Losing followers on Instagram is a difficult setback that many brands have to face at one point or another. If you find your business in this tough situation, don’t worry too much.
We’ve got your back. We’re here with a guide that can help you analyze why you might be losing followers on Instagram and how you can get them back.
Disclaimer: This content contains some affiliate links for which we will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you). This is to ensure that we can keep creating free content for you.
Table of Contents
Reasons Why You’re Losing Followers On Instagram
There can be many reasons behind losing followers on Instagram. Here are the most common ones that you may encounter:
Buying Followers & Instagram Removing Them
One of the main reasons for losing followers on Instagram is buying fake followers. Instagram growth is a key player when it comes to elevating your business and marketing strategically.
There’s a certain amount of pressure that comes with trying to grow your social media following. We get it.
And, there are a lot of ways to boost your number of followers on Instagram. This process can take time (not to mention hard work), which is why brands tend to give in to the temptation of buying followers.
Instead of consistently creating valuable content for Instagram posting, using hashtags, and engaging a real audience, you might also think of buying followers.
But this is a harmful practice.
Why?
Typically, the companies that sell fake followers advertise the notion that, with them, you can quickly expand your social media presence and boost the number of followers on your account, which is a tempting offer.
However, the new (bought) followers that you receive are not real people. Rather, these “followers” are fake Instagram accounts or bots.
These bots will not engage with your posts, even though you pay them to follow you. And this move will end up hurting you because there will be a large disparity between the number of accounts that follow you and the number of accounts that engage with your posts. This can reduce your engagement rate.
Additionally, once Instagram notices that you’ve purchased followers, it will remove the accounts from the app, making you lose followers. Bots are considered to be a violation of Instagram rules and will get banned. They are likely to be flagged and removed from the platform one day or the other, which could be the reason why you’re losing followers on Instagram.
Some of your real followers might notice that your posts aren’t getting enough engagement and they might unfollow you due to that reason too. This way, you could end up losing more followers.
(Stop buying followers. Use the powerful growth tool, Kicksta, to get real Instagram followers.)
Posting Content That Isn’t Engaging Enough
Engagement is one of the most important factors to pay attention to, especially when you’re running an Instagram business account. When potential customers follow you on social media, they are likely to be interested in getting to know your brand better, or they might want to stay informed about company updates.
To give your followers either of these things, you must manage your account actively. You should consistently post great content, respond to comments on your posts, and interact with your audience.
If you’re not doing all of this, it could lead to you losing followers on Instagram. If people follow you to become more familiar with your brand, then you need to engage with them too. The idea is to foster a community.
And, if people are following you to stay informed about the latest updates from your business, it is important to ensure that you are consistently posting relevant content. Keep people updated about what you’re doing – your new products, discount offers, etc.
Failing to do so might be the reason why you’re losing followers on Instagram.
So, if you are losing followers on Instagram and you’re not sure why, a lack of engagement could be the reason. Take a moment to analyze your engagement strategy for the platform.
How engaged are your followers?
Make sure that your followers like, comment, share, and save your posts. Give them reasons to interact with your content either by hosting polls on Stories or ending your captions with a compelling question.
If you fail to provide value to your followers, that will mean losing followers on Instagram.
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Infrequent Posting and Posting at the Wrong Times
Like we mentioned above, it’s very important to post frequently and consistently to ensure that your followers are “getting what they came for.” They need to have a reason to keep coming back to your account, comment on your posts, use your hashtag, and engage with your account.
Not posting enough can be a reason why you’re losing followers on Instagram.
What’s more?
Keep in mind that Instagram users want to follow active accounts that are publishing images, videos, or any other type of content per day. You need to keep posting content that adds value to their lives to give them a reason to stay.
Beyond simply publishing enough posts, it’s also important that you publish posts at the right time on the platform. Sticking to a posting schedule is a great idea when it comes to Instagram. This will ensure that all of your posts are sent out at the same time every day/week.
But, don’t just pick any random posting schedule. You need to make sure that you post content at the right time and on the days of the week when your audience is the most active.
This can help you generate maximum engagement. If you post at the wrong times, your audience may think you are inactive and might unfollow you, which can lead to you losing followers on Instagram.
Posting Poor Quality Content
Many aspects play an important role in gaining followers on Instagram, which means that you have a lot to pay attention to.
One of the most obvious aspects that can help you improve the follow-unfollow ratio of your account is, of course, the type of content you post. If you publish low-quality content, you’ll likely end up losing followers on Instagram.
Make sure that your post captions are well-written, your images and videos are of high quality, and your content is relevant to your niche and audience. Don’t post things just for the sake of posting. You need to be intentional with what you publish on the platform.
