The whole blogging world currently is relying on Instagram to feed their blog traffic, increase their monthly income, make them more influential in their field. If I had a penny for each discussion I hear/see daily regarding Instagram engagement and algorithm I would be a millionaire a matter of few months. It has gotten batshit crazy. So the other day while sitting in the plane on my way back from Paris, I made a list of various reasons why someone might unfollow you. Read on, take a sigh of relief, as it is not
always you. It is sometimes them :)
10. Your quality is kinda-mehh. Try and post pictures which are bright and in-focus. You don't have to bust out your DSLR for every shot but dark-blurry-shots are going to make people unfollow you.
9. You post too many pictures. You have just got back from a vacation and you have all these fantastic pictures and you are eager to share so you upload them all at once. However, to your audience it might be annoying. People enjoy variety and if they see too many pictures from the same account they would hit unfollow. Spread them out for maximum impact and engagement.
8. Spambots. Instagram cleans out these accounts and profiles regularly so if witness and sudden drop in your followers overnight, it just might be why.
7. Zero engagement. If you have thousands of followers, I get it, you can't reply and engage with all of them bit it would be a good practice to interact every now and then and try and answer any/all valid questions.
6. You post sporadically. I get it, that's how Instagram started - sharing the moment 'instantly'. However, not any more. People are hungry to content and they expect it regularly. If you don't post regularly, or for long periods of time, they would unfollow.
5. Follow-to-unfollow. I do not know why, but apparently it is quite common for a lot of people to follow a bunch of accounts in the hopes that some will follow back and then soon after they go back and unfollow them all. It is a 'thing'!
4. Your feed is not synchronized. If you have a travel account with beautiful scenery and architecture and then out of the blue you post a flatlay with beauty products people are more likely to hit unfollow. Stick to the theme you started off with.
3. Loop Giveaways. If you participated in a loop giveaway or any giveaway for that matter, people unfollow once it is over and they realize they didn't win. That's just part of the deal there.
2. Follower Count. They're worried about their follower count. People can feel overwhelmed by the number of accounts they follow, or get hung up on how they think it looks to follow a certain number of accounts. Often they'll go through and cut down - it may not be anything personal or about your posts, so try not to worry about it!
1. Personal Opinions. It could be your political opinion, or that you are not a vegan, or that you wear fur, or anything at all that people have polarized views about. People like to engage with content that reflects their lifestyle (a little bit) so if you do not fall in that spectrum they will unfollow you.
Also, why we are on the topic of "unfollowing" below are my thoughts on why it is a GOOD thing that someone unfollowed you.
Blogger, Stylist, Storyteller, Fitness Enthusiast, Experimental Cook. If you have questions in any of the mentioned areas or have feedback, feel free to contact me at [email protected].
