Strategy report · Updated Jul 23, 2026
What's working for @mariah.zm on Instagram.
Mariah Zammit
9.7K followers · 160 posts
“26, Software Engineer 👩🏻💻 Maltija ġol-Olanda 🇲🇹🇳🇱 Nivloggja fuq YouTube!”
Engagement rate
5.61%
Per post, last 90 days
Posts per week
0.4
Niche avg 2.0
Average likes
526
16 avg comments
Post mix
Last 90 days · 160 posts indexed
01
Top-performing posts
The three posts pulling the most engagement in the last 90 days.
reel 32.24% engagedPart 1 | Cooking only Maltese food for a week Challenged myself to a week of cooking only Maltese food (again) 🤭 Loved trying out new traditional and family dishes for the first time! Still surprised I managed to make ġbejniet tbh 😂 You can find the full video, including tasting reactions, on my channel (link in bio) 😋 #malta #maltesefood #fyp #explorepage #homemade #homecook
reel 15.34% engagedTad-Doughnuts ma’ jagħmilx delivery l-Olanda allura kelli nagħmilhom jien 😇 Doughnuts tal-Ġamm għall-uffiċju tal-birthday 🥳🍓 #expatlife #malta #maltesefood
reel 8.38% engagedA trip down memory lane biex nurikom l-ikel Malti kollu li dewwaqt lill-kollegi Olandiżi f’das-sentejn u nofs 😋 Ovvjament mhux ħa nitlaq mingħajr ma naħmilhom xi ħaġa tal-aħħar, so stay tuned 👀✨ #malta #maltafyp #maltesefood #malteseexpat #expatlife
02
Content pillars
AI-clustered themes the account posts about, with example posts pulled live from Instagram.
- 01
Maltese Food & Cooking
23.00%Reels and carousels centered on cooking or sharing traditional Maltese food, often with a cultural ambassador angle. This pillar drives the highest engagement, with reels hitting 1.4k to 3k likes. The challenge and workshop formats give it recurring structure.
- 02
Expat Life & Personal Milestones
27.00%Carousels documenting life in the Netherlands as a Maltese expat, covering birthdays, anniversaries, and personal reflections. The Maltese-language captions build an intimate community. Engagement is solid and comment rates are among the highest in the feed.
- 05
Seasonal & Nature Moments
10.00%Short carousels tied to seasonal events like tulip season, spring walks, and Easter traditions. These posts generate strong like counts relative to caption length, suggesting the visual alone does the work. They also anchor the account to a Dutch lifestyle identity.
03
Posting rhythm
Cadence and timing patterns over the last 12 weeks.
0.4 posts/week
Niche benchmark · 2.0/week
Best days
Sunday · Thursday · Monday
Best hours
7-9am · 6-8pm
04
Signature hooks
Caption patterns the account reuses across high-performing posts.
[City/Place] ma' jagħmilx [X] allura kelli nagħmel jien
Used 2×
Tad-Doughnuts ma' jagħmilx delivery l-Olanda allura kelli nagħmilhom jien 😇
Challenged myself to a week of cooking only Maltese food (again) 🤭
A trip down memory lane / recap of [topic] 🎞
Used 3×
A trip down memory lane biex nurikom l-ikel Malti kollu li dewwaqt lill-kollegi Olandiżi
Aug/Sep recap li qatt ma tfajt 🫣
April - l-isbaħ xahar tas-sena s'issa 🌷☀️
Lost count of how many times I [did X] 🤣
Used 2×
Lost count ta' kemm-il darba mort Utrecht issa 🤣💕
Ġunju - beda tajjeb, seta' spiċċa aħjar 🫠
I [did milestone thing] for the first time 🥹
Used 3×
I hosted an event for the first time 🥹 A cooking workshop here in the Netherlands
Wow għadni qas nista' nemmen! 🥹 Veru ma stennejtx li tmien xhur wara li tfajt l-ewwel video
Loved trying out new traditional and family dishes for the first time!
Stay tuned 👀 / so stay tuned [tease next post]
Used 2×
so stay tuned 👀✨
We have a packed month ahead with sun-drenched content, and a must-enter giveaway. Stay tuned!
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Strategy summary
What's working, what to fix, and what to ship next.
TL;DR
The strongest lever on this account is the Maltese food reel format. Posts [0] and [9] average 2,223 likes, roughly 3.5x the account median of ~390 likes, on a follower base of only 9,681. That ratio signals genuine reach beyond the existing audience, meaning these reels are already acting as acquisition content. The biggest leak is posting cadence: 0.4 posts per week is less than one fifth of the healthy 2-post benchmark for a lifestyle creator in this niche. At that rate, even strong content loses momentum before it can compound.
The account has a clear identity: a Maltese expat in the Netherlands using food as a cultural bridge. Post [22] proves this angle has brand appeal, having already attracted a Visit Malta partnership. Monthly recaps (posts [15], [16], [27]) keep loyal followers warm but rarely expand reach. Seasonal carousels perform above the median when the visual is strong, as seen in post [3] at 566 likes.
The priority fix is volume. Doubling to one reel per week in the food pillar alone would likely move the monthly average significantly given the existing conversion rate on that format.
Working
4- Maltese food reels consistently outperform all other formats, averaging 2,223 likes versus a feed median of roughly 390.
- Maltese-language captions create a high-trust community that comments at above-average rates, particularly on personal milestone posts like [4] and [5].
- Seasonal and location carousels such as [3] and [6] pull strong like counts with minimal caption effort, suggesting the photography quality is doing real work.
- The cultural ambassador angle has already converted into a brand partnership (post [22]), validating the niche positioning.
Risks
4- Cadence is critically low at 0.4 posts per week; the account is invisible to the algorithm for most of each month.
- Monthly recap carousels generate low comment rates and do not appear to reach new audiences, making them a weak growth format.
- Reels outside the food niche, such as the Utrecht reel (post [8] as a carousel), miss the format opportunity that drives the highest reach.
- Hashtag usage is inconsistent; several high-performing posts use no hashtags at all, leaving discoverability on the table.
Ship next
5- Commit to one food reel per week minimum, prioritizing Maltese recipe or challenge formats proven by posts [0] and [9].
- Repurpose the best monthly recap moments into standalone reels rather than burying them in 12-image carousels.
- Add 5 to 8 consistent hashtags across every post, mixing Maltese food, expat life, and location tags for each piece of content.
- Pitch a recurring 'Maltese Food in the Netherlands' series to one Dutch or Maltese brand per quarter, building on the Visit Malta precedent.
- Test posting on Sunday and Thursday evenings, the windows where the two highest-engagement reels (posts [9] and [0]) went live.
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