Another thing that could be bringing your account down is your Instagram bio. A good bio should be short, concise, professional, and interesting so it grabs the attention of users and makes them want to see more.
If you don’t make a good impression right away with your bio, people will have much less interest in seeing what content you post every day.
Finally, make sure you have an appealing profile theme. If your photos aren’t aesthetically pleasing, you might end up losing followers on Instagram.
Believe it or not, people notice whether you post coherent content. And if you don’t, this could lead to you losing followers on Instagram.
Also, irrespective of your content quality, you might be losing followers as many people opt for the follow-unfollow method to grow their follower counts. They may follow your Instagram account for a short while and may unfollow soon, which could lead to you losing followers.
(Increase your follower count authentically by using Kicksta to power your Instagram growth strategy.)
Using the Wrong Hashtags
Hashtags are certainly a vital part of social media marketing, but you have to make sure that you’re using them correctly, especially because they can help you increase social media traffic.
One common pitfall of a hashtag strategy is being too repetitive with your hashtags. A trap that brand account owners commonly fall into is using the same set of hashtags on every post that they publish.
This might be the easy route to take, but it won’t do you any good when it comes to increasing your account’s reach and keeping your Instagram followers engaged. There’s a good chance that your account will get shadowbanned due to irrelevant use of the same hashtags, which can lead to you losing followers on Instagram.
What’s more?
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you should use the right amount of hashtags in each post. Using just a couple of hashtags won’t be overly effective, so you need to make sure that you include enough of them.
On the other hand, using too many hashtags in any given post can come across as spammy and this can be a turn-off for users, resulting in you losing followers on Instagram.
Also, pay attention to the length of the hashtags you use. If your hashtags are too short, then they are likely not very specific and will get lost in a sea of other posts that use the same generic hashtag.
Using a hashtag that is too long can also be detrimental to your follower count as long hashtags may be overly specific and might not effectively help to promote your account to new Instagram users.
Extra-long hashtags can also come across as spammy, just like using too many hashtags per post.
Losing Followers on Instagram? How to Recover From It
Don’t lose heart if you have been losing Instagram followers for a long time. There are ways to use Instagram effectively for gaining more Instagram followers.
While it may not be able to recover your lost followers, you can still gain new followers to improve the following-unfollowing ratio of your Instagram account.
Want to learn how?
Read on.
Use a Quality Instagram Growth Service
Using a good Instagram growth service can make all the difference when it comes to improving your follower count. The best growth services usually offer amazing features but purchasing fake followers is not one of them.
One of the hallmarks of the best Instagram growth services is organic growth. These services essentially work by boosting your account’s engagement with other accounts. And they can help you expand your social media network.
Many of these service providers will like posts and drop comments on your account’s behalf so that your account gets noticed by accounts similar to yours. The more this occurs, the more accounts will likely interact with your content.
And, eventually, you’ll be able to build a connection with multiple accounts similar to your Instagram account. This will help you gain more reach and followers naturally, which can help you grow your audience on Instagram. However, do keep in mind that this practice will not help you gain new followers overnight.
(Kicksta can help you stop losing Instagram followers. Get it now!)
Create Better Content
Like we mentioned earlier, one reason why you might be losing followers on Instagram is that you’re not posting great content. One of the best social media marketing tactics is to improve your content quality and provide more value to your followers.
One way to improve your content quality is to work on the overall aesthetic of your account. Instagram users like to see accounts that maintain a coherent theme. So, make sure that your photos look good together on the feed and your captions have a similar tone of voice.
While all of your posts should look good together, you won’t want them all to look the same. You should try to generate diversity among your posts while ensuring that they fit a common aesthetic.
And how can you achieve that?
One way to create diversity among your posts is by posting videos now and then, along with photo posts. This will keep things interesting and give your audience something new to engage with.
You can also include images that feature quotes to break up the monotony of posting picture after picture on your feed.
Depending on what type of business you run, you can also post images that feature the products you sell or something about the services you provide.
Use the Right Hashtags
If you’re losing followers on Instagram, all’s not lost. We talked before about what not to do when it comes to using hashtags but now let’s take a look at how you can use hashtags effectively.
When used properly, Instagram hashtags can help your account soar in popularity.
One important thing to keep in mind is how hashtags work. Instagram uses hashtags to make your posts available to other users who are most likely to be interested in them. So, make sure that you use hashtags that accurately depict who you are as a brand.
For example, if you run a boutique or clothing business in Texas, you might want to use hashtags such as “#TexasBoutiques,” “#SmallBusinessInTexas,” or “#TexasBoutiqueStyle.” Using these hashtags will likely help your posts get seen by people who are most likely to shop at your store.
