Why You Shouldn't Worry so Much About Your Instagram Following
“How to get Instagram followers”
This is searched up to 1 million times per month worldwide, but why?
I feel after working with Instagram since it launched back in 2010, the app has completely transformed throughout the decade into a completely different platform and reason for use. Anyone remember the ‘Popular Page’? A great part of Instagram that would feature regular users to promote genuine, creative content. Sadly, Instagram today seems to have lost interest in the creative content friendly community and instead putting its focus on celebrity accounts and highly followed brands. We are now at a stage where the algorithm changes regularly but overall; it is how much engagement you get from other Instagram users within the first hour of you posting anything, if you want your post to achieve interest.
This makes growing new accounts incredibly difficult, I strongly believe new brands with the goal on Instagram to achieve high following have their priorities wrong and I tell all my clients this.
I come across many brands that have clearly purchased their following and for what? To have a high number? Why? Having a following of bots will not improve your sales or engagement, in fact, it will damage it. Speaking with employees at Instagram, they have said to me that as soon as you use a bot, act like a bot or purchase followers, your account is seen as spam. This makes it close to impossible to ever be verified or be featured high on your followers' timeline. Please. Don’t. Buy. Followers.
It concerns me from my own experiences how many agencies do heavy following and unfollowing to grow their clients' accounts, essentially acting as a bot to keep the client happy with the fast following growth. You will get a following slowly, sure. A following of uninterested users who are simply following your account temporarily in the hope of a follow back, and if you don’t follow back? Expect them to click ‘unfollow’ within 3 days. If you are using a digital agency for Instagram and your following is growing drastically but your engagement is low, I’d strongly suggest asking for the analytics of the following patterns and make sure they are not jeopardising your account for verification and ranking high on your authentic followers timelines.
To measure the success of your Instagram account, it shouldn’t be by your follower count but instead your engagement, impressions and quality of your account.
Your Instagram business account is your visual way to promote your brand. If you post regularly with engaging content, your following will naturally grow with users who have an interest in your business. Remember to have fun with your Instagram account, don’t feel the need to post organic advertisements. Have you ever logged into your personal account in hopes of seeing an advert from a brand you follow? It’s not why the platform exists. Save your promotions for paid social media ads and keep your following engaged.
If you would like to discuss how Honest London can help elevate or create your business Instagram account, feel free to get in touch. We love a chat.
