Decoded by AI · Instagram · Updated October 3, 2026

Dan Martell's best Reels, decoded.

Dan Martell (@danmartell), author of Buy Back Your Time, posts business advice on Instagram: his median Reel gets about 174K plays. We pulled his latest 200 Reels, transcribed every one with speech, and had Jev label the 186 real talking scripts on eight dimensions: hook, structure, opening, evidence, emotion, advice, topic and call to action. Then we compared the labels against his plays. Here is what the data says, and what it doesn't.

Reels collected

200

Scripts decoded

186

Median plays

173.9K

Top Reel

2.8M

His formula

What his top 20% have in common

Hook

Curiosity

Structure

Comparison

Opening

Claim

Evidence

Reasoning

CTA

None

The most common label in each category among his best-performing fifth of Reels, by plays.

The numbers

Median plays by hook, evidence, structure and topic

Compared with his account median of 173.9K plays.

Hook

Curiosity41 Reels228K+31%

Result11 Reels212.3K+22%

Direct58 Reels181.9K+5%

Contradiction38 Reels166.7K-4%

Recognition25 Reels155.9K-10%

Story5 Reels110.2K-37%

Mistake8 Reels91.7K-47%

Topic

Money7 Reels312K+79%

Other2 Reels · small sample271.1K+56%

Health4 Reels · small sample233.8K+34%

Habits13 Reels218.9K+26%

Technology38 Reels211.7K+22%

Relationships10 Reels182.8K+5%

Marketing15 Reels174.2K+0%

Mindset40 Reels135K-22%

Business57 Reels134.8K-22%

Evidence

Example27 Reels202.4K+16%

Reasoning87 Reels182K+5%

None16 Reels178K+2%

Personal48 Reels165.3K-5%

Source4 Reels · small sample165.1K-5%

Numbers4 Reels · small sample127.6K-27%

Structure

Explanation9 Reels331.2K+90%

Comparison21 Reels253.5K+46%

Q&A17 Reels196.6K+13%

Steps64 Reels183.6K+6%

Opinion35 Reels178.1K+2%

Problem → solution25 Reels136.6K-21%

Story15 Reels94.6K-46%

5 findings

What actually moves his views

01
Business is his weakest topic
Money 312K · habits 219K · AI and tech 212K · business 135K median plays
Business and mindset make up 97 of his 186 talking Reels, and both sit at a 135K median, well under his account median. They fill his bottom fifth (26 of 37 Reels) but only a third of his top fifth (13 of 38). Personal money, daily habits and health travel much further: 10 of his top 38 are life topics, against 1 of his bottom 37. His biggest Reel is a guy asking what to do with 500 bucks.
Limits: Money (7 Reels) and health (4) are small groups, so the exact gap is directional. The business-at-the-bottom pattern across 57 Reels is solid.
Try this: Take a business lesson and aim it at someone's personal money or routine. "How to scale a team" becomes "what I'd do with my first $500."
02
AI Reels are his growth lane
38 AI and tech Reels: 212K median · 11 of them in his top fifth
One in five of his recent Reels is about AI: which tools to pay for, ChatGPT versus Claude, red and green flags when using AI. They beat his account median by about 20% and make up more than a quarter of his top fifth. For a business creator, AI is the topic that lets him stay on brand and still reach people who don't care about scaling a company.
Limits: AI content is riding a wave right now; this gap may shrink as the topic gets crowded.
Try this: Make one Reel a week on a specific AI tool decision your audience faces: which one, what it costs, what to skip.

03
Stories are his worst format
Story Reels 95K vs comparison 253K median plays · 0 stories in his top fifth
His 15 Reels built around a story from his own life have the lowest median of any structure, and none of them reach his top fifth (7 sit in the bottom fifth). Comparisons (this versus that, like which AI tool to pay for) do more than 2.5x better. Short explanations of a single idea are strong too, at 331K across 9 Reels. Same lesson as Hormozi and Shelby Sapp: on these accounts, the take beats the backstory.
Limits: Medians within one account, no significance testing. Explanation is a small group (9 Reels).
Try this: Turn your next story into a comparison: what most people do, what you do instead, and why.
04
His best Reels start with someone else's question
Curiosity hooks 228K vs mistake hooks 92K median plays
His top two Reels open with a question from someone in front of him: "I have 500 bucks, what do I do with it?" and "When do you know it's time to leave your 9 to 5?" Curiosity hooks are his best type, and question openings beat plain claims (200K vs 174K across 45 Reels). Hooks built on a mistake ("you're doing this wrong") are his weakest. Letting a real person ask the question makes the answer feel earned instead of preached.
Limits: The question-versus-claim gap is modest; the curiosity-versus-mistake gap is bigger but mistake hooks are only 8 Reels.
Try this: Film the question being asked, by a friend, a client or a comment on screen, then answer it in under 30 seconds.
05
Asking for something doesn't help him
158 of 186 Reels have no CTA · Reels with a CTA: 143K vs 178K
Most of his Reels end on the lesson. The 28 that ask viewers to comment, follow or buy do slightly worse, and only 3 of them reach his top fifth (7 sit in the bottom fifth). Like Hormozi, he lets the content earn the follow and sells elsewhere.
Limits: Reels with a CTA may also be the more promotional ones, so the CTA itself may not be what holds them back.
Try this: If you run comment CTAs on every Reel, try ending a few on your strongest line and compare.

