9 Reasons Why You’re Not Growing on Instagram
Ever feel like a winner at a losing game on Instagram? Trust me, you are NOT alone my friend. In fact, I’d venture to say a vast majority of creators and small business owners are feeling this way right now. The tactics and strategies that worked on Instagram in 2020 are not what is working today. The algorithm has changed, people’s habits have changed, the environment we’re living in has changed. It’s okay to be frustrated by this, but don’t let this keep you from adapting and continuing to grow. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m still trying to figure out what’s working on Instagram and what’s not. But one of the most valuable things I can do as a creator and small business owner is to test and experiment. To see what works and find out what doesn’t.
If you’re feeling lost on social media and struggling to see any growth on Instagram, this post is for you so keep on reading…
Here’s why you might not be growing on the ‘gram:
You’re Not Showing Up
Instagram rewards people for showing up. Like really. You can’t just post on a whim and expect to see results. It takes hard work, strategy, and a clear plan to see growth and to get your instagram analytics in the green. You have to show up DAILY for your audience in some capacity. I know it can feel difficult, I know it’s time consuming, but it is so necessary for your social strategy. Even when you’re feeling discouraged about your lack of followers, stay encouraged by focusing on the ones that ARE there for you. Quit putting all your efforts on reaching new audiences and focus on how you can better serve the one you currently have. Showing up for these people daily will change how you view social media and how you strategize.
You’re Not Engaging with Your Audience
Have you ever heard the term posting and ghosting? It’s something I’ve definitely been guilty of in the past. It’s essentially when you make a post, people start commenting, and you don’t respond. Maybe you have a good reason for it, maybe you’re posting to social media on your lunch break, you’re in a hurry and running late for a meeting, whatever the reason is, you have to carve out time with the people that are engaging with you. Make them feel valued, show them that you truly do care when they reach out and engage with your content. Content creators, influencers, and small business owners couldn’t do what they do without their audience. Don’t take their participation and interest in your posts for granted! Plus, engaged conversations and interaction on your social media posts encourage the Instagram algorithm to share your post with more people. The first 30 minutes after posting are the most crucial, so don’t neglect this!
You’re Not Consistent
Are you posting without a plan? Finding random, sporadic times to share content with the soul motivation of posting just to post? Stop right there!!! This isn’t a good strategy! In fact, it isn’t a strategy at all. People ask me all the time what the number one key is for growth on social media. I think the answer to that is a universal answer that is the key to doing ANYTHING well. It’s consistency. If you can’t do something with consistency, you won’t see results. It’s the same principle when it comes to learning how to play a new sport, picking up a new skill, losing weight, ec. To do all these things successfully, you need CONSISTENCY.
The same thing applies to growth on social media. I’m not saying you have to post on social media every single day, that may work for some people, but for others, it’s just not feasible. And that’s okay too. Pick a posting schedule that you CAN stick to. Can you stick to 3 posts a week? What about 5? Consider what you can commit to, select a posting schedule and STICK TO IT. Pick out the content types you’ll share each week and what days you’ll share them on. I’d recommend at least one reel per week. The key here is to pick something that’s doable for you and truly stay with that posting schedule. Once you’ve mastered 2-3 posts per week, consider if you can bump it up to 4…then 5 and so on! Do what you can with what you have time for.
You Go From Posting Every Day to Radio Silent
Do you get moments of motivation and creative inspiration where you’re posting every day, only to be followed by a week of silence or a drought in your content posting because you ran out of ideas? You’re not alone. Motivation is a fleeting feeling, and so is inspiration. Even the most creative people don’t feel inspired all the time. That’s where discipline comes in. You don’t have to post every single day to be successful on Instagram. You can pick a more scaled back schedule, stick to it, and run at the pace that’s healthy for you. There’s no use in posting every day if it’s going to quickly burn you out and run you ragged. People need to know what to expect from you, they need to be able to count on you to deliver! Do your absolute best to be a reliable creator and deliver consistent value.
You’re Not Listening to Your Audience
How do you deliver value to your audience when you don’t know what they want? If you want to create valuable, shareable, and relatable content for your audience (which will in turn help you grow and attract more people like your current audience) you need to listen to them. Take note of the questions they ask, the content they engage with, what they like, what they don’t like. Consider what gets them talking.
I have a note in my phone that’s all just questions I receive, problems my audience has, and the pain points they struggle with. And I copy and paste the exact words and phrases they use so that I know exactly how to communicate with them. This helps me to know my audience and to know what their needs are. If I want to encourage my audience, I first have to know what they’re struggling with! If I want to create shareable content (which helps your reach and engagement) then I have to understand what current topics they relate to. It’s all about listening, understanding and asking questions.
You’re Trying to Be Too Many Things to Too Many People
Let’s face it, you are only one person! You’re not a superhero, you can’t be everything to everyone. You can’t be all things to all people! And trust me, you don’t want to be! Your goal on instagram should be to attract your tribe, attract that group of people that NEEDS what you have to offer. It won’t be everyone in the world, but it will be the right people when you show up authentically and when you stay true to you. There’s hundreds and thousands of people out there that need what you have to offer, show up for those people, not the people that just want to drag you down. I know niching down can be hard because you’re a multi passionate person, but let me encourage you that niching down, sticking to 5-6 weekly content topics, will not only help you grow your instagram, but it will also help you ensure that your content is getting seen by the right people. Consistent content and topics on your page will show people what you’re all about and for the people that love your content, they’ll go nuts when they see you have tons of reels sharing about the very same topic that brought them to your page in the first place!
