The Instagram Metric That Died in July (And What to Chase Instead)

I need you to hear this.

The metric that you have been killing yourself over for the last five years, Meta just retired it.

Likes are dead.

Not dying, not fading, dead.

As of July, Meta made it official.

A like on your post is worth almost nothing to the algorithm, and if no one is teaching you that, you are out here writing content for a scoreboard that no longer exists.

Stay with me, because I'm about to change how you think about every single piece of content you create Welcome, and actually welcome in a new way today.

So if you've been with me for a while, you know this show as Sold Out Sales School, and I wanna take just a few seconds to talk about why that name is changing, because it matters.

We are becoming Why She Buys.

Same mission, same me, same no fluff, no filler, let's actually build a business energy.

But that name, Why She Buys, is the exact thing I have been teaching for years.

It is the psychology of your buyer.

It is the content, the messaging, the offer structure that makes her feel like you wrote that caption just for her, like you created that micro-experience just for her, and that is what we do here.

And now the name finally says it out loud.

So if you are new, hi, I am Trish Ware, former labor and delivery nurse, mama of seven, Gigi to two, and I built two seven-figure businesses, one selling to moms, not to coaches, not to online business owners, not to entrepreneurs, and that matters, to real women.

And that is exactly why I know what I'm about to teach you is true, because I have watched this algorithm from the darn beginning.

They've just released the data, and this is not a rumor or some kind of weird theory.

This is them telling us exactly how the algorithm works right now.

One DM share is worth roughly 15 likes.

One save is worth roughly 10 likes.

Likes, they barely register anymore.

So rewind that and play that again, because your brain probably skipped over it the way we skip over things that require us to make change.

So if someone sees your post and hits the heart, the algorithm yawns.

But if someone sees your post and sends it to their friend, the algorithm gods light up, and it says, this content is so good and so relevant that a real human being stopped scrolling, hit the share button, and DM'd it to someone specific.

What they're saying is, "Hey girl," hey whoever, whatever it is, "Hey, you need to see this." And that is a signal.

That is distribution, and that is the whole game now.

And saves tell the algorithm this content is worth coming back to.

It's not just, like, scroll past pretty.

It's useful, it's bookmarked, and it's something she plans to use

Likes just means someone saw it and felt something for like a half a second.

So what does that actually change for you?

Everything and nothing.

So let me explain that.

If you've been creating content around what will get the most likes, we have a problem because likes bait looks like pretty graphics, aesthetic photos, broad motivational captions that feel good but teach nothing and solve nothing, and most importantly, make someone feel nothing specific enough to send to a person.

But if you've been creating content that speaks directly to your person's actual life, hello, that's what I'm teaching you.

You are already playing the right game.

You just didn't know it.

Here's what content that gets DM'd looks like

It is so specific about her pain that she feels seen.

Where have you heard that before, ladies?

Not vaguely inspired.

Seen, and that is the difference.

You feel overwhelmed as a mom gets a like.

You are trying to get your baby to latch on your boob for the fifth time in the last two hours, and it's just not happening.

That is very specific, right?

Or you are trying to launch your offer, but you still have three loads of laundry on the couch and a kid who just threw up, , and you're wondering if everyone else has it figured out except you.

Those get sent to five friends.

Specificity is what gets shared, not polish.

Here's the second shift.

Content that gets saved is content she wants to use later.

That means you are giving her something she can actually do, a framework, a checklist she can make mentally, a reframe she wants to screenshot.

You have to earn the save by being worth returning to.

Not every post needs to do both, but every post needs to be geared to at least one of those.

So before you post anything, stop asking, "Will people like this? Will they relate to it?" Start asking two different questions.

One, would she send this to a friend?

And would she save this to come back to?

If the answer to both is no, go back and make it sharper

Now, here is where I want to connect this to what we already built together on this show.

I teach women who sell to moms, to parents, to real consumers, not to other business owners, and the reason this algorithm shifts matters so much to us in our world is that your buyer is busy.

She is not sitting around waiting to like your posts.

She's in survival mode between school pickup, toddler meltdowns, dinner, bedtime,

but she is DM'ing her best friend.

She is sending it with, like, zero explanation because she knows the person she's sending to will be like, "Holy smokes," and get it, too.

She is saving the things that make her feel like someone sees her.

That is your content strategy.

Not going viral, not 100 likes.

One woman sending your post to the one person who needs to hear it.

That is the sale waiting to happen, and this is why she buys, and now you know how to show up for it

Here's what I want you to walk away from this little shorty today.

A DM share is worth 15 likes, so $1, $15.

A save is worth 10 likes, $1 for a like, $10 for a save.

Likes barely move the needle.

Write content specific enough that she wants to send it to a friend.

In fact, what's your CTA, people?

Send this to X, Y, and Z. Save this for later.

Write content useful enough that it needs to be saved or shared.

Stop chasing the little heart button.

Start chasing the forward, the send, the save.

And if you are not sure what content does that in your niche, that is exactly what we're digging into around here.

So stick around, because understanding why she buys is how you sell more, post less, and stop feeling like you're screaming into the void

All righty, friend.

That is what I've got for you today on Why She Buys, formerly Sold Out Sales School.

We're in a shift, moving it forward.

If this episode made you think, made you shift even one thing about how you create content, do me a favor and leave a review.

It takes you two minutes, but it helps me so much, and it helps other women find this show who need it just as bad as you did.

And I know, I get the DMs from you guys that you guys are soaking up all the episodes.

Leave the reviews.

Do a mama business owner a favor and leave the reviews.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and come find me on Instagram @iamtrishware because I am over there teaching this stuff every single day in a way that is actually made for you between your carpool, seeing patients, and drinking your coffee.

That is your cosmic slap on the booty.

Now, sell your offer because when you sell it, it sells.

I'll see you again next Friday.

Bye for now