Reasons Your Instagram Followers Are Not Growing And How To Right This Wrong

Instagram isn’t just a social media platform anymore – it’s also a powerful marketing platform for businesses to promote themselves along with their offerings. In recent years, hundreds and thousands of companies of varying sizes have taken to the podium to taste some Instagram success. However, not all businesses have been successful.

If your business has suffered a similar fate, you might be wondering what went wrong and why your Instagram business page has become stagnant. In this article, we’ll take you through all the possible reasons your business’ Instagram page stopped growing. We’ll also share with you some helpful tips to get it back on the path to success. So, without any further delay, let’s get this article going!

Reason #1: Consistency issues

One of the prime reasons for your business’s Instagram page stagnation maybe your inconsistent posting habit. Simply put, Instagram’s algorithm supports pages that post frequently and consistently. So, you’ve got to make it a point to post content relevant to your target audience in a consistent way.

Things get even more challenging when an Instagram business page reaches a 5-digit or 6-digit follower count. At this point, Instagram’s algorithm expects the page to post more content to support the page’s growth. So, all in all, consistency is key on Instagram.

How to right this wrong:

The best way to achieve posting consistency is to create a content calendar and stick to it. This involves a lot of planning and strategizing. However, in the long run, it pays off to get more Instagram followers and ensure the growth of your Instagram business page.

It would help if you also remembered to maintain a balance between quantity and quality. Simply put, your Instagram content’s quality shouldn’t suffer for the sake of posting more videos.

Reason #2: You don’t respond to comments

When an Instagram follower comments on one of your posts, you’re expected to reply to the comment. Sure, answering isn’t compulsory. However, if you fail to respond to comments across all your posts, your followers will probably perceive you as someone who doesn’t care. In such a scenario, it’s quite likely that your page will be unfollowed. Prospective followers may also stop short of following your Instagram page if they see that you barely bother to reply to comments.

At its core, Instagram is still very much a social networking platform. So, even if you’re not a social butterfly in real life, you’ve got to put in some effort to show your Instagram followers that you care about what they have to say.

How to right this wrong:

It’s quite easy to right this wrong – all you have to do is start replying to comments and messages posted by your followers. The more you respond to your followers’ comments, the higher the chances are of your business page being regarded by the Instagram algorithm as one that’s active, engaging, and open to discussion. Eventually, this will result in the algorithm promoting your page ahead of unresponsive pages in your niche.

If you have a lot of followers on Instagram already, it may be hard for you to reply to every comment individually. You could create elaborate posts in such a scenario thanking your followers for leaving their comments. We recommend sparing a few hours once or twice every week to only reply to comments.

Reason #3: Your page’s first impression is a bad one

Your Instagram business page needs to make the right impression on the minds of your target audience. If it does, your page is guaranteed to get more followers, which is vital for Instagram success. However, if it doesn’t, there’s a high chance your target audience will look for something else. But what creates your page’s first impression on your audience’s minds? The answer to this question lies in what users first see when they visit your Instagram page.

Typically, the elements of your Instagram page that are first visible when a user visits it are:

• Your page’s profile photo
• Name and username
• Bio section

Simply put, if there’s anything off with even one of these elements, it’s bound to create a bad first impression.

How to right this wrong:

The best way to create an excellent first impression is to optimize the elements we just mentioned. Your page’s profile photo should be high-quality and crystal clear, for starters. Remember that Instagram’s profile photos are circular. Your business page should also have an identifiable and unique name.

Last but not least, pay attention to the content in your bio section. While Instagram only allows bio sections to be 150-characters long, there’s a lot you can do within the stipulated limit if you’re competent in composing it. Well-written bios never fail to impress. The bio section also allows you to include clickable links and call-to-action buttons. So, make the most of those features.

Reason #4: You’re not using hashtags

Hashtags play an important role on Instagram. Including them in your posts makes them more likely to be found by users. So, if your Instagram followers aren’t growing, not using hashtags may be one of the reasons behind it.

If you’ve never used a hashtag before in any of your posts, you may feel a bit awkward doing it for the first time. However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll eventually master the art of using the right hashtags for all your posts.

How to right this wrong:

By the ‘right’ hashtags, we mean relevant hashtags. Remember, your target audience won’t be impressed if they see that your posts have no connection with the hashtags you’ve used. Some Instagram pages have even been reported for using irrelevant hashtags.

Also, it’s essential to use hashtags so that your posts’ captions don’t appear cramped and congested. Even though Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post, we recommend 3 – 5 hashtags for each post.

Reason #5: You promote too aggressively

Aggressive promotions used to work at one point in time. However, those days are long gone due to the ever-growing use of ad blockers. Nowadays, advertisements are everywhere, even on the internet. In such a scenario, internet users do all they can to steer clear of ads that keep appearing repeatedly.

If you’ve been too aggressive in how you’ve promoted your business and its products and services, it’s time to take a few steps back. Ideally, your promotional strategy on Instagram should be subtle. Make your target audience aware of your business and its offerings, but don’t annoy them.

How to right this wrong:

Subtle promotions require more substance than style. For example, if you’re selling a jacket, you should back up your promotional posts with captions that tell your target audience why they should consider buying it. This is a much more subtle approach as compared to one where you’re in your audience’s face telling them to buy the jacket without including any proper reason for them to do so.
Your promotional posts should also be a bit imaginative. This is likely to make the posts more engaging, which will result in more likes and comments.

Reason #6: Your business page and its posts lack authenticity

For long-term growth on Instagram, your business page has to be authentic. You’ll fail to build an emotional connection with your target audience without authenticity. You can’t expect to get more Instagram followers by pretending to be something you’re not.

To know whether your Instagram page lacks authenticity, you need to ask yourself some questions. For instance, are your captions robotic? Are your photos artificial-looking and overly processed? Have you purchased followers simply to inflate the numbers? If the answers to these questions are in the affirmative, you’ve got to make specific changes.

How to right this wrong:

For starters, your captions need to be organic. You’ve also got to back up your promotional content with photos and videos that offer your followers a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings of your business. This will connect the authentic side of your business to your target audience, which will make your business seem more trustworthy to them.

It would help if you also steered clear of purchasing followers in the form of bots, as such practices don’t result in long-term Instagram success. You could also face strict action from Instagram’s moderators if they find out that your page is bot-driven.

Conclusion

So, there you have it – 6 reasons your Instagram following has become stagnant. If you want to bring the stagnancy to an end, you should ideally put the corrective methods we’ve mentioned into place as soon as possible.

You could also consider increasing your Instagram following by using a software tool such as Socoid, allowing users to buy Real Instagram followers. Socoid deals in real followers only, which means you have no worries of getting into trouble with Instagram’s moderators. So, if your Instagram page isn’t making much progress in gaining new followers, likes, and comments, Socoid is the service to consider.