We’ve all read the blogs posts about “how to get more followers on Instagram.” They tell you to:
- Post more, post at a specific time of day
- Use hashtags
- Tag your location
- Network with other Instagrammers.
But what if you’re doing all of this and none of it is working?
Here are 7 key reasons why you may not be seeing growth on your Instagram account:
1. You’re not using Instagram Insights
Instagram provides its own native analytics tool called Insights that has all kinds of features giving you statistics on each post. By taking the time understand which posts are performing well, you can better understand your audience and create more of the content that they want to see and will engage with.
For example, when a post gets high engagement, the Instagram algorithm understands that it’s valuable content and will, therefore be more likely to share it on the explore page. This places your account in front of new users who don’t already follow you and provides more opportunity for growth.
Top Tip: Figure out which posts have the highest engagement signals and post more content like that.
Let’s say you own a bakery, you post lifestyle images of your shop and images of the items you sell – cakes, bagels, donuts etc. If your audience is engaging with the pictures of the donuts you can take that insight and post more images like this.
That’s not to say every image should be a donut, but do be aware that this is the most popular content on your account and use this insight to your advantage by posting similar imagery on a regular basis.
2. You’re not making the most of Instagram Stories
Instagram stories are one of the best features Instagram has to offer but if you’re not seeing the growth you expect, it might be because your not maximising their full potential.
According to Hootsuite, over 400 million stories are created each day, but a lot of accounts are underutilising Stories, posting perhaps unrelated or random moments in their day that don’t particularly hold a lot of interest for their followers.
Instead, you should be telling a story with your Stories. Whether that’s a quick 15 second story or multiple stories strung together, you need to include a beginning middle and end.
The great thing about Stories is that they are so easy to create. You only have to fill 15 seconds, and they disappear after 24 hours have passed, so the content doesn’t have to be high quality video – you can just shoot them on your iphone.
By expanding your content to other include other elements, you not only make your profile more appealing, as followers get more value, but you also increase the amount of time that your content is in front of your followers giving you more brand exposure.
3. You don’t have a clear and concise theme
Having a page with a theme that is all over the place – dog photos, fashion photography, city images, landscapes, product photography etc, means your followers never know what to expect and they can’t guarantee that by following you they will see content they enjoy, consistently.
If your main goal is to grow your following, and getting active and engaged users, having a clear theme is a must. The Instagram algorithm places posts on explore pages based on their interests using broad match categories such as travel, style, nature, fitness etc.
If your account has a clear theme that matches a users interests then you will be more likely to be shared with that person.
4. You are buying followers or participating in questionable giveaway schemes
Buying followers or participating in giveaway schemes where you have to follow lots of accounts to win a prize can be detrimental to the organic growth of your Instagram account.
If you are using Instagram as part of your brand building strategy, or to help you generate sales, leads or traffic to your website, this is probably one of the worst things you can do.
‘Buying’ followers in this way can lower your overall engagement levels and as a result your account can suffer.
5. You’re editing is all over the place
Not only does the theme of your Instagram need to be consistent but so does your editing. If your pictures are all over the place, black and white, over saturated, unsaturated etc, you need to take a step back and pick one style that suits you the best.
If you have too many things going on at once, this can be distracting for your audience and can take away the value of the content you are trying to showcase.
6. You’re cropping your photos wrong
Most of your followers will be engaging with Instagram with their device in a vertical position, meaning that landscape imagery can be tricky.
Top Tip: You should always try to crop your photos at 4 X 5 as it takes up the most space on your followers feed. When they are scrolling it will occupy the most amount of space on their screen and be more likely to catch their eye than a tiny landscape photo that has another photo visible beneath it.
7. You’re only trying to get Instagram followers through Instagram
Instagram is not the only platform out there. You can utilise other platforms to get people to visit your instagram, especially other social media platforms.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest can all be invaluable tools in helping you grow your Instagram page.
According to Hootsuite, 95% of Instagrammers also use YouTube, so by including multiple social media channels within your strategy, you have a greater chance of building your following organically, and reaching an audience that will want to engage with your posts.
For example, let’s say you own a company that sells makeup. You post pictures on your instagram of your products and of models wearing your products.
To generate more traffic to your instagram page, you could also start making YouTube tutorials using your makeup, offering an incentive for your YouTube audience to follow you over on your Instagram account.
If you want a marketing partner that is passionate about helping you grow your business then get in touch. It’s what we’re best at.
