INSTAGRAM ALGORITHM + WHY I DELETED FOLLOWERS
Hello Monday! I’ve been debating about writing today’s post for a few months now… Why? Because I don’t want it to come off the wrong way. Recently, you may have noticed I was very close to reaching 100,000 followers on Instagram. Last week, that number dropped by about 5,000 followers. Instagram didn’t do this… I did it because I deleted some of my followers. Sounds crazy right?
Let me explain… Since Instagram changed their algorithm it’s affected my engagement quite a bit. Some of you may notice you don’t see my posts as often anymore. Basically, that’s because Facebook (owns Insta) wants all business accounts to “pay to play”. So out of my 95,000 followers each of my posts is reaching about 1/4 to 1/3 of my followers. Totally sucks.
Since the change, I’ve really been trying to focus on getting my engagement back up. That basically means getting more “likes” on photos and interacting with my true followers more (aka liking and commenting on their pics). After listening to Julie Solomon’s podcast one day she mentioned she used an app to get rid of some of her “ghost” followers (those people that don’t engage or are spam accounts). After she used the app to clean up her account she noticed her engagement doing much better! So that’s why I decided to do the same!
WHAT ARE GHOST FOLLOWERS?
I downloaded the app she had recommended, but I didn’t love it because it would “block” instead of “delete” any spam or ghost followers. So what are ghost followers? They are followers that don’t engage with your account. Meaning they started following you, but haven’t “liked” or “commented” on any of your photos. They aren’t benefitting your account in any way.
The reason I didn’t want to block anyone in case a true follower accidentally got on that list. So I did some research and found another app called SpamGuard that “deleted” followers instead of “blocking” them. If they were deleted that means they can go follow you again instead fo being blocked and never being able to find your account again.
The app scans your entire Instagram account and then gives you a breakdown of your followers and tells you how many aren’t interacting with your account anymore. I had 5200 accounts that were “ghost” accounts!! Now do you see why I deleted these followers since I was so close to hitting 100,000 followers?
Reaching 100,000 followers on Instagram is a BIG deal! Or at least it is to me… I didn’t want to reach 100k with “fake followers”. Not saying I don’t have other “fake” or “inactive” followers still but you get the idea.
I want to hit 100k with true genuine followers because this also affects my image to brands. Based off some industry standards, the goal is to have a 2% engagement rate on Instagram. But that gets a little tricky these days… If I have 95,000 followers and an engagement rate of 2% then I should be averaging about 1,900 “likes” per photo. HOWEVER… Like I mentioned earlier, because of the Instagram algorithm not all 95k are seeing my posts. So if only 25,000 people see my posts then shouldn’t my engagement rate be based of of that number?
Honestly, who knows?! My main focus on Instagram is to have a true engaging relationship with those loyal followers who actually enjoy seeing my posts. That’s why I can’t stress enough to you all how important it is to “like” or “comment” on my photos 🙂
If you’ve noticed you haven’t seen my posts lately then go to my account and “like” a few photos and most likely you’ll see me in your feed again!! Also, if you ever want to see all of my photos and be able to SHOP them anytime then you can always check my Instagram page on the blog!
GET SPAMGUARD HERE!
SHOP THE OUTFIT
photos: Beckley Co.
Do you mind sharing what the app you downloaded that helped you delete the “ghost” followers you have. I have too noticed a decrease in my engagement and would love to bring it back up. I love your outfit and the photos are such good quality.
Great post! First, your outfit is gorgeous! I love that pink/cream combo. Second, I had no clue your instagram can be affected by ghost followers. Trying to get instagram is tough as it is, but now having to deal with spam accounts. I do hope you can tell us that app!
Tabitha
https://shopsiloe.com/
Absolutely understand why I hadn’t seen your post as frequently! One of my favorite ensembles, blazers are a work staple so I appreciate the after work transition shown here.
This is good to know, thank you for writing this!! I love your posts and outfits, great blog!