A business owner once said to me:
“I think Instagram just hates us. Nothing is working anymore.”
They weren’t lazy.
They weren’t inconsistent.
They were actually doing what most people online tell businesses to do.
They were posting.
They were trying reels.
They were showing behind the scenes.
They were even getting comments.
And still - almost no enquiries.
This is the moment I see all the time.
And it’s also the moment most businesses misdiagnose.
Because it looks like a marketing problem.
But it usually isn’t.
Visibility is not the same thing as clarity
Here’s what I found when I looked deeper.
A new person could land on their Instagram, scroll their website, and still not be able to answer three very basic questions:
• What exactly do you do?
• Who is it for?
• What should I do next?
The business had visibility.
They did not have clarity.
And customers don’t buy when they are confused.
Most businesses believe the order is:
Post → Get seen → Get clients
But the real order is:
Understand → Trust → Decide → Enquire
People don’t buy because they discovered you.
They buy because they understand you.
The real issue: decision friction
Your customer is not sitting there thinking:
“Do I like their content?”
They are subconsciously asking:
“Is this for me?”
“Will this solve my problem?”
“Am I ready yet?”
“What happens if I contact them?”
If your marketing doesn’t answer those questions - they leave.
Not because they weren’t interested.
Because they weren’t certain.
And uncertainty stops sales faster than lack of reach ever will.
The customer journey most businesses skip
Every person who becomes a client moves through stages:
They notice you
They realise they might need you
They compare you
They feel safe
They decide
Most businesses only market to stage 1.
They focus on attention.
But sales happen in stages 3–5.
Which means the problem isn’t “Instagram isn’t working.”
It’s that the marketing stops where the buying process actually begins.
Why social media suddenly “stops working”
What really happens is this:
Early on, referrals and excitement carry the business.
Then growth plateaus.
The owner posts more.
Works harder.
Tries trends.
But results don’t improve.
Not because social media changed - but because the business outgrew relying on it alone.
At some point marketing stops being about content.
It becomes about decisions, messaging, and structure.
What I actually help businesses fix
I don’t usually change how much a business posts.
I change what their marketing is doing.
I help them:
• explain their offer clearly
• guide customers through a decision
• create a next step
• build trust before contact
• remove hesitation
Because most businesses don’t need more attention.
They need fewer question marks in their customer’s mind.
The quiet truth
Social media didn’t stop working.
Your business just reached the stage where visibility alone is no longer enough.
And the businesses that grow from here aren’t the loudest.
They’re the clearest.
If this sounds like you, you're in the right place!
