Content Formats & Social Media Strategy | Talent Management Guide

As a talent manager, your job isn’t just to tell creators what to post — it’s to help them understand why they’re posting it and manage influencer expectations.

Instead of asking, “What should my talent post today?”Ask: “What’s the purpose of today’s content?”

When creators post with intention, every piece of content becomes part of a larger, strategic system that supports their growth, engagement, and brand identity.

This article breaks down the various content formats, when to use them, and what they can unlock for your talent.

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Reels: Reaching New Audiences

Reels are built for discovery.

This is Instagram’s main mechanism to show your talent to people who don’t follow them yet. For any talent management agency or influencer management agency, Reels are a core lever for growth and audience expansion.

Use Reels when the goal is:

• Getting in front of new people

• Growing followers

• Increasing visibility in a niche
  

Reels favour content that’s easy to consume and share — whether that’s lifestyle snippets, trends, or tips relevant to their category.

💡 Pro tip: If the mission is new followers, don’t add every Reel to the main grid. Sometimes letting Reels live in the Reels feed alone forces the algorithm to prioritise new follower reach.

Your north star here isn’t perfection — it’s volume and relevance. Frequent, simple Reels around your talent’s themes can outperform one “perfect” production piece. That iteration and learning from each post is what gets you closer to consistent performance — a key part of effective talent management strategies.

Stories: Nurturing Your Existing Audience

Stories are where connection happens, and they are important to stay top of mind.So many people on Instagram open it, look at a few stories, and hop off — your stories are the most likely to get seen. And that’s why it’s crucial to use them as standalone posts, but also to drive audiences to your main posts as well.

Use Stories for:

• Staying top-of-mind

• Showing personality & daily life

• Creating a two-way relationship (polls, questions, chats)

• Bringing followers along a journey

• Reminding them to check out your new posts

  
  

Stories are less about going viral and more about staying relevant and building trust. When creators stop showing up in Stories, they slowly fade from people's mental feed — even if they’re still posting.

Encourage your talent to treat Stories like a conversation, not a performance. Short updates, behind-the-scenes moments, quick thoughts — simple works best.

In structured influencer campaign management, Stories play a key role in maintaining engagement and managing influencer expectations by balancing authenticity with consistency.

Highlights: Your “First Impression Shelf”

Highlights often get ignored — but they're one of the most powerful parts of a profile.They help to give your profile personality, consistent branding, and provide a quick glimpse into your various content styles, niches, and specialties as a talent.

Think of Highlights like a creator’s shop window or portfolio wall.Brands looking at your profile should be able to use this to get a strong idea of what kind of content you make, regardless of your last post.

They help new visitors quickly understand:

• Who this creator is

• What they’re about

• Why they’re worth following
  

Encourage creators to save key themes:

• “About me” or intro

• Best moments / signature content

• Client work

• Community moments, Q&A, tips
  

When someone lands on a profile from a Reel, Highlights help them decide whether to stay.

If Reels attract strangers and Stories build connection, Highlights help convert curiosity into long-term interest.

For talent managers, this is also where you show professionalism — a subtle but powerful element in securing influencer brand deals and showcasing work in media kits for influencers.

Bringing it Together

Rather than thinking “What should my talent post today?”

Try: “What’s the purpose of today’s content?”

• Want to grow? → Reels

• Want to connect? → Stories

• Want to introduce & reinforce identity? → Highlights
  

By guiding creators to use formats intentionally, you help them build:

• Stronger presence

• Clearer personal brand

• A community that sticks around
  

Ultimately, that’s what brands look for:

Creators who don’t just have reach — they have recognition, a strong brand, and a relationship with (influence over) their audience.

This approach forms the backbone of scalable influencer relationship management within any modern talent management software ecosystem — helping agencies turn creativity into structured, measurable growth.

Tracking and Measuring Success

In order to identify and measure all of this (as well as show it to brands) - you need access to your talents insights. Talent management solutions for this, such as bespoke talent management software provide you access to your rosters insights. Only a few solutions as such exist - with IconDesk being the category leader for analytics and insights:

Image taken from IconDesk's Industry Leading Media Kits

"Our partnership with Meta enables direct access to your talents insights at all times (constantly updated). But now - we have taken it to another level."

IconDesk Media Kits now feature verified insights that you can’t find anywhere else (not even on your talents social media).

Custom metrics designed for talent managers to unlock a new level of strategic oversight like never before. ️

Not to mention, blowing away clients in pitches.

If you want to see this new feature in acton - you can get a private demo with me and I’ll show you how it works! Book your demo here.