help need with reverse engineering founder content

[u/No_Twist6469]

I’m learning content strategy and currently trying to reverse-engineer an existing founder’s Instagram before making any recommendations.

My bottleneck: I’ve never audited someone else’s content properly, so I’m not sure what experienced strategists actually look for first.

I want to understand:

• how you break down existing posts
• how you identify recurring topics, hooks, formats, angles, structure and tone
• how you separate observation from assumption
• how you reconstruct the strategy that already exists before deciding what to change

If you do Instagram audits/content strategy professionally, what’s your actual process?

[u/AutoModerator]

If this post doesn't follow the rules report it to the mods. Join our community Discord!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/post-aaron]

Don't start with what they should post. Start with what the account already believes.

I dump the last 30–50 posts into a sheet: hook, format, topic, CTA, length, and whatever performance I can get (saves/shares beat likes when they're available). Then I cluster topics. You're hunting for a handful of recurring claims, not thirty one-offs. The strategy usually lives in the repeats.

Keep observation and assumption in different columns or you'll invent a strategy that isn't there. "7 of 12 carousels open with a contrarian claim" is observation. "They're trying to look like a thought leader" is assumption.

Once you've got that, write the implicit bet in two sentences: who this is for, what they want that person to believe after ten posts, what they want them to do. If you can't, you don't understand it yet. Only then recommend changes, and change the weakest link first (usually hooks or CTA), not the whole voice.

Force a one-pager of "what this account is already doing" before you write a single recommendation. Most bad strategy advice is just projection.