This guide covers how Facebook and Instagram decide who sees a post, what coating contractors should post, what to skip, and the small details (captions, hashtags, links) that make a difference.
Key takeaways
- Most reels people watch come from accounts they do not follow, ranked by how likely each person is to reshare, watch all the way through, like or open the audio.
- The first two seconds decide everything, so open on the floor, not on a logo.
- Post your own work: Meta reduces the reach of reposted and duplicated videos, and keeps watermarked, bordered, muted and mostly-text reels out of recommendations.
- Five kinds of content work for coating shops: finished floors, the process, answers to homeowner questions, choices, and your team.
- Consistency beats volume: three a week, every week, is better than seven one week and none the next.
- Put the important words first in captions, use five hashtags or fewer, and mind the Facebook link limit.
Reach
How Facebook and Instagram decide who sees a reel
Most reels people watch come from accounts they do not follow. Instagram explains that it first finds reels a person might like, then ranks them by how likely that person is to reshare the reel, watch it all the way through, like it, or open its audio. Instagram's head has said the signals that matter most are watch time, likes and sends, with sends counting a little more for reaching people who do not follow you yet.
In practice that means:
- The first two seconds decide everything. Meta's own description of Instagram Reels ranking lists how likely someone is to watch less than three seconds, so open on the floor, not on a logo.
- Make things people forward. A reel a homeowner sends to their spouse, or a contractor sends to their estimator, travels further than one that only gets a like.
- Post your own work. Meta reduces the reach of reposted and duplicated videos, and keeps watermarked, bordered, muted and mostly-text reels out of recommendations.
- Stay on topic. Both apps match posts to people by topic. A feed that is clearly about coated floors gets shown to people who watch coated floors.
What to post
What to post: five kinds of content that work for coating shops
1. Finished floors. Your real jobs are your strongest proof. Shoot them in good light, from the doorway the way the homeowner sees the room, and ask the customer before you post. A slow walk across a finished garage, a close-up of the flake and a wide shot are better than one overexposed photo.
2. The process. Grinding, crack repair, the broadcast and the scrape are fascinating to people who have never seen them, and they explain your price better than any line on a quote. Keep it short and show the satisfying moments.
3. Answers to homeowner questions. Epoxy or polyaspartic? Which colors hide dirt? Can you coat a garage in winter? What does prep include? Each answer is a post, and the best ones get saved and shared.
4. Choices, not just results. "Which one would you pick?" posts get comments. Two colors on the same garage, or a patio in two stamp patterns, invite people to weigh in. If you use previews for these, label them clearly as previews, not finished jobs.
5. Your team and how you work. Who shows up, how you protect the house, how you leave the job site. Homeowners are letting you into their home; show them who is coming.
What to skip
What to skip
- Reposting other people's videos. It can reduce the reach of everything you post, and it is not your work.
- Videos with another app's watermark. Re-export from your own footage instead.
- Stock photos or AI images presented as your jobs. If it is not a floor you installed, do not imply that it is. Previews are fine when they are labeled as previews.
- Reviews you cannot show the source of. Only share real reviews, from real customers, with their permission.
- Text-only videos and long logo intros. They lose people in the first two seconds.
Cadence
How often, and when
Consistency beats volume. One good post a day is a strong target; three a week, every week, is better than seven one week and none the next. Sprout Social's 2026 study found weekday middays and afternoons strongest on both Instagram and Facebook, and weekends weakest, in each audience's local time. Use that as a starting point, then check your own Insights after a few weeks. Your customers' habits matter more than any average.
Estimates
Turn every estimate into content (with permission)
The estimate visit is a content goldmine that most shops waste. With the homeowner's permission, a preview of their floor in two colors makes a great "which one would you pick?" post, and the finished job a few weeks later closes the loop. If you use a floor visualizer at the estimate, the previews you already make for the customer can become posts, labeled as previews. Our examples page shows the kind of before and after that comes out of it.
Domino flake on a contractor's patio job photo. An illustrative AI preview, not a photo of an installed floor. 
Tidal Wave flake on the same patio. An illustrative AI preview, not a photo of an installed floor.
Done for you
If you would rather not run it yourself
Posting every day while running crews is a lot. Our Marketing Agency for coating contractors runs your ads and SEO, builds your website, and nurtures every lead to a signed job, run by people who know how floors get sold. See how the Marketing Agency works. For the lead side of the picture, see our guide to epoxy flooring leads.
And to see your own finishes on a homeowner's floor, try 3 free renders on our live demo: no sign-up, no card, no time limit. Start here.
Sources
- Instagram, "Instagram Ranking Explained"
- Social Media Today, Instagram's top ranking signals (January 2025)
- Meta Transparency Center, how Instagram ranks Reels
- Facebook for Creators, "Combating Unoriginal Content" (2025-07-14)
- Instagram, "Breaking Down How Instagram Search Works"
- Facebook Help Center, "About links in organic Facebook Page posts and comments"
- Sprout Social, best times to post on Instagram (2026)
- Sprout Social, best times to post on Facebook (2026)