Top 12 Reels

His best-performing openings

#12.8M plays56.3 likes/1K

“I have 500 bucks. What do I do with it?”

Curiosity hookProblem → solutionWatch

#22.4M plays41.3 likes/1K

“When do you know it's time to leave your 9 to 5? That's a great question.”

Curiosity hookQ&AWatch

#31.4M plays15.1 likes/1K

“Sales. Emotional scarring.”

Mistake hookComparisonWatch

#41.2M plays26.7 likes/1K

“Don't say $1,000, say 999. It seems cheaper.”

Result hookStepsWatch

#5977K plays52.2 likes/1K

“I don't care about my kids grades. I don't care about my kids report card.”

Contradiction hookOpinionWatch

#6972.1K plays29.3 likes/1K

“Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, skip. I know.”

Contradiction hookStepsWatch

#7971.6K plays19.8 likes/1K

“Red and green flags with using AI. Using AI for relationship advice.”

Direct hookQ&AWatch

#8971.3K plays39 likes/1K

“What would a good morning schedule be? What time do you wake up?”

Curiosity hookStepsWatch

#9789.5K plays19.6 likes/1K

“ChatGPT 20 bucks because you need to be able to connect your tools and you're good to go. Claude.”

Direct hookComparisonWatch

#10785.6K plays63 likes/1K

“If you're in my age, how would you become successful? How old are you?”

Curiosity hookOpinionWatch

#11720.4K plays44.2 likes/1K

“What was your best investment? Marrying you.”

Curiosity hookQ&AWatch

#12697.5K plays48.6 likes/1K

“have an alarm to go to bed, not to wake up. You wouldn't be impressed knowing what time I wake up if…”

Contradiction hookStepsWatch

Script anatomy

Inside his top Reel: 2.8M plays

A guy tells him he has 500 bucks and asks what to do with it. Dan asks his goal, then gives one rule: pick one thing, because people who win stay with one thing for a long time. He names it (FOCUS: follow one course until successful), reframes losing the money as learning, and closes with a surfing metaphor: falling off the board isn't failing, it's learning how not to stand. Jev labeled it a Curiosity hook with a Problem-solution structure and principle-level advice. No call to action.

Sentence roles, in order

SetupHookAdviceExample

1 Someone's question
2 Clarify the goal
3 One rule
4 Proof: success leaves clues
5 Name it (an acronym)
6 Reframe failure
7 Metaphor
8 Get back up

Steal the structure

4 script templates from his patterns

Answer the question

[Someone asks:] "I have [small resource]. What do I do with it?" What's the goal? [Their answer]. Then [one rule]. People who win all [what they have in common]. It's called [name or acronym]. And if it doesn't work, [reframe]. It's like [simple metaphor].

Skip this, do this

[Popular thing everyone recommends], skip. I know. [Why it misleads people]. Instead, [better alternative]. Here's why: [one reason].

The tool decision

[Tool A], [price], because you need [what it does]. [Tool B], [price], only if [situation]. Skip [Tool C]. That's the whole stack.

The contrarian parent rule

I don't care about [thing everyone cares about]. I care about [what you care about instead]. Because [reason]. Here's what I do: [habit].

Written by us from the patterns above. Swap in your own topic, proof and wording.

The full dataset

Get all 186 decoded Reels as a spreadsheet

Every Reel with plays, likes, its hook, structure, opening, evidence, emotion and CTA labels, and the opening line.

Method and limits

FAQ

How was this analysis made?

We collected his latest 200 public Instagram Reels and transcribed the ones with speech. 6 had no speech and 8 more were music or sounds without a script, so we set them aside. Jev (a typed AI judgment model) labeled the remaining 186 scripts on eight dimensions. Jev only reads the words, never the view counts. We then compared median plays across the labels.

Is this affiliated with Dan Martell?

No. This is an independent analysis of publicly available Reels. We only quote short opening lines and link to the original posts.

Do these patterns cause more views?

Not necessarily. These are medians within one account, with no significance testing. They are patterns worth testing on your own content, not proof of what causes reach.

Independent analysis of public Reels by AI Topia, not affiliated with Dan Martell. Data as of October 3, 2026: 200 Reels collected, 186 with speech decoded, 6 without speech skipped, 8 music or vlog Reels without a script set aside. Plays and likes change over time.

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All findings, top Reels, script templates and the spreadsheet. Free, opens instantly.