Abstract:
The rapid growth of social media has made it essential for businesses to develop effective content strategies that encourage audience engagement and strengthen brand presence. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the organic Instagram content strategy employed by Nirvana Scented Candles. The primary objective was to examine how different content characteristics, including content type, caption style, hashtag usage, and posting time, influence audience engagement. A quantitative content analysis approach was adopted for this research. Data were collected from the company's Instagram posts over the selected study period and analyzed using engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and overall engagement rate. Descriptive statistics and inferential analysis were performed using SPSS to identify patterns and relationships between content variables and audience engagement. The findings indicate that certain content formats generate significantly higher engagement than others. Posts featuring visually appealing content, storytelling based captions, relevant hashtags, and strategically selected posting times consistently achieved stronger audience interaction. The results suggest that adopting a data-driven content strategy can improve the effectiveness of organic social media marketing and help small businesses maximize engagement without relying heavily on paid advertising. This study contributes to the understanding of social media content effectiveness by providing practical recommendations for optimizing Instagram marketing strategies. The findings may assist Nirvana Scented Candles and similar small businesses in refining their content planning, increasing audience engagement, and strengthening their digital marketing performance.
