Rachel Valentine isn’t afraid of repeating what works – and you shouldn’t be either.

Know your audience

It sounds simple, but people still post without really knowing who they’re talking to. I go into detail, imagining that person seeing my content. You imagine your potential client, and then you create the content around that person. I’m studying trichology, so I’m talking to people who are potentially trying to improve their hair growth, which is pretty much everybody, because who doesn’t want better hair? It’s about imagining that person, thinking about the questions they would ask, whether that’s you talking about myths, or common questions around hair growth… and then really focusing your content on that.

Repeat what works

I’ll try new things but the reason my page looks quite similar is because it works, for example the lighting and speaking to the camera. It’s about people knowing what they’re going to get when they come to you and creating that kind of consistency. So, when people think: ‘I need to find some products for my holiday’, they then think: ‘I’m going to Rachel, because I know she always posts that’. When I started getting clients contacting me on Instagram or saying they found me on TikTok, that’s when I knew it was working. Or if a video has a lot of saves and forwards, I know that that’s performing well so that’s something I’ll copy, whether it be the format or that content. In terms of content, ideas will come from comments, DMs but also speaking to family, friends and clients.

Remember, Instagram and TikTok are different platforms.

Instagram is more community, with TikTok you’re trying to grab people’s attention who are scrolling past. Because of time constraints, I’ll make it snappy and attention-grabbing for TikTok first, and then repurpose it for Instagram, I’ll do the caption quite differently, go into a bit more detail. What you see on TikTok you’re seeing on Reels a week later. On TikTok it’s about strong hooks, it’s great for awareness if you’re new. Once you do get engagement on TikTok, they’re very loyal and I find you grow quicker.

Be quick to jump on trends

Mob Wife aesthetic was massive, but it’s kind of been done now. You don’t want to be old news. Equally, I won’t do something if it doesn’t feel authentic to me – and the Mob Wife thing was not authentic to me! But the rosemary oil trend, for example, I would speak about that, because that is very much what I would talk to my clients about. It’s much more authentic.

Respond to comments and DMs in the first half an hour after you post

The more engagement that the algorithm sees, the more likely your post will get pushed out, especially on TikTok. Then the next time I post, I go back to the previous video and respond to both at the same time.