Top 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Trying to Get Instagram Followers

Due to its millions of users Instagram is one of the most used social platforms and having a follower base is often rewarding whether it is for personal branding a business or an influencer. Most people however make blunders that they are unaware of which limits their expansion. In this regard below are the top 7 mistakes you should not make when seeking Instagram followers.

1. Purchasing Fake Followers

Purchasing fake followers is perhaps the most widespread mistake made by users. While it may look like a quick solution to boost the numbers of fake followers do no good. More often than not those accounts are either bots or dormant accounts that will never engage with your posts.

Why its a mistake:

The account will have a low rate of engagement which means that real followers will be less interested in following the account.

Since Instagram focuses on engagement a low level of interaction will impact on the reach.

Can be detrimental to your reputation if several people saw that the way you lost followers is through spam accounts.

What to do instead: Instead of buying followers generate high quality content to attract potential customers.

2. Posting Inconsistently

One thing that can never be overemphasized is consistency in posting and growing an audience on Instagram. Posting very rarely can result in followers losing interest in your profile and too much content can cause the audience to feel bombarded.

How this affects the strategy:

Failing to deliver posts on an irregular basis leaves your audience confused as well as creates the impression that your account is dormant.

Inconsistency in content continues to complicate the Instagram algorithm in relation to the promotion of the users posts.

What should people do instead: Make it a habit to prepare a content calendar and follow it. Adopt a balance in terms of content quantity and content quality as well as maintaining the content relevance to the business voice.

3. Engagement is not a priority

It has been observed that many Instagram users are content creators but some neglect their followers choosing instead to only post content. Engagement is a two way process ignoring your audience will result in stagnation of growth.

Why its a mistake:

People do not bother because there is no point replying to the comments or messages since nothing is going to change and I am not being appreciated anyway.

Weak engagement is a good indicator that content doesnt deserve Instagrams promotion.

What to do instead: Use the comment section to give your thoughts, use direct messages to speak with people and also go through the posts of your followers. People feel valued when authentic relationships are built and hence will grow organically.

4. Applying Non specific Hashtags

These hashtags are effective when used correctly with emphasis being on the reality that their misuse can prove detrimental. There are some people that will use incorrect or even irrelevant hashtags that are not connected to the post in any way.

Hashtags must be used judiciously as too many hashtags do not present a professional image and make the posts look spammy.

Possessing banned or even flagged hashtags is contradictory to what Instagram Handbooks teaches its users and thus harmful hashtags should also be avoided.

What to do instead: Nicherelevant versatile hashtags should be informed and implemented. It is best to have a balanced mix of common and in the shadows hashtags to effectively target the right market segment.

5. Having a poor Instagram profile picture and bio

Your bio and profile picture serve as your introduction so poor images or descriptions can make potential followers turn away almost instantly even before the scrolling gets to the rest of the content.

Why its a mistake:

An informative bio conveys who you are and what you bring to the market but that is not true with cluttered or vague bios.

Credibility comes from a clean profile picture when a picture is unclear or does not seem professional it brings down the level of trust.

What to do instead: Biographies must be punchy and contain clear intentions. CTAs are helpful in this case. Use a clear profile picture that adds value to your brand.

6. Focusing Only on Follower Count

Of course it is important to have a strong base however eyes on the numbers not quality is a big blocker. There are quite a number of people who strategize on their follower numbers and forget the fact that the people might not adhere to the content produced.

Why its a mistake:

In the community an audience can be of high number but passive. Being passive does not help develop the growth and brand.

Followers who do not even engage in your content are of no use when it comes to converting them to followers or clients.

What to do instead: Seek quality over quantity by attracting a group of dedicated followers who care about your niche and vision. Followers who comprehend your vision are beneficial which is far better than having a high follower count.

7. Not Analyzing Performance Metrics

People often do not check their statistics which makes most users unable to know what to focus on. This is sustainable as one may end up spending resources in thrusts that bore final fruits.

Why its a mistake:

Metrics such as reach impressions engagement rates among others are critical in decision making and content optimization.

One would continue learning in anticipation yet errors would be repeating and they themselves do not comprehend it.

What to do instead: Use Instagram Insights or third party tools to comprehend how you are performing. Identify the most successful content and adjust how you handle strategy.

Key Takeaways

You need to understand that increasing your followers on Instagram cannot just be done by creating content only. You could have an authentic and engaged audience if you observe these seven common mistakes: 

How about faking followers? How about not encouraging people to follow you in an organic manner.

Be consistent with your posts as people want to know when there is new content.

Try to engage your audience such that there remains the threat of them unfollowing you.

Appropriate hashtags should be there so as to bring in an appropriate audience. 

Edit your bio and change profile picture so that the first impression will not be weak.

It is better to have a few good followers than many more poor ones. 

Making good assessments of one performance regularly and perfecting the strategy in light of these assessments is recommended.

Forming a good presence on Instagram may require time and hard stages but the efforts will surely pay off. Avoiding such mistakes coupled with other great efforts will guarantee greatness in growing a successful Instagram account.