🔥 The secret weapon AI can’t replace…

5 Tips on Working Smarter, Not Harder on Instagram, with Hugh Stephens

Remember when you’d take your iPhone 4S and open up Instagram to see photos washed out in XX Pro or Valencia? Remember when you couldn’t even post videos, because videos were for Vine and Keek? Or when stories were what you’d tell your friends at the local froyo joint, not something to post for 24 hours?

Yeah, it seems like a LIFETIME ago. 

Now, Instagram’s all about content, stories, polls, Reels, and more. When should you post? What does the algorithm feel like doing today? Do branded posts and AI-generated content do well? It’s a lot. 

If your brand isn’t keeping up-to-date on best practices, chances are, you’re falling behind.  

Enter: Hugh Stephens and his child creation, Sked Social. 

Hugh founded Sked Social, one of the earliest Instagram scheduling and analytics platforms around 2013. He noticed that the lack of scheduling feature on the app was a gap that needed to be filled. 

Thus, Sked Social was born. (Yeah, it was called Schedugram back then. We all change.)

He’s on a mission to make Instagram posts easier to schedule, publish, track, and report. Some of Sked Social’s clients include IHG Hotels, Qantas (literally the national airline of AUSTRALIA.), and iHeart Media.

Here are his 5 tips to scale your Instagram efforts without running in circles, in his own lightly-edited words. ⤵️

1️⃣. STOP BLENDING IN. YOUR BRAND VOICE IS YOUR EDGE.

Hugh’s Take: “I think finding those unique voices and finding the ways to actually present those voices to the public, is gonna be the way to cut through, whether it’s, email or social or any other channel.”

Every brand says they have a voice.

But most sound like they copied it from a style guide they’ve never opened again.

The brands winning right now don’t just sound different.

They sound like themselves. Every time. In every format.

Think about Liquid Death. It’s water. But it talks like a metal band.

You don’t need to see the logo to know who wrote the post.

That’s what real voice does.

Here’s how smart brands build and scale it:

– They create a voice guide with specific examples, not just adjectives
(Instead of “bold,” show how you write a product caption, a DM reply, and a FAQ answer)

– They use voice everywhere, not just in campaigns
(Captions, replies, polls, CTAs, even link in bio copy)

– They pressure test voice in small formats before scaling it
(If it doesn’t work in a story sticker or a comment thread, it won’t hold up at scale)

Most brands try to find their voice once. The best brands refine it constantly.

Takeaway: If someone erased your logo, would the post still feel like yours? If not, your voice needs work. A strong voice is what makes content stick, builds trust over time, and gives your brand something AI can’t replicate.

2️⃣. BRING BACK THE COMMUNITY IN SOCIAL.

Hugh’s Take: “I think one of the things that fell off was original OG community management, you know, how do we actually engage with people?”

Content is great. But building community around your content AND your product? That’s what makes people stick around. It builds brand loyalty and value in ways we can’t even measure. 

Are you using stories to engage with your audience? Things like polls, questions, and emoji-sliders are a great way to get them involved. 

Are you replying to DMs or letting them fester in no-man’s land? Reply to all story mentions with a personal message. 

Are you using your feed post captions to get people involved? At the end of feed post captions, use CTAs like “DM us ‘YES’ for the link” to trigger chats.

Are you incorporating series-like content and/or takeovers in your stories? Things like “story takeovers” at in-person events, and mini-series (“Behind the Brand”, “Monday Mini-Tips”) create rhythm. Repeated, recognizable content encourages your audience to tune in for more. 

Takeaway: Don’t just post and go. Reply to your audience, create dialogue by answering AND asking questions. Make your brand’s page a way for your audience to interact with you and likeminded users.  

3️⃣. USE ORGANIC CONTENT AS A TESTING GROUND FOR PAID.

Hugh’s Take: “I see the convergence of like paid and organic teams in the future, like getting really close to each other and playing the game together. Those are the companies that are gonna win, whose social and paid teams can play the game together.”

Organic posts give you free, real-time feedback from your existing audience. If something performs well organically (with high engagement, shares, and saves) it’s a strong indicator it can be successful in paid campaigns.

Instead of guessing, you’re letting your audience tell you what content works.

Some things to consider:

• Test multiple hooks: Post 2–3 versions of a similar message with different first-line hooks or visuals. Track which post gets the most shares, saves, watch time, and comments. Boost the winner.
• Look at completion rate: Look for organic content with above-average engagement or completion rates. (Paid content that looks like a regular post often outperforms!!)
• Repurposing comments: Scan the comments on organic posts to find how your audience describes their pain points or reactions. Repurpose their language directly into headlines, captions, or social proof in ads.

Takeaway: When a post performs organically, that’s your green light to scale it with paid. It’s a clear signal that the content is resonating with your audience. That kind of performance isn’t accidental. It means the messaging, creative, and format are working.

4️⃣. AI WON’T SAVE YOUR CONTENT. GOOD TASTE WILL.

Hugh’s Take: “Creative concepts are easy now. What’s hard And what matters: is knowing what GOOD looks like. That’s still a human skill.”

AI can help you move faster. It can generate 20 hooks. It can write 10 captions in 10 seconds. But if you don’t know which one is actually good…

You’re just publishing noise faster. That’s why creative taste is the real differentiator. The best marketers are still the best editors.

Here’s how to sharpen that skill:

– Study content that works and reverse-engineer why
(What’s the structure? Why did the hook stop the scroll? What made it sharable?)

– Train your eye across platforms
(What pops on TikTok doesn’t always work on LinkedIn. Good marketers know the difference.)

– Use AI as a brainstorm partner, not a publishing machine
(Let it get you started. You do the heavy lifting to make it great.)

– Build a swipe file of content you admire
(Collect ads, posts, landing pages, and story formats that spark ideas. Use them as benchmarks.)

Good content is still about strong ideas, great timing, and a deep understanding of your audience. AI doesn’t replace that. It just gives you more chances to get it right.

Takeaway: Speed means nothing without taste. AI is a powerful tool, but it’s only as good as the human behind it. Train your creative instincts. And use tech to scale your best ideas, not your average ones.  

5️⃣. ADOPT TOOLS TO SAVE TIME + ENERGY.

Hugh’s Take: “I think it’s actually a fun time to be in marketing. There are so many more tools you have available. I think there’s a lot more things you can experiment with and I think there’s a lot more license to actually play.” 

Earlier I mentioned that Sked Social was created because Instagram didn’t have an in-app scheduler. And without a scheduling platform, you risk having to constantly be on ALL THE TIME. Sounds tiring. 

You need time for creativity and strategy. Scheduling and analytics tools can help you free up some time. 

Adopting tools (like Sked Social) let you plan and schedule ahead of time. Plus, you can see your whole campaign at once and make sure you’re telling a cohesive story. 

And, most scheduling tools include performance dashboards that help you track what’s working. With metrics like engagement rates, reach, and best posting times, you can optimize content without needing separate tools.

Takeaway: A good scheduling platform helps you save time, stay organized, and show up with purpose. It’s the backend engine that powers consistent front-end performance on Instagram. Are you using a tool to help you? If not, you might be working harder than you have to be. 

IN A MEME