Playbook · Pre-Flight

Audit Checklist: What We Look For In 90 Seconds

Before we deploy a single persona or trigger any engagement, Campground runs a 90-second triage on your Instagram handle. This isn't a full marketing audit—it's a focused diagnostic to identify whether your account is ready for persona mesh, needs warm-up sequencing first, or requires structural fixes before we touch it. Run your free audit now to see exactly where your account stands.

The goal: spot red flags that would waste engagement budget, confirm green flags that indicate momentum potential, and map the exact starting point for your growth plan. We're not selling bulk likes here—we deliver drip-fed saves, shares, profile visits, and DM prompts spread across natural time windows, simulating real human discovery patterns that Instagram's algorithm rewards. Here's what we check, in order.

1. Public Data Scrape: Account Health Baseline

We start with the metrics visible without logging in—these signals tell us whether Instagram's algorithm is currently rewarding or penalizing the account.

Follower Chart Trajectory

We pull the last 90 days of follower growth using third-party analytics tools. The pattern matters more than the count:

• Steady upward slope: Account is healthy and ready for acceleration
• Flat or declining: Indicates shadowban, content mismatch, or dormancy—needs warm-up before persona deployment
• Sudden spikes followed by drops: Red flag for purchased followers or pod activity; we'll need to audit engagement authenticity

Accounts with fewer than 1,000 followers but steady organic growth (5-10 new followers per week) often outperform larger, stagnant accounts once we deploy personas. We're looking for momentum direction, not vanity metrics.

Audience Regions & Time Zones

Instagram Insights shows where your followers live. We check:

• Geographic concentration: If 70%+ of followers are in one region, we'll time engagement windows to match their peak activity hours
• Mismatched locations: A local business with 50% followers from random countries signals bot activity or low-quality growth tactics
• Language alignment: Captions in English with a Spanish-speaking audience won't convert—we flag content-market fit issues

Topic Clusters & Content Themes

We scan the last 20-30 posts to identify whether the account has a clear topical niche. Instagram's algorithm rewards consistency:

• Clear niche: 80%+ of posts align with a single theme (fitness, travel, fashion, etc.)—ideal for Explore placement
• Mixed themes: Lifestyle + business + personal posts confuse the algorithm and dilute candidate pool eligibility
• No theme: Random content won't benefit from persona mesh; we recommend a content strategy overhaul first

If the account lacks topical clarity, adding engagement won't help—the algorithm won't know who to recommend the content to.

2. Content Velocity Analysis: Posting Patterns

We review the last 10 posts to assess content quality, format mix, and posting consistency. This tells us whether the account is algorithmically active or dormant.

Publishing Frequency

How often does the account post?

• Daily or 3-5x per week: Optimal—algorithm favors active accounts
• Weekly or sporadic: Needs warm-up protocol to rebuild algorithmic trust
• Gaps of 2+ weeks: Dormant account—requires 14-day warm start before persona deployment

Instagram's algorithm penalizes inconsistency. Gaps longer than 5-7 days reset momentum and remove the account from Explore candidate pools. If we detect dormancy, we postpone persona mesh until the warm-up sequence is complete.

Content Format Distribution

We check the mix of Reels, carousels, static posts, and Stories:

• Reels-first: Ideal—Reels achieve 0.50% engagement and dominate Explore placement
• Carousels + Reels: Best mix—carousels hit 0.55% engagement (highest) and pair well with Reels
• Static images only: Underperforming format (0.45% engagement)—we recommend format diversification
• No Reels: Major gap—account won't compete for Explore without video content

Hook Quality & CTA Usage

We scan captions and opening frames for engagement hooks:

• Strong hooks: First line grabs attention, uses keywords, poses questions
• Weak hooks: Generic captions ("Check out this post!") or no context
• CTA presence: Do captions ask for saves, shares, or comments? Accounts without CTAs underperform by 30-40%

If captions lack strategic CTAs ("Save this for later," "Tag someone who needs this"), we flag it for the client—adding engagement to weak content won't move the needle.

