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Browse More: lifestyle » blogging » 5 Reasons Your Instagram Isn’t Growing

5 Reasons Your Instagram Isn’t Growing

Published: Feb 29, 2016 · Last Updated: Nov 1, 2019

Instagram can be a huge tool for blogging, but if you’re not seeing growth, there may be some reasons that your Instagram isn’t growing.

Even before my days of blogging, Instagram has always been my favorite social media platform. It’s probably because of my photography background, but whatever the reason is, I just love looking at beautiful photos. There’s been some talk about how pretty photos aren’t authentic on Instagram, but I know I personally enjoy a well thought out, curated and pretty photo over a blurry snap of your puppy, even if he is super cute. Just sayin’.

Instagram is a neat platform for blog growth because it’s less about the blogging and more about a behind the scenes look at the blogger. I love following some of my favorite bloggers on Instagram so I can see into their lives and feel like I have more of a personal connection with them. This is a powerful way for you to get your readers invested into your life outside of the blog world but that can only help your blog growth down the road.

What I’ve noticed about Instagram and blogging is that your Instagram account may not bring direct traffic to your blog BUT what it will do is to help your readers see you as a real person, not just a blogger. Instagram is the perfect way to share behind the scenes photos of your blog posts or just behind the scenes photos of your life.

If you’re wondering why your Instagram account hasn’t seen the growth you’d like, you might want to see if you’re doing any of these five things that might slow down your growth.

If you're wondering why your Instagram account hasn't seen the growth you'd like, you might want to see if you're doing any of these five things that might slow down your growth.

Five Reasons Your Instagram Isn’t Growing

You’re not connecting

Because Instagram can be such a big tool for blogging, there is a big trend of people leaving lots of comments on other Instagram accounts in order to try to gain more followers. In my experience, this doesn’t work. I can guarantee that if you comment a single word or emoticon on my photo I’m not going to check out your account. However, if you leave a genuine comment that is engaging, I’m 99x more likely to click over to your account and see if your feed is one I’d like to follow.

I’m sure there are a lot of people who have seen success in the follow and unfollow strategy on Instagram but to me, it’s ingenuine. If you’ve been trying to follow tons of people just to get them to follow you back, try taking a step back from that method and try really connecting. What is it about the photo that stopped you while scrolling through your feed and caused you to double tap to like it? If it’s a personal photo, do you have a similar personal experience? If it’s a drool worthy recipe, maybe you can comment about the grammers use of a certain ingredient. Connecting in this way takes more time, that’s for sure, but in my experience it’s lead to more authentic connections that won’t simply unfollow you the next week.

Not connecting with your current or future Instagram followers can be a huge reason why your Instagram isn’t growing like you’d like it to.

You’re not curating

Okay, I know there might be some people who disagree with me here, and I’m okay with that. I’m not saying that your Instagram feed should be perfectly curated with not a single detail out of place. I’m not saying you should stage every moment of your life to make is Insta-worthy. What I?am saying is that people are more likely to stop in their tracks when something attracts their eye. Again, your blurry puppy? Probably not going to stop me and cause me to double tap. And I love dogs, so it’s not that. Pretty photos evoke emotion out of us quicker and deeper than a photo you just snapped and posted. If you’re interested in those types of candid photos, maybe try connecting with your followers via Instagram Stories.

Curated photos don’t have to be staged, fake or impersonal. There is nothing wrong with wanting to share a pretty photo. It’s a seriously fine line between posting curated, styled images and posting a set of images that are unreal. You have to be super careful. BUT if your feed is curated and a potential follower can look at your feed and know what to expect from you, it will immensely help people decide to click the follow button.

You’re not showing real life

Does it sound like I’m contradicting myself? The biggest thing is your need both curated and real photos. They aren’t the opposite of each other, even if it seems like it at first. In order to create a balance of styled photos that aren’t fake, you have to show some real life. But these “real life” photos don’t have to be ugly, either.

photo-examples-why-instagram-isnt-growing

Here’s the difference in the mentality I have when taking a curated photo versus a real life photo. Take the photo on the left. This photo was a curated/styled photo. I was working on a post and wanted to share a little sneak peek of what I was working on. So I styled some of the items I was using for the post together to share a little square snapshot of what I was working on.

