Uh-oh, not again… Your following just took another hit as another one of your precious followers decided to hit the unfollow button. There isn’t a worse than that on Instagram, is there? What we can agree on is that whatever you do, you will always experience fluctuations in your following base. Some days you will lose more followers than others, some days you’ll have a net gain.
What you want, and what I think that every Instagram user wants, is to minimize the effect of unfollowing and maintain a steady follower growth. For this need, I have done my fair share of research and I’m providing you with the best solutions that are certain to help you keep your followers from unfollowing.
You got a new follower? That’s great, but don’t start your victory dance just yet. There is an infamous trend on Instagram that is widespread and is called the follow/unfollow method. What the follow/unfollow method means, in short, is this:
At the end of the day, the users go back to the profiles they followed recently and unfollow them one by one. Users that use this method to boost their following may even wait for a couple of days or a week before they unfollow you, so always be aware of these potential temporary followers that will disappear after some time.
dear bloggers, stop the "follow/unfollow method" on Instagram, we all have apps that tell us and you just look like a douche 🤚🏼
— Kelly Louise🤷🏻♀️ (@mskellylouise) January 25, 2017
The best way to make sure you don’t become a victim of the follow/unfollow method is to always keep track of who follows you. I know it sounds virtually impossible to keep track of each and every one of your followers, that’s why there are apps that you can use that will notify you whenever an Instagram user just unfollowed you. Try reaching out to them and getting them to follow you again.
Using hashtags is a great way to reach a wider audience with your posts. Instagrammers often forget that their posts need to reach the right audience, instead of just any audience. If you use generic and popular hashtags you might reach a big audience and earn some new followers, but if those followers see that they have nothing in common with you and that you used the hashtag feature only to reach to them, they’ll soon leave. This is how you can check whether you’re properly using hashtags:
This will minimize major fluctuations, provided that your content doesn’t drastically change. Proper usage of hashtags has a bigger impact than you may think. If your regular followers see your numbers go up and then drop suddenly, for whatever reason, they may question if they should drop out as well.
Instagram is a two-way street. Unless you’re a big shot influencer, who is adored by tens of thousands, don’t bother playing the untouchable type. What I’m trying to say is, don’t allow yourself to become someone that never engages with their followers and expects to receive tons of engagement and keep your follower numbers growing. These are my tips that are guaranteed to help you keep a happy and growing following base:
You have to obey the golden rule on Instagram – give engagement, and you shall receive it. Otherwise, your followers might think that following you is not in their best interest.
Starbucks has over 17.2 million followers on Instagram, and yet they regularly engage with their followers by replying to their comments. Take a look for yourself through their content. There is a lesson to be learned here from how one of the biggest brands on Instagram interacts with their following base, so you can too.
Another aspect that can influence whether or not your followers keep on following you is your marketing strategy. For instance, if you have a product or service that you want to advertise, we can all agree that social media platforms are the perfect place to do that. Still, we must place an emphasis on informal, casual marketing:
Instagram is all about interacting with your followers on a personal level. They don’t want to see you taking advantage of them. That’s why you should tune down the formal marketing approach, and learn from Instagram influencers on how to properly use your influence on Instagram.
There is a special art to how you should approach your followers on Instagram. Don’t try to deceive, trick, or manipulate your followers with poor marketing tricks and mediocre content. In order to minimize the unfollowing trend on your Instagram account, you need to learn how to adjust your content on Instagram:
People usually unfollow users the moment they feel that their presence is no longer aligned with their interests on Instagram. Don’t forget that Instagram is all about showing who you really are through a visual story. People often forget that followers are real users who want to be entertained, not manipulated. Always give your best to promote content that will bring value to your users.
Having users unfollow you here and there is nothing to worry about. However, if you notice a river of followers waving your account goodbye, then something must be wrong. There are one of two things that must have happened if you experience a massive drop in followers:
Whatever the reason, the best thing to do in moments like these is to reflect on whether or not you’re doing something wrong. Maybe you’re posting content that some find annoying? Maybe you’re targeting the wrong audience? Maybe you’re rambling too much in your captions, or you’re using way too many hashtags? Whatever the reason, take a step back, analyze your situation, and try to figure out what the cause of the unfollowing trend is.
Date: November 28, 2018 / Categories: Engagement, Follower Tactics, Marketing, / Author: Rich Drees
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