Which Reel brought that client? A simple way to find out

Ask most coaches which Reel brought their last client and you get a guess. "Probably the one about meal prep?" The Reel with the most views is easy to remember. The Reel that brought a paying client often isn't.

That guess decides what you post next. If it's wrong, you make more of the content that gets views and less of the content that gets clients.

You don't need special software to find out. You need one habit and one sheet.

Views are not clients

A Reel with 200,000 views and no qualified leads did less for your business than a Reel with 3,000 views and two people who want to start this month. Views tell you how far a Reel travelled. Comments tell you how many people raised a hand. Neither tells you who was ready to buy.

What you want to count is further down:

1. Comments on the Reel.
2. DMs that went out because of those comments.
3. Qualified leads: people whose answers say they're a fit and ready soon.
4. Calls or clients that came from those leads.

The first number is on Instagram. The others you have to track.

The method: one keyword per Reel

If every Reel uses the same keyword ("comment COACH"), you can't tell them apart later. So give every Reel its own keyword.

• Meal-prep Reel: PREP
• Glute workout Reel: GLUTES
• Morning-routine Reel: MORNING

The keyword does two jobs. It triggers your DM, and it labels every lead with the Reel they came from. When someone books a call three weeks later, their first message in your DMs still says "GLUTES".

Keep the keywords short, one word, and easy to spell on a phone.

The sheet

One row per Reel, filled in once a week:

How to fill it:

• Comments: from the Reel.
• DMs sent: count the conversations that start with that keyword.
• Qualified leads: the people who gave answers you'd want to hear. If you ask two qualifying questions, this is the people who answered with your goal and "this month".
• Calls and clients: when someone books or signs, scroll to the top of the conversation, find the keyword, and add one to that Reel.

What to look at

After four to six Reels, compare:

• Qualified leads per Reel, not views per Reel. This is the number that tells you what to make more of.
• Qualified leads per comment. A Reel where most commenters qualify is speaking to your buyers. A Reel where almost nobody does is speaking to everyone else.
• Which topics and hooks are behind the Reels at the top.

Be careful with small numbers. Two clients from one Reel and zero from another, over a single month, could be luck. Look for patterns that repeat across several Reels before you change everything.

What this method can't see

Some leads never comment. They watch a Reel, tap your profile and DM you directly, or click the link in your bio. Those people don't carry a keyword, so the sheet can't place them. Two ways to narrow the gap:

• Ask. "What made you reach out?" in the first reply. People usually tell you.
• Keep the keyword in your caption so people who DM directly often use it anyway.

Treat the sheet as a clear view of your comment leads, not a full picture of every client.

The short version

1. One keyword per Reel.
2. Once a week, count comments, DMs, qualified leads, calls and clients per keyword.
3. Make more of what brings qualified leads, not what brings views.

Doing this by hand works, and it's tedious, which is why most coaches stop after two weeks. dmdrop keeps this report for you: every Reel, from comments to DMs to qualified leads to link clicks, every week. It's free during the beta, and we let coaches in in small batches. Apply for early access.