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A great question of a social media trader everywhere: “Why do I lose followers on Instagram?” I spent years in trenches as editor of social media media and knew the daily effort it took for me to be up to date with the latest media trends, platform updates and more.
An inevitably appears a situation where you lose followers and are not sure of the cause. Is that me or is it an algorithm? The answer is complicated. But according to our research, you are not alone. Our Instagram marketing report found that 10% of Instagram sellers report a loss of followers last year.
If you are part of these 10%, you may panic trying to understand what causes the fall. Don’t worry – I covered you. Below I will cover the main reasons why brands lose their followers on Instagram and offer some tips on how you can correct.
Why do I lose so many followers on Instagram?
1. You don’t post often or post too much.
When we examined the merchants on Instagram, 44% said that not publishing enough reasons is number one for which brands lose their followers. 18%, on the other hand, said that publication can have too much impact.
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When it comes to publishing, I found that success was in balance. You will need to publish enough to make sure you reach your target audience and do not disappear in the sea of posts, but you do not want to announce too much that your audience is overwhelmed by your posts throughout the time lane.
As you probably know, it is extremely little probably that your audience sees everything you post these days with respect to the algorithm.
Here’s what I recommend
- First, post at least once a day on a platform, whether it’s Instagram stories, rings or foods. If you have to choose, stories are a great option just to stay current with updated content.
- Second, divide the procedure in the Feed two to three times a week. You can increase this cadence based on the way your audience responds, but you should probably not lower it.
Also: Don’t forget the audience engagement.
In my opinion, too much brands are focused on how and when they post too little about how they communicate with their audience. According to our data, this is a crucial error.
Increased engagement is now the main goal of the merchant – and I expect this trend to continue in 2025. These include likes, comments, interactive elements and more. You can (and need) take your unique spin on it.
Tl; Don’t get so much in your total number of followers to forget to deal with your faithful audience. This will contribute to your growth in the long run.
2. You sold too much-y.
Another most common reason for losing followers is excessive sales. 43% of Instagram dealer said this is a major reversal for the audience.
Our research has shown that the content focused on products/brand services affects 37% of IG merchants and has the highest ROI – but yes, there are too many good things.
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If this is the only type of content you post, you can alienate your audience.
Here’s what I recommend
The balance sheet is a key word here.
With posts that highlight your products and/or services, you should also publish content that:
- Reflects the values of your brand.
- Calls the conversation.
- Builds a community.
I know, as a user, I frustrate if I open up Instagram while I have time to relax and feel like every post I come across is trying to make me buy something – Ick. It is much more likely to deal with funny meme or fun video.
Data also support this: our research has found that funny content is second most effective to obtain followers, shares and engagement on Instagram.
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3. You had Bot followers.
If you have purchased followers of BOT, you will be too short when everyone disappears and tanks from the followers.
20% of Instagram surveyed say that this is why the brands have lost the followers.
Although it is tempting to buy bots to provide the semblance of a strong base of followers, this practice will harm you in the long run.
Instead, I recommend that you organically focus on the construction of a follower’s list through a consistent schedule of publication, sharing valuable content, following trends and listening to your information.
It doesn’t have to last long. Most merchants say it takes 4-6 months to reach 1K follower on Instagram. Only 17% reached in less than a month, and only 1% took more than a year.
Here’s what I recommend
If you have inherited a lot of followers of the bot, try to manually remove inactive accounts to improve your audience’s quality and get better insights from your information.
Instagram now allows you to look at the number of followers and look at all the accounts indicated for examination or inactive. You can start with these lists to start cleaning the list.
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4. You have no consistent aesthetics and voice.
One thing the audience loves is consistency.
Consistency in your branding and your creative property is crucial in building a strong brand recognition. In addition, consistency also helps to build a visually attractive profile.
If the user visits your profile and every post looks like it has been created by a different brand, it will be difficult to understand what it is about in your brand and decide to blow you up.
Personally, if I move and notice the brand I do not recognize on my time lane, I will visit their profile and if I do not recognize their last few posts, I will probably consider them. I imagine that many users behave the same way.
Here’s what I recommend
With that in mind:
- Discover what are your brand identity and visual aesthetics early in the process of your branding.
- Use tools like Canve to build a visual profile that remains consistent on all platforms.
Skimm, Bilten E brand -a stain that summarizes the biggest news of the day, is a great example of it. Their branding is clean and consistent from your arrived mail to your Instagram feed. And this consistency is facilitated by the allocation of other news I follow.
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5. Your audience has developed and do not hold on.
It would be so easy to market our audience if their interests and behavior were always the same.
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
This requires traders to stay on top of what attracts and retains their audience. One of the most effective ways for this is to rely on your information. What does he tell you?
Let’s say you are Hubspot and our feed consists of the stories of the success of customers, prominent products, the value of the company and trends in the industry.
The content of the trends in the industry may have been very well, but you have noticed a slow decline in the last six months. Maybe your audience is not so interested in this content or format in which it is presented.
Maybe if you used pictures, you should consider moving on to the video.
Most for me is the use of outdated tactics. If you are stuck to publish a hashtag of unwanted mail or publish gifts to enhance the followers’ accounts, I would recommend that you try some of these new best practices. The audience develops rapidly – and the platforms develop even faster – and our job is like traders on social media to continue.
Here’s what I recommend
If you are looking for some development with your audience, see our free Instagram for a business kit. You will learn how to get followers, build your audience, move in algorithms update and measure success.
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Use this information to run your Instagram strategy
My biggest move from this information from my age as a social editor? You have to give your audience a reason to follow you. It is not enough to just appear and attend on Instagram.
You need to have a defined brand, a unique voice and you have to show yourself authentic (and consistently!) To build significant relationships with your audience. This is what your followers care about and, perhaps not surprising, the algorithm favors.
And finally, always use data to direct your strategy. If you do not, you run the risk of losing touch with your audience and slowly see that your follower’s list is reduced.
The loss of followers on Instagram can be a frightening reality he faces. However, after recognizing the reason for the fall, you can consult it and regain it.
Note editor: This post was originally published in February 2022 and was updated for comprehensiveness.
