Come join us in the challenge! You can hop right in, catch up, and get to posting. Sign up at maddiepeschong.com/ig.