Why Do I Lose Followers On Instagram?

You might think your Instagram followers are irrelevant & don’t affect your brand’s marketing strategy, or you might think the opposite; you must have a zillion IG followers to amount to anything. The truth is your followers are part of your online community: the more followers (who are engaged with your account), the more interactions, & the more sales.

As your Instagram following grows, it can be an exhilarating experience. People appreciate your work by sharing & commenting, & your followers eagerly anticipate new Instagram posts.
Suddenly, you notice your followers are departing, leaving you perplexed and wondering, “Why am I losing followers on Instagram?”

According to HubSpot Blog Research, 14% of Instagram marketers report losing followers from 2020 to 2021. That number has increased in 2022 & is expected to grow in 2023. If you are among those who have lost followers on Instagram, you may be curious about the reason.
Like I said earlier, having a large following can be a huge advantage for both sales & building professional relationships (again, that’s if it’s an engaged following).
So what the heck is happening to your followers, & how can you fix it?
Before we can answer that, we must first cover the potential reasons for why you may be losing your IG followers.

Instagram Account Is In Sandbox And Their Solution

Why are my Instagram followers decreasing without any apparent reason?

The loss of followers can be attributed to various factors, rather than simply being for no reason.

You acquired followers on Instagram

The followers you’re losing weren’t genuine followers to begin with, & Instagram is cleaning its platform by deleting all those fake accounts. Growing your Instagram organically takes time & effort, which is why some brands are tempted to buy likes & pay to increase their followers.
However, most users can easily identify when an account has bought followers versus when they have true followers. If you paid for your followers, this would lead to a lack of interaction or engagement with these fake followers, making it harder for your content to reach those organic followers.
The solution is to stop buying followers, learn the power of engagement, & grow your account & influence authentically, even if you have a goal to meet or you think more followers look better, as it will only hurt you in the long run.

Follow-for-follow schemes

This is a technique where you follow an account & then unfollow them once they follow you back. It’s a massive turn-off when they discover you are in the follow/unfollow game.
You gained a new follower & increased your number but at what cost? Plus, what was the point? Do you put in that effort just to follow someone you didn’t really want to connect with?
The purpose of social media is to facilitate social interaction.

Create an Instagram community & engage with them regularly.
Try & embrace the authentic way of increasing your followers by optimizing your bio, asking your audience questions, & engaging with others in your niche.
By maintaining a regular posting schedule, offering relevant information, & monitoring trends, you can concentrate on growing
your follower base organically.

Irregular posting schedule

Consistent & frequent posting on Instagram is crucial to maintain your audience & improve your social media presence.
The Instagram algorithm favors accounts with a regular posting schedule, so establishing & sticking to a consistent posting plan, even if it’s just a few times a week, is essential.
Posting irregularly or infrequently can cause your audience to disengage & unfollow you, as they may perceive you as inactive.
By monitoring your audience’s activity & posting at the optimal times, you can maximize the visibility & impact of your content.
Aim to post on the same days of the week, such as every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, & at the same time of day when planning your calendar. Start small; you don’t have to start posting 7 days a week.
Posting frequently can improve the visibility of your content, and being aware of your audience’s active times can also help.
Marketing tactics must include real-time audience monitoring to track what your audience is doing & saying about your brand at the precise time that discussion is taking place.

Share unrelated content

Posting low-quality content on your Instagram account can undermine the effort you’ve put into building your online presence & engaging with your audience. Your followers may become overwhelmed & unfollow your account if it dominates their feed or fails to provide meaningful content. Avoid overly promotional content, as well as discussing politics & religion, as these topics often elicit strong opinions.
Religious or political views, viral posts, & negative or offensive language can alienate your audience & damage your brand’s image on Instagram.
Engage with your audience by joining ongoing conversations on Instagram rather than just broadcasting. Observe what your audience & influencers are discussing, then contribute relevant content in response. Ensure your content is neutral regarding beliefs, religion, & politics before posting. Plan your content in advance to ensure relevance to your audience. Avoid using abusive or vulgar language.

Lack of engagement

The foundation for maintaining your followers is engagement. Effective use of Instagram requires sufficient engagement. Engagement drives followers to your account. Conversations are crucial for business growth, as they boost engagement & drive traffic to your account. Followers are more likely to engage with you if you support them. Failing to build relationships with your followers can lead to disloyalty & a decline in your follower count. Developing a strong relationship foundation is essential to avoid losing your followers. On Instagram, you should leave meaningful comments on other people’s posts to introduce yourself & increase engagement. Reasons for losing followers due to low engagement rate include the following:

Manage fewer social media accounts for better results.
Concentrate on the platforms that deliver actual outcomes.
Engage with customers promptly to improve your performance.
Create valuable content to boost engagement.

