Fashion To Follow Blogging 101

Why You’re Not Growing On Instagram: What You Need To Know About Unfollowers And How To Deal

Why You’re Not Growing On Instagram:

What You Need To Know And How To Deal With Unfollowers On Instagram

Raise your hand if you’ve ever unfollowed someone?

Who hasn’t?

Now raise your hand if you hate being unfollowed.

I am writing this post because I thought it would be helpful to those of you who are all about growing your gram. And with Instagram being the platform of choice right now for bloggers, who isn’t focused on growing? But with the Instagram algorithm as it is, it’s becoming harder and harder to grow organically, which may make you cringe every time you see your numbers shift downward. I know how exciting it is to grow an account, and how seeing your numbers drop can feel bad, but don’t sweat the unfollows. Here’s why. I hope this mindset helps you:

You are not #feedgoals. This sounds harsh, but 90% of the time, the reason you were unfollowed is because your photo did not resonate with the viewer’s expectation of what they’d like to see on their feed. Think of the Instagram experience: The photo you post will show up in your followers’ feeds, but if it doesn’t match the content they are used to seeing or would like to see, they’re going to be more likely to unfollow. A lot of people go on Instagram as a way to take a mini-escape into a visual content stream of beautiful photos and places. If you post a poorly lit photo of a messy flatlay, your photo will look like clutter in a discerning follower’s feed. Unless you’re a big brand, a celebrity, or a known account, you’re going to be risking unfollows each time you do this, so really think twice about what you post. Is it something you would like to see on your own feed?

Don’t worry about it.
If someone unfollows you, you are not creating the content they want to see. They may have followed you because they liked a food photo you posted 6 months ago, and then realized all of your other content was about fashion. If they have no interest in seeing that content in their feed, let it be and take the unfollow as a sign that you’re getting closer to developing your niche audience.

Instagram’s algorithm is based on engagement. More followers does not necessarily translate to more engagement; it’s better to have more engagement than followers, so if you have a bunch of accounts following you but not engaging, it’s actually hurting your account. On that note, never EVER buy followers. It will only hurt you and will be very obvious to a brand who is considering collaborating with you. I can’t stand when people buy followers. Not only is it dishonest, but it’s unfair to a brand that thinks they’re getting a larger audience and may turn them off to working with influencers as a whole when they have to report low numbers to their boss. It hurts the blogging community as a whole.

Think of your Instagram as a storefront. If you’re a fashion blogger, your product is clothing. If a follower was never interested in your merchandise, there’s no way they would have ever walked into the store and made a purchase. Taking this analogy further, if you really are selling something, your goal is most likely to get your audience off of Instagram and onto your website. If someone is not going to like your Instagram content, there’s no way they’re going to make a purchase on your site, so think of the unfollow as actually a path to narrowing down your audience.

Don’t take it personally. Sometimes someone just wants to get their following count down and goes on a massive unfollow spree. (Honestly I think the following count is just a number that holds people back; if I was making a social network, I wouldn’t have a spot for Following.) Sometimes, someone followed you because they’re trying to get you to follow them back, just to unfollow you (sad and sneaky, isn’t it!), but to them, you’re just an account on a list of all the accounts they’re following and they never looked at your account. Just because they unfollowed you doesn’t mean they don’t like your content.

Don’t unfollow them. How petty is that to reciprocate something that made you feel bad? Don’t take their unfollow as an offense and do the same. That’s embarrassing and childish and there’s no need for you to do that.

Think about why you unfollow people. Are you tired of seeing boring content? Trying to reduce your count? Was it really personal? Probably not. Don’t get caught up in the numbers and just continue to create beautiful content that others will enjoy seeing. That’s the best advice I can give. I hope this helps you think about following and unfollowing differently. If it does, please pin it and share it with someone who would find it useful.

Next: How To Work With Brands To Create Sponsored Content: Tips and Tricks From a Social Media Strategist

xx

Amanda

Like this:

Follow:

Looking for Something?