The photo on the right is a real life moment. I was sitting, looked down and?saw the photo right there in front of me. I didn’t need to stage it, it was just organic. There’s also a difference in the language I use for the captions when sharing a styled versus real life photo. The styled photos are more “promotional” in a sense whereas the real life photos are for storytelling. I truly don’t think my Instagram would be authentic and a blogging tool without both of these types of photos.

You’re posting frequency is off

If you’re not posting frequently enough, your followers might forget who you are or why they followed you and are more likely to unfollow you when they see you post. If you post too frequently, your followers might get annoyed and unfollow you. So, what’s the sweet spot? For me, it’s posting a maximum of twice a day and minimum of every other day. I try not to let three days go by without posting a photo and I have an idea in my head of how many likes on my last photo is enough to go ahead and post a new photo. For example, I get a range of 70-120 likes per photo, depending on the subject and time of day. This isn’t hard research I’ve done, it’s just the trend I’ve noticed on my photos. So if my last photo only has 30 likes and it’s only been 6 hours, I won’t post another photo just yet.

The key to posting frequency is making sure you’re active enough that people remember you, but not too frequently that you have multiple photos in a row showing up in your followers feed.

I will also mention that you can tell a lot from how many unfollowers you get after posting a photo. Don’t get caught up in people unfollowing you?but if you post a photo and have 25 unfollows, that should tell you something. This is, of course, exponential depending on your following, but for me I have around 2600 Instagram followers and get around 3-5 unfollows with every photo I post, no matter the content. What sends a red flag to me is if I post a photo and have more than the usual 5 unfollows. Then, it might not have been a photo that my audience was interested in and I make note of that.

You seem like you’re just trying to get page views

Remember how I said that Instagram might not bring direct traffic to your blog? One thing I see some bloggers do is post a new photo every time they have a new blog post. There are some niches that this makes sense, like food bloggers and fashion bloggers. But for a lot of lifestyle bloggers, posting your pinable image on Instagram doesn’t make sense. If you’re only sharing photos and saying “CLICK THROUGH TO THE BLOG” on every caption, it’s going to get annoying. This style of promotion is much better for Twitter or Facebook. People will naturally find your blog if they’re interested in finding it. A little side note of “you can find the recipe on the blog” is all people need. Instagram isn’t a platform for seeking page views. There will be some automatically, but don’t force it. The way I look at it is that people will make the effort to find your blog if they’re interested, but if you’re pushy or spammy with your promotions, it could be a big reason why your Instagram isn’t growing.

Bloggers, can you think of any other trends or actions that might slow your Instagram growth?

Related: Schedule Instagram posts | Breathe New Life into your Instagram

Filed Under: blogging

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Comments

  1. Kristin Cook says

    May 17, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    This is helpful! Thank you!
    I struggle with my Instagram game and get extremely frustrated with it.

    Reply
  2. Kristine says

    March 09, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    Hi Madison! Great analysis and insightful tips in this post! We share a similar perspective: nice looking photos appeal so much more than blurry photos =) IG is moving away from being an instant platform, now it’s a curated platform, though there’s pros and cons to it. I have a problem with keeping up with unfollowers though after posting a pic, because the followers who follow after a new post will further adjust the numbers. Or maybe I’m really just not that keen to track down the buggers who unfollowed me.

    Have a nice day!

    Reply
  3. Andi says

    March 20, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Yes this was really helpful! The part about being more personal may be my problem. I have started to realize people want to connect with the host through the photos, more than just look at pretty pics. So, I have work to do!

    ?thanks again, a.max.stylist

    Reply
  4. Nida Arshad says

    April 09, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    I am doing everything you mentioned here but still I am having such a tough time there… i get disappointed that sometime I feel may be my profile is kinda invisible in people news feed ????????????

