01
What Instagram says
We start with public guidance from Instagram and Meta about recommendations, eligibility, and creator best practices.
How we do the homework
No magic tricks. Just a clear look at what customers see.
Every Roast starts with your screenshots and the way a potential customer sees your account. We pair that with current Instagram guidance, published research, and examples of clear business profiles. The goal is simple: useful advice you can actually use.
Four things we use
Helpful context. Clear eyes.
02
Published studies
We use studies that show who published them, when they were published, and how they collected their data. They give context, not rules every business must follow.
03
What a customer can see
We check whether a visitor can understand your offer, trust your business, and find a next step. A good-looking profile still needs to make sense.
04
Patterns worth noticing
We review visible patterns on well-run mid-sized business accounts: clear offers, proof, useful post themes, and easy next steps. We do not copy them or imply they endorse us.
What this changes in your report
Less guessing. More useful fixes.
A Roast should tell you what is clear, what is confusing, and what to change first. It should not pretend a screenshot can reveal your reach, clicks, sales, or watch time.
01
First impression and bio
Can someone quickly understand what you sell, who it is for, and what to do next?
02
Posts and opening lines
We review what a post appears designed to do. We do not guess at reach, saves, or watch time from a screenshot.
03
Trust
We look for visible proof: real work, clear details, process, credentials, and customer proof when it is there.
04
Next step
We check whether someone can easily find the next step: a link, inquiry, booking, or purchase.
05
What to test
We suggest clear changes to try and explain which answers would need your account analytics.
Research cannot guarantee followers, reach, engagement, bookings, or sales. Different post types can help with different jobs, and the right choice depends on your audience, offer, and goal.
What we can see
We judge the page in front of us.
We do not use a hidden list of “perfect” accounts. We look at public, visible choices and explain why they may help or hurt a customer’s understanding.
Clear in a few seconds
A new visitor can tell what you offer, who it helps, and where to go next.
Reasons to trust you
The profile shows work, results, process, details, credentials, or customer proof when appropriate.
Posts with a purpose
Your content has a few clear themes instead of feeling like a pile of unrelated ideas.
An easy next step
Your profile, pinned posts, highlights, and link make it easy to contact, book, shop, or learn more.
A recognizable voice
Your account sounds like your business, not a collection of generic social-media lines.
Room for conversation
Replies, prompts, and community cues show whether people have a reason to interact with the account.
A willingness to learn
We look for thoughtful changes to hooks, offers, proof, and calls to action. Results still need analytics to confirm.
The honest limit
A screenshot is not your whole account.
We can see whether your bio is clear, whether your posts show proof, and whether a visitor knows what to do next. We cannot see reach, clicks, watch time, follower growth, bookings, or sales unless you share the actual analytics.
What we can say from screenshots
“Your bio does not say what you sell.” “Your recent posts do not show an obvious way to book.” “Your strongest proof is hard to find.”
What needs real account data
“This Reel had low reach.” “This hook improved watch time.” “This post drove bookings.” Those claims need your analytics—not a confident guess.
Ready for a useful opinion?
Send the screenshots. We’ll tell you what a customer sees.
Sources we use
Read the sources yourself.
We link the source, date it, and explain what it can and cannot tell us. Studies are useful, but they are not a substitute for your own account data.
Instagram Creators
Official Instagram guidanceBest Practices
Current resource, checked August 13, 2026
Instagram shares practical guidance about creating posts, reaching people, engaging followers, earning money, and following its rules. We use it as a starting point—not a promise that one type of post will work for every business.
Open sourceMeta Transparency Center
Official Meta guidanceExplaining Ranking
Current resource, checked August 13, 2026
Meta says it uses many signals to decide what people see, and those signals differ across Instagram surfaces. That is why we do not call one format the winner for every account.
Open sourceInstagram Help Center
Official Instagram guidanceRecommendations on Instagram
Current resource, checked August 13, 2026
Instagram explains the difference between recommended content and posts from accounts people already follow. From screenshots, we can review your visible choices, but we cannot tell whether Instagram is recommending your account.
Open sourceRival IQ
Published comparison study2025 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report
2025
Rival IQ compares social-media results across industries and explains how it gathered the data. It gives useful context, but a local business should not be judged like a national brand in a different field.
Open sourceMetricool
Published comparison study2025 Social Media Study
January 30, 2025
Metricool says it reviewed more than 1 million accounts and 21 million posts across eight networks. The study can help us ask better questions, but it cannot explain one business account without that account’s own numbers.
Open sourceSprout Social
Published comparison studySocial media benchmarks by industry in 2025
May 5, 2025
Sprout links its 2025 figures to 3 billion messages across 1 million active public profiles. We use it for broad context, not as proof that a post caused sales or other results for one business.
Open sourceSocialinsider
Published comparison study2026 Instagram Organic Engagement Benchmarks
February 20, 2026; updated July 15, 2026
Socialinsider compares Instagram post types for different goals. Studies do not always agree, so we use them to ask useful questions—not to hand every business the same content plan.
Open sourceWant the short version? See how a Roast works.