Strategy report · Updated Jul 31, 2026
What's working for @selenagomez on Instagram.
Selena Gomez
404.4M followers · 2.2K posts
“by Grace through Faith ✝️ “In The Dark” & “I Said I Love You First...And You Said It Back” Out Founder @rarebeauty Founder/CIO @officialwondermind”
Engagement rate
0.58%
Per post, last 90 days
Posts per week
1.1
Niche avg 3.0
Average likes
2.3M
10.8K avg comments
Post mix
Last 90 days · 2,181 posts indexed
01
Top-performing posts
The three posts pulling the most engagement in the last 90 days.
02
Content pillars
AI-clustered themes the account posts about, with example posts pulled live from Instagram.
- 01
Personal Life & Relationships
37.00%Candid carousels of Selena's personal milestones, travel, and moments with loved ones. These posts consistently earn the highest raw like counts because fans connect with her authentic, unguarded self. Posts 2, 3, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27 anchor this pillar.
- 02
Rare Beauty Product Launches
30.00%Structured product announcements for new Rare Beauty drops, typically carousels with shade counts, retailer callouts, and launch dates. The formula is consistent: product benefit plus urgency plus channel CTA. Posts 8, 9, 10, 17, 19, 25 lead here.
- 03
Rare Beauty Brand & Mission
13.00%Posts that zoom out from products to reinforce the brand's purpose, including impact reports, campaign stories, and Rare Impact Fund updates. These drive moderate likes but stronger comment depth, signaling high audience investment in the mission.
03
Posting rhythm
Cadence and timing patterns over the last 12 weeks.
1.1 posts/week
Niche benchmark · 3.0/week
Best days
Sunday · Tuesday · Wednesday
Best hours
9-11am · 6-8pm
04
Signature hooks
Caption patterns the account reuses across high-performing posts.
I love [person/thing] and had the best time [doing X] with [people].
Used 4×
I love this song so much and had the best time making it with two people I adore.
This man who doesn't have social media is truly outstandingly witty, smart and has given the most wonderful attributes to our world of comedy.
An evening with Rare Beauty to celebrate our warm wished powdered bronzer. Shout out to the squad.
[Product] arrives [date] at [retailer]. [Brief personal feeling.]
Used 6×
new Soft Pinch Lip Oil Sticks (in 8 shades!) arrive 7/7 @rarebeauty @sephora @ultabeauty
Available only @ultabeauty and rarebeauty.com March 1!
Matte foundation. 3 in 1. Primes, covers and sets. 48 shades!!!! @rarebeauty April 2nd at @sephora
somethin [very] [adjective] is happening with @rarebeauty.
Used 2×
somethin very very exciting is happening with @rarebeauty 💚
[Emotional milestone]. Little me would never believe [achievement].
Used 2×
Little me would never believe I'd get to celebrate my birthday alongside 6 years of the Rare Impact Fund.
Every year when we put this report together, I'm reminded of why I started @RareBeauty.
distance means so little when [person] means so much.
Used 1×
distance means so little when someone means so much.... @itsbennyblanco mish you bb
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Strategy summary
What's working, what to fix, and what to ship next.
TL;DR
Selena Gomez's strongest lever is unguarded personal content, not product content. The top five posts by likes are all personal or relationship moments, with post 27 ("randoms") pulling 6.8M likes and post 13 (birthday tribute) at 5.1M, compared to the best-performing Rare Beauty post at roughly 1.3M. The account currently posts at 1.1 posts per week, well below the 3-per-week benchmark for this niche, which is the single biggest growth leak. Compounding that, reels are underused, appearing in only 3 of 30 posts, despite reel formats commanding some of the highest comment volumes in the set.
The captionless or minimal-caption carousel is a proven format (posts 18, 21, 22 all exceed 3M likes) that the account deploys well but inconsistently. Rare Beauty product posts perform solidly in the 700K to 1.3M range but rarely break into the top tier, suggesting the brand content needs a stronger personal narrative layer to close the gap. Post 17, which tied the foundation reveal to her wedding, is the clearest proof that personal context elevates product posts meaningfully.
The fix is a two-track cadence: one personal or lifestyle post mid-week to feed the algorithm, and one brand post on the weekend anchored by a specific personal story. Posting frequency should climb to at least 2 posts per week immediately.
Working
5- Personal and relationship carousels consistently outperform all other content types, often by 3x to 5x in raw likes.
- Captionless or near-captionless carousels create curiosity and drive saves, with three of them exceeding 3M likes.
- Tying product launches to personal life moments, as in post 17 (wedding and foundation), lifts brand content above the average product post ceiling.
- Mission-driven Rare Beauty content earns strong comment depth, indicating high audience trust and emotional buy-in.
- Cryptic teaser captions like post 23 generate comment speculation and strong early engagement signals.
Risks
5- Posting cadence at 1.1 per week is far below the 3-per-week benchmark and is suppressing reach and algorithmic distribution.
- Reels are used in only 3 of 30 posts despite the format driving high comment volume and platform-favored reach.
- Product posts often list features and retailer links without a personal story, making them feel like ads rather than recommendations.
- Teaser content like post 23 is not followed up quickly enough, which lets momentum decay before the payoff post lands.
- The Rare Beauty Social Impact Report (post 28) earned only 347K likes, suggesting impact content needs a stronger visual or video format to match its message.
Ship next
5- Increase cadence to at least 2 posts per week immediately, targeting Tuesday and Sunday based on engagement patterns in the data.
- Produce one reel per week minimum, using behind-the-scenes or personal storytelling formats rather than straight product demos.
- For every product launch post, open with one sentence of personal context before listing features or retailers.
- Schedule a captionless personal carousel within 48 hours of any product launch to reset the feed to the high-performing personal content ratio.
- Follow up every teaser post within 5 to 7 days with the payoff reveal to capture the comment-driven audience before they move on.
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