Solution

Concentrate on the two or three social networks that will most efficiently help you reach your target audience.
Monitor comments & messages, or hire a third-party organization or agency to do so for you.
Your social media engagement can increase significantly if you post content that educates, informs, or entertains.

How To Fix Lose Followers On Instagram

Failing to Focus on Your Target Audience

When someone visits your profile, they wonder, “What’s in it for me? What will I learn by following them?” You’re likely losing followers because you’re posting content that your ideal reader isn’t interested in.

Solution: Focus on hashtags that your ideal reader would use. List those hashtags & then engage with users who are using them. This is an excellent way to connect with your target audience & demonstrate your empathy. It keeps you engaged & prevents you from asking, “Why am I losing followers on Instagram?”

Your Instagram niche is losing popularity

The declining phase is when your niche’s popularity decreases or sales remain stagnant. People who were previously highly interested in that specialty lose interest & decide to unfollow you. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to change the phase of your niche. The only option is to pivot your account to a new niche where you’re more likely to attract a growing audience.

Lackluster Instagram captions

If your Instagram feed imagery & captions are not engaging, you’re missing out on potential opportunities & risking losing followers.
Uninspired captions fail to attract engagement, which is the goal when posting online. Reaching new accounts & retaining your existing audience becomes more challenging without that involvement.
The solution is to think like a content creator when developing your content strategy. Use your captions to create a hub for your online community. Captions are an essential part of your Instagram posts, adding context, providing value, & potentially converting leads into customers. Craft captivating captions to boost your post visibility.

Your initial perception is unfavorable

First impressions are highly significant. Ensuring your Instagram bio precisely depicts your work & target audience has always been vital. Undoubtedly, when you initially discover someone on Instagram, you examine their bio. A user typically decides whether to follow you by looking at your profile, particularly your handle, profile picture, & bio. If you have a questionable or unappealing bio, your existing followers might unfollow you.
Your handle should be unique yet memorable. Keep your profile bio concise, precise, & straightforward, making it well-written & captivating. Describe who you are or what your business offers, how you can help your followers, & your location. Consider including a call-to-action to engage readers & drive traffic to your website.

You’re not offering anything worthwhile

To grow or retain your followers, you must address their needs by providing them with helpful solutions, such as advice, instructional content, or entertaining & uplifting content. If you fail to meet their needs, they will lose interest & unfollow you.

Your visual display is unsatisfactory

Your graphics may have contributed to losing some followers, as Instagram primarily focuses on visual media. Without reading captions, people tend to like & comment on visually appealing photos or videos. If your graphics are not visually attractive, you may not gain your audience’s interest, potentially leading to unfollowing.
The solution is to post visually attractive graphics that would catch your audience’s attention at first glance. Consider posting photos or graphics that could pique their curiosity & entertain your followers.

How can I prevent my Instagram account from losing followers?

Losing Instagram followers can be frustrating, especially when the reason is unclear. Consistently creating high-quality content & engaging with your audience is crucial for growing your Instagram presence. However, simply posting on the platform is not enough to guarantee increased followers or brand awareness. To avoid losing followers, it’s important to identify & address any issues in your Instagram strategy.

Assess the Quality of Your Content

It’s best to keep your feed consistent & avoid mixing personal content like party or food selfies with your main account. However, if you are the face of your brand, you can post more intimate material as long as it fits your main subject. For example, a travel influencer can share images of their travels & the food they eat.

Refine Your Target Audience

If you’re struggling to grow your Instagram following or users are unfollowing you, it may be because you’re targeting the wrong audience. It’s better to focus on a more specialized, closely related group that will consistently follow & engage with your account. Trying to include everyone may result in uninterested users who won’t follow or interact with your content.

Interact and Connect With Your Audience

Responding to every comment, following those you want to see more from, liking & commenting on your followers’ content, & building personal connections can help retain followers, grow your email list, & increase sales.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, the Instagram community has experienced tremendous growth, leading to increased competition & platform noise. Users must sort through accounts to find the content they like, & they can get it elsewhere if they aren’t getting it from you, which might result in losing followers. Losing followers on Instagram can be discouraging, but it can be fixed. Long-term relationships with your followers require a significant investment of time & effort.
Review important aspects & assess what type of boost your Instagram marketing campaign requires. You can adjust your approach & fix mistakes to get things moving in the proper direction, but avoid using techniques that would cause you trouble later on, such as buying followers & including bot accounts or those who use the follow/unfollow strategy.

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