You’re Not Clear on Your Target Audience
Maybe you’re struggling right now because when it comes to niching down, speaking directly to your audience and giving them what you need, you have no idea who exactly it is that you should be speaking to. You don’t have a clear target market, you don’t know who you’re speaking to. If you don’t have an idea of who you’re talking to, or who you WANT to talk to, you can’t pinpoint the exact kind of content you need to be putting out to serve your audience. You can’t serve your audience when you don’t know who they are.
Here’s what I recommend. Take some time to create an actual persona for your ideal audience. And I mean really do it. Take this literally. I did this exercise and here’s what it looked like for me.
I sat down and drew up my ideal customer/audience member. Who is she? What does she like? Where does she shop? What shows does she watch? What does she do for fun? What makes her laugh? What brings her joy? What does she spend time learning about? What are her favorite things to talk about? Her favorite celebrities? What is she struggling with? What are her daily challenges? I asked myself a whole lot of questions until I was able to spell out a literal personality profile of my ideal target audience member. Why did I do that? So that every time I create a piece of content, I can ask myself, would Natalie like this? How would this serve her? Yes, I named her Natalie :) Natalie represents a lot of people. She represents the people I’m serving and it helps me to brainstorm and ideate how I can continue better serving “Natalie” and all the others like her that have chosen to follow along with me on social media. It might seem like a silly exercise, but just trust me on this one!
You’re Not Posting Any Reels
Instagram is constantly rolling out new features, and they reward the people that use them, the early adopters. While Instagram reels aren’t necessarily a new concept on Instagram anymore, they’re definitely still a huge priority for IG as they continue to push towards a more video-centric platform. Love it or hate it, to see success on this app, you have to adapt. Instagram is going to continue to prioritize the creators that push out content using the features Instagram wants to prioritize. If instagram wants to prioritize reels, that means you should be too!
You Don’t Show Your Face
The know, like, and trust factor will be your best friend when it comes to social media marketing. People need to know you. Why? Because people are way more likely to interact with a person than they are to interact with a company or brand. YOU are your brand. You’re the secret sauce and the magic behind your account, so act like it! People want to connect with other people, which means you have to be social on social media. People want realness, authenticity, and vulnerability, something they can really connect with. If you can’t give that to your audience, they won’t know you. This doesn’t mean you have to share every detail of your life, it’s okay to keep things private, in fact, you should, you don’t have to overshare. But people should be able to come to your page, see your face and get a glimpse of you, your story, and who you are just by quickly browsing through your posts and stories. The more people can connect with you, the more people will root for you–which is what you want! Want to learn more about humanizing your brand? I have an entire article on this here.
You’re Shifting or Pivoting
This means you’re gaining a new audience, but you’re also losing a segment of your audience that doesn’t relate to your content anymore–this one is the one I’m actually okay with on this list!
Okay so hear me out, this is the one exception on this list that I actually don’t see as a bad thing. In fact, I’m actually going through it right now.
When you pivot in your business, shift your content, or as I like to call it, start a new adventure, you’re going to lose some of your current audience. But also, you’ll gain a new audience. However this can create a dynamic where you’re gaining hundreds of followers in a week, and losing hundreds all at the same time, leaving you with what looks like, loss or a plateau. Take heart! When this happens, you’re not plateauing. Your audience, your goals and your direction is just shifting.
Some people will remain aligned with what you’re producing while others won’t. The ones that are no longer aligned might decide to unfollow. Then there will be others that have stuck with you so long, that they’ll hang on simply because they just like hearing from you and seeing what you’re up to (these people are beyond amazing).
The reason why I don’t see this as a problem is because it’s healthy for you and your business to grow, shift and change. You don’t need to pivot every six months or change your brand every year, in fact I would advise against this, but when it’s been a while, you’re feeling called to new things, and it’s time for a little re-inventing, it’s wise to expect that some people will be on their way out, so that you can make room for those that have everything to gain by following along with the valuable content that you’re going to deliver to them.
So you might be losing 500 people that don’t relate to your content anymore, but you also might be gaining 500 people that love what you’re doing and are eager to learn more. It’s easy to focus on the negative, to only consider the losses, but I challenge you to change your perspective on this. Unfollows aren’t always as bad as you think they are!
I get it friend. . .
Social media can be frustrating, it can be hard to be patient, especially when you feel like nothing is working. But let me leave you with this, doing the same things over and over again that aren’t working aren’t going to change anything for you. You aren’t going to wake up tomorrow and find that the stale strategies you’ve been using are suddenly working like magic (I wish it were this easy). So what’s a girl to do? You have to keep trying new things. Test things and then test them again. Test out content types, topics, times you post and make DATA-DRIVEN decisions. Look at the analytics and check them again, see what’s working and keep doing THAT. The more you try, the more you’ll learn!
Want more tips and access to exclusive updates and offers? Sign up for me email list!
