There was a time when you could use certain tactics and gain a lot of followers within a span of a few days to a few months. The days of comment bots, Instagram pods, buying followers and becoming famous just like that are over.
So what’s next?
Is there still a way to grow organically on Instagram?
The answer is yes. It is possible but it is not easy at all.
Here are some reasons why you’re not gaining followers on Instagram and solutions to each of the problems 👇
1. You’re not engaging enough
As a Social Media Manager, you tend to focus more on content strategy and less on engagement. You spend time creating your posts and planning them but don’t really allocate any time for engagement. It is important to reply to the comments you get because if you don’t, your followers won’t feel valued and won’t keep doing it. This would adversely affect your engagement. Your job is not over once you’ve posted the content. You need to not only like the posts of the accounts you follow but also leave genuine comments.
What to do — Allocate 10–15 minutes a day for engagement. Like, comment and discover more accounts using hashtags/ locations/ interest and reply to all the comments that you receive.
2. You don’t have a strategy for Stories
Instagram stories were launched in August 2016 and there are over 400 million users who use these stories daily! And it’s only growing.
If you’re not posting stories or have an irregular posting schedule, you are missing out on tons of engagement and exposure.
Stories are the easiest and the most effective way to make your presence felt.
What to do — Create a content strategy exclusively for Instagram Stories and learn from the best 👇
3. You are inconsistent
Posting regularly is important to reach a higher audience, build trust and brand authority. It shows that you’re serious about the platform and about providing value to your followers. If you don’t post regularly your followers won’t become your brand evangelist, they won’t support you enough and you might even lose them.
What to do — Invest time in creating a content strategy, create, plan and schedule your posts and make sure you don’t miss posting for any reason.
4. You don’t update your profile
With time, you grow and change. And your profile needs to change accordingly. When someone lands on your account, the first thing they see is your profile picture, bio and your username. Most of the times these aspects are ignored and are not updated. That’s one place where you lose followers.
What to do — It’s simple — Set a reminder once every quarter to review and optimise your profile. If you’re a brand come up with some interesting variations for your bio. Most importantly, keep it current.
Netflix does a great job at updating their profile on regular basis.
5. You don’t have an Instagram end goal
If you’re on Instagram just for the sake of it and don’t have an end goal you won’t have a clear idea about what to post. You might end up posting a lot of different kind of posts and the first time visitors will get confused.
People like uniformity and generally follow accounts of a certain niche. If you don’t fall into any of the specific categories, gaining followers could be a very difficult task.
What to do — Define your goal and create a strategy based on that goal. Your goals could range from educating your followers to inspiring them to sharing their stories (User Generated Content) and more. Fixate on one or two end goals and work towards them.
Some of the other reasons that you’re not gaining more followers include
1. You’re not using the hashtags at all or aren’t using the right hashtags. You can use tools like RiteTag or Seekmetrics.
2. You’ve bought followers and so the Instagram algorithm is hurting your account. All you can do here is not buy fake followers but you can buy instagram followers paypal.
3. Your content is mediocre and boring. Work on that content with 👇
How to create a theme for your brand on Instagram — Tips and Strategies to get you started!
As Walter Landor once said: “Products are built in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.” Successful brands…
blog.crowdfireapp.com
4. You use Instagram to over-promote yourself. Share a good mix of promotional and curated content. Post to add value, not to sell.
5. You’re not authentic. Well, it’s high-time you embrace authenticity.
Closing thoughts —
Gaining organic followers on Instagram isn’t easy anymore. There are a lot of accounts that still follow you and unfollow you later and a lot of bots that comment just to gain attention. With all the competition around, you need to make sure that you’re consistent, you stand out and are authentic. Have some tips to share or questions to ask? Drop them in the comment section.
Instagram has grown a lot and is still getting bigger every single day.
I hope you enjoyed the article of theomnibuzz.