Shareability Indicators

We evaluate whether content is designed to be shared:

• Carousel guides: Multi-slide how-tos and tips perform best for saves
• Educational Reels: Tactical value drives DM shares (the highest-weighted signal)
• Entertainment-only content: May get likes but won't trigger saves or shares—lower algorithmic value

3. Engagement Quality: Beyond Vanity Metrics

Likes are the lowest-value signal in 2025. We dig deeper to assess engagement authenticity and algorithmic value.

Saves vs. Likes Ratio

Saves signal valuable content that users want to reference later. We calculate:

• Healthy ratio: 10-15 saves per 100 likes (1:10 to 1:7 ratio)
• Low saves: Content isn't providing lasting value—focus on tactical, educational formats
• High saves: Strong indicator of Explore potential—we'll amplify high-save posts first

Story Replies & DM Activity

We review recent Stories for reply rates and engagement:

• Interactive features: Polls, quizzes, question stickers drive replies—signals strong community
• Zero replies: One-way broadcasting—account needs engagement strategy overhaul
• DM volume: High DM activity (visible through response patterns) indicates authentic follower relationships

Comment Quality Analysis

We scan the last 10 posts' comment sections:

• Substantive comments: 2+ sentence replies, questions, conversations—green flag for authentic audience
• Generic spam: Emoji-only comments, "Great post!" from random accounts—red flag for pod activity
• No comments: Audience isn't engaged—adding more engagement won't fix underlying content issues

If we detect engagement pod patterns (same accounts leaving generic comments on every post), we pause deployment and recommend cleaning up the comment sections first.

Red Flags That Stop Deployment

Certain signals halt persona mesh deployment immediately:

• Shadowban indicators: Hashtags not surfacing, Explore reach at 0%, sudden engagement drops
• Bot follower patterns: Fake accounts with no profile photos, zero posts, generic usernames
• Pod activity: Reciprocal engagement from the same group of accounts repeatedly
• Compliance violations: Content that violates Instagram Community Guidelines
• Dormancy (30+ days): Requires warm-up protocol before any engagement

When we spot red flags, we don't deploy personas—we recommend corrective action first (warm-up, content cleanup, or strategic pivot).

Green Flags That Accelerate Setup

These signals indicate the account is primed for growth:

• Consistent posting: 3-7x per week with no gaps longer than 3 days
• High saves-per-post: 20+ saves per post (for accounts under 10K followers)
• Carousel + Reels mix: Leveraging highest-performing formats
• Clear niche: 80%+ topical consistency across recent posts
• Strong CTAs: Every post includes engagement prompts
• Active Stories: Daily or near-daily Story publishing with interactive features

Accounts with 3+ green flags move straight to persona deployment. We skip warm-up and accelerate engagement pacing because the foundation is already solid.

What Happens After the Audit

The 90-second audit determines your onboarding path:

Path 1: Immediate Deployment (Green flags, no red flags)
We build persona mesh aligned with your niche and begin staged engagement within 24-48 hours. First wave focuses on high-save posts to accelerate Explore placement.

Path 2: Warm-Up First (Dormant or inconsistent posting)
We implement the 14-day warm start sequence before deploying personas. This rebuilds algorithmic trust and prevents triggering spam filters.

Path 3: Strategic Fixes Required (Red flags detected)
We pause deployment and provide a prescriptive action plan: clean up bot followers, exit engagement pods, fix content-market fit, or resolve shadowbans. Once fixed, we re-audit and proceed.

Path 4: Not Ready (Multiple red flags, no content strategy)
We recommend building a content foundation first—consistent posting, clear niche, strategic CTAs—before adding engagement. Persona mesh amplifies existing momentum; it doesn't create it from zero.

The Bottom Line: Audit Before Action

Most Instagram growth services skip diagnostics and deploy engagement indiscriminately. That approach wastes budget, triggers spam filters, and delivers zero results. Campground's 90-second audit ensures we're deploying personas on accounts that are ready to convert engagement into algorithmic momentum.

If the foundation isn't solid—posting consistency, topical clarity, engagement quality—adding more likes won't help. We fix the foundation first, then accelerate. That's why our clients see compounding results while others plateau after an initial bump.

The audit isn't gatekeeping—it's quality control. We deploy personas when they'll actually work.