If your first 200 views are cold followers, you're cooked

If your first 200 views are cold followers, you're cooked
A Reel that opens to disengaged old followers gets a weak signal and stalls. I had a 'dead' batch dragging every post down.
The seed cohort is mostly your own audience. If they don't engage, the algo never expands you to non-followers.
Do this: post a Reel, watch the first hour. If your own followers aren't liking/saving fast, the problem isn't reach — it's that your core audience went stale. Re-earn them with one post built only for the people who already follow you.