Image via Instagram
You should also make sure to include diversity among the hashtags you use. Come up with hashtags that are relevant to each post that you publish. For example, if you are posting about a sale that you’re running, make that evident in the hashtags you use.
Or, if you are promoting a new line of products or services that your business will be offering at the onset of an upcoming season, reflect that in the hashtags as well.
Schedule Your Posts
Scheduling your posts is an extremely important factor in making your Instagram marketing strategy successful.
There are plenty of apps and platforms available through which you can create posts in batches and then schedule them for publication at specific times and dates on various social media channels.
Using such tools will allow you to plan and create a bundle of high-quality posts that can be posted at appropriate times automatically.
As we had mentioned earlier, you cannot arbitrarily choose when to publish your posts. Instagram offers analytics that will show you which of your posts have gained maximum interactions and engagement. You can also use external tools to find information about your top-performing posts.
Use this information to your advantage. Track patterns among your most popular posts and start publishing content at the times when your audience is the most active. This will help you ensure that as many followers see your posts as possible. They will likely be more engaged with your account.
List of Tools to Help You Grow Your Instagram Followers
Now that you’ve checked out ways to stop losing Instagram followers and build your following, let’s take a look at some tools that can help you through the journey.
Kicksta
We’ve talked earlier about Instagram growth services and how they can help you increase the number of followers naturally. One such service is Kicksta. It’s one of the top organic growth services for Instagram and can help you overcome any drop in your follower count.
Image via Kicksta
Once you link your Instagram account to your profile on Kicksta, you will be provided with a list of similar accounts and competitors. Kicksta will then use this information to auto-engage with other accounts on your behalf.
In other words, your account will like posts of fellow accounts in your niche. As these accounts begin to notice that you are interacting with their content, they will be inclined to take a look at your profile. The more accounts see your page, the more followers you are likely to gain.
And once Kicksta has helped you get the attention of ideal accounts, you can begin making connections on your own, which will lead to increasing your following. So, if you’ve been losing followers on Instagram, Kicksta can come in handy.
Buffer
If you’re losing followers on Instagram due to infrequent posting, Buffer can help. It's a great tool for scheduling posts. With Buffer, you will have the ability to plan campaigns and schedule posts. You can also schedule comments to go along with the posts you create.
Image via Buffer
Buffer can also help you increase activity. It will give you reminders to post if you prefer to publish the posts yourself instead of having them automatically published by the tool.
Among its many other traits, Buffer also provides you with analytics so that you can track and measure success. This will help you fine-tune your content scheduling strategy by identifying the right times to post your content.
Canva
Canva is a great design tool to help you make your account more aesthetically pleasing and dynamic. If you want to keep a common theme for all of your posts, you can use Canva’s pre-designed templates and filters to do that. This can help prevent you from losing followers on Instagram.
Image via Canva
You can use the filters available on Canva to keep the appearance of your images uniform. Additionally, you can choose from the plethora of fonts available on Canva to keep your brand identity tight and appealing.
What’s more, you may ask?
Canva has a feature that allows you to create animated Instagram posts, which will add motion effects to your still photos, making your posts dynamic and engaging.
It also offers a variety of templates. You can take as much or as little liberty as you want when it comes to creating posts from scratch. It also allows you to set your brand color palette and use it when creating your posts.
Instagram Insights
As we had mentioned earlier, Instagram offers analytical tools to show which of your posts are most effective in increasing engagement.
Instagram Insights will show you how many people viewed your posts vs. how many of them engaged with them. This can help you find out your Instagram engagement rate and the effectiveness of your content.
Additionally, Instagram will provide insights and graphs about the number of people following and unfollowing you. You can track if you’re losing followers suddenly and understand which activities are helpful for you vs. detrimental to you in regards to increasing your follower count.
And the best part?
These analytics are fetched by Instagram directly. So, you can post content and analyze its effectiveness, right from the Instagram app.
Stop Losing Followers on Instagram Now
If you’ve been losing followers on Instagram lately but haven’t been able to find the reason behind it, we hope that this article will help you identify the source.
There are a variety of factors that play a role in the rise and fall of followers on Instagram, but the good news is that you now have control over the situation. Start implementing these tips to prevent losing followers on Instagram, and see what happens.
Don’t forget to try Kicksta, a powerful Instagram growth hacking tool, for gaining real followers.
If you have questions about why you’re losing followers on Instagram or the tips mentioned above about gaining new followers, ask them in the comments section.
Disclaimer: This content contains some affiliate links for which we will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you). This is to ensure that we can keep creating free content for you.
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