Did you know that there are over 200 million business accounts on Instagram? With over a billion active users, Instagram has become THE social media platform for individuals and businesses to showcase creativity, promote their brands and reach a massive audience. But how does this happen? Answer: Followers. Establishing a significant following on Instagram is not only a sign of popularity but also a measure of influence and success.
Don’t worry if you’ve started losing followers on Instagram because you’re not alone. Even Kylie Jenner and Katy Perry lost millions of followers in 2019. From mistakes in content creation to shadowbanning, bugs, and changes in Instagram’s algorithm, followers can drop off your profile for various reasons. Let’s delve into the causes of losing followers on Instagram and provide practical tips to help you.
8 Reasons You’re Losing Instagram Followers
Here are the top 8 reasons you might be losing followers on Instagram. Checked these out to identify where you’re lacking and what you can do to fix it:
1. Poor Quality Content
Poor quality content can be detrimental to the success of your Instagram account, leading to a significant loss of followers. This can be frustrating for anyone trying to build a strong following on the platform. The reason is simple: people want to see quality content.
Users are likely to unfollow you if the content is poor, uninteresting, or irrelevant. Poorly created content also impacts your reach. Here are some tips to improve the quality of your Instagram content and avoid losing followers:
- Create the type of content your target audience wants to see
- Organize your content
- Use a content calendar to plan content ahead of time
- Instagram is a visual platform, so use high-quality images
- Create engaging captions
- Experiment with videos, graphics, and stories to see what your followers like
2. Inconsistent Posting
If your followers are used to seeing regular posts from you, and you stop posting content or post irregularly, they may lose interest and unfollow you. Moreover, if you aren’t consistent, your content won’t show up in your followers’ feeds as often.
So, an inconsistent posting schedule can result in a dip in your follower count. Similarly, a consistent posting schedule can help you gain followers. Here are a few tips:
- Decide how often you want to post on Instagram
- Find your content and create mood boards for content inspiration
- Take the time to plan out your content in advance so you always have something to post
- Use a content calendar or scheduling tool to schedule your Instagram posts ahead of time
3. Over-Promotion
While self-promotion is necessary to promote your brand or message, overpromotion can cause followers to lose interest and even unfollow your account.
Posting the same promotional content repeatedly annoys followers and makes them feel like they are being bombarded with advertising. Over-promotion can also appear insincere or desperate, making followers lose interest in you.
Here are some tips on how to balance promotion and non-promotional content:
- Follow the 80/20 rule (For every eight non-promotional posts, post two promotional ones) so your followers don’t get overwhelmed with ads
- Focus on creating unique and valuable content your followers want to see
- Use storytelling techniques to make promotional content engaging and relatable
4. Lack of Engagement
It’s not just about the number of followers but also how many actively engage with your content. High engagement rates indicate that your audience finds your content valuable and relevant, increasing visibility.
Here are some tips on how to increase engagement:
- Create visually appealing, informative, and relevant content
- Interact with your follower by responding to comments, DMs, and mentions promptly
- Run contests or giveaways to increase likes, comments, and shares on your posts
- Collaborate with other users in your niche to reach new audiences
- Create Instagram stories and use features like polls, questions, and quizzes to connect and encourage interaction
5. Not Using Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to improve reach because they make your content discoverable to users on the platform. When you add a hashtag to a post, it becomes part of a larger conversation around that topic, and people interested in that topic are more likely to find your post.
Here are some tips on identifying and using relevant hashtags to attract new followers:
- Research relevant hashtags that are trending in your niche
- Use specific hashtags to reach a more targeted audience
- Mix popular and less popular hashtags for the best chance of being discovered by new followers
- Use location-based hashtags to attract new followers in your area
- Don’t use too many hashtags to avoid looking spammy
6. Not Utilizing Instagram Analytics
Tracking your follower activity and engagement is essential to growing and retaining your following on Instagram. This is where Instagram analytics comes in handy.
Instagram analytics provide valuable insights into how your followers interact with your content. This allows you to improve your Instagram marketing strategies to attract new followers and prevent losing existing ones.
Here are the key metrics you should be analyzing:
- Engagement: Engagement includes likes, comments, shares, and saves. By analyzing your engagement rates, you can adjust your strategies accordingly.
- Reach: Reach is the number of unique accounts that have viewed your content. By analyzing your reach, you see how many people your content is reaching and how well it’s performing.
- Followers’ demographics: This includes factors such as age, gender, and location. This information is crucial in creating targeted content that resonates with your audience.
7. Inactive and Fake Followers
People buy fake Instagram followers to boost their ego, look more popular or attract sponsors or advertisers who are impressed by a high number of followers. But having many followers on Instagram doesn’t necessarily mean success or popularity. The real measure of success on Instagram is engagement.
Inactive or fake followers actually harm an account’s credibility and reputation by reducing the percentage of engagement rate. Moreover, buying fake followers is risky, as it violates Instagram’s terms of service and can lead to account suspension or a permanent ban.
On the other hand, buying real Instagram followers from reputable sources like Media Mister can be a viable strategy for growing an account’s following and engagement.
When you buy real followers, you pay genuine people to follow you. This improves organic reach and boosts your account’s performance without negative consequences. So, buy Instagram Followers from Media Mister to achieve engagement, exposure, and growth.
8. Changes to Instagram Algorithm
The algorithm is a set of rules Instagram uses to determine what content to show users in their feed and explore page. It considers factors like engagement, relevancy, and timeliness.
So, changes to the Instagram algorithm can significantly impact your follower count. So, how can you adapt to changes in the Instagram algorithm? Follow these tips:
- Stay up-to-date on changes to the algorithm
- The algorithm prioritizes content that generates high levels of engagement, so create posts that encourage likes, comments, and shares
- The algorithm also values timeliness, so post frequently and regularly
- Instagram’s algorithm places a higher value on video content than static images, so consider incorporating more video into your content mix
Summing Up
Losing followers on Instagram can be a frustrating experience, but it’s not uncommon. You may be losing followers for several reasons, such as changes in your content or algorithm updates. By following the above-mentioned tips, you can ensure the long-term growth of your Instagram followers.