    Reply
    • Madison | A Joyfully Mad Kitchen says

      April 10, 2017 at 1:55 am

      Hi Nida! I just took a look at your Instagram account and have a few suggestions for you 🙂 Please take it all as constructive criticism, I mean nothing hurtful 🙂 I would try to vary your photos a bit. Your photos are all very similar in their composition. Maybe some full bust shots or full body even. Possibly some flat lay images of your makeup! I would also recommend tagging the photo with the brands instead of adding the tags in the captions. Your captions are really long and look kind of spammy to me. I hope those things help:)

      Reply
  5. Kanaiza says

    May 05, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    Hi Madison

    Can u please tell me what I’m doing wrong with my page?

    @chasingtheghostofagoodthing

    I honestly feel like giving up. I don’t think my page is resonating with anyone. My audience doesn’t engage.

    Kanaiza

    Reply
  6. Utsav Srinet says

    May 26, 2017 at 4:44 am

    Thank you so much, Madison for sharing these tips with us! You just pointed out some great points here. Let me follow these points and see the difference. Great Article!

    Reply
  7. Discouraged says

    August 15, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Hi Madison
    Thank you for sharing. My account stops growing after reaching 10K and I really don’t know what’s going on. In fact, I got more followers who unfollowed which is very discouraging. And I have tried what you have shared. Thought to seek your help.

    Reply
  8. Tasneem Bhatia says

    December 23, 2017 at 8:01 am

    Hello- wondering if you would take a look at my page- @drtazmd- it has been stagnant for the last month and not sure what is happening- would love some feedback overall. Thanks!

    Reply
  9. Tia Randle says

    January 06, 2018 at 11:01 am

    Hi Madison!
    I am a Biz Coach who is taking on Instagram. How do read the analytics and know where to go with this account?
    Thank you for your help if you can! @the.breakthrough.agency

    XOXO

    Reply
  10. May says

    January 15, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    Hi Madison

    I have followed these tips of yours. However I’m stagnant, almost about to give up!

    Please check my account
    https://www.instagram.com/tosomeplacenew

    Reply
  11. Tiffany says

    January 30, 2018 at 12:25 am

    Great blog! I agree with all of the reasons you have posted. People should know how to grow their Instagram organically. Patience and consistency is the key. I grow my business in Instagram by collaborating with influencers using Phlanx.com platform. With their influencer directory, I can easily find influencers that has the same niche as mine and connect with them. You should check it out!

    Reply
  12. Joie M Gahum says

    February 05, 2018 at 5:52 am

    Growing a following in Instagram is not easy if you want genuine, loyal followers to complete your community. Targetting the right people is really the key. I personally use Hashatory to guide me in creating content as well as in hashtag suggestions for the content and images I upload on Instagram. Have you tried the app before?

    Reply
  13. Kasey Knose says

    March 08, 2018 at 12:20 am

    Thanks! I’m a relatively new food blogger and so I’m fairly new to the Instagram game. I have had difficulty gaining follows and I appreciate any and all feedback I get on that. I enjoyed reading your post.

    Reply
  14. Christine says

    April 12, 2018 at 11:10 am

    Thank you for the actionable to dos and not to dos 🙂 I really appreciate your advice here. I think it is just a matter of persistence too, I am not interested in just more followers but making a connection with people that are like-minded. I get compliments on my photos ( i take food pics, all my own of food I make, except sometimes the amazing cup of coffee! ) and I have been curating the photos more as well. The one thing I don’t do is video and I don’t have any pics of myself on my feed. I suppose that could help? I feel a little weird about posting images of myself but find that I do like to connect with others by seeing them. I also think I need to invest more time in recipe development, not a strength but I am going to get better at it from doing it! hahaha I have a food business and think Instagram is such a positive way to connect with, listen to and work with my customers and just the amazing food-tribe in general! I will keep doing what I am doing and make small authentic moves and trust that it will bring good things. Thank you again. Can’t wait to check out your IG.

    Reply
  15. Louise Elizabeth Dobson says

    January 10, 2019 at 8:49 am

    Hi,
    I feel like I have hit a bit of a wall with my Instagram page & would greatly appreciated any form of feedback you could give.
    My followers grew quickly last year, but I feel in the last few months I have been losing more followers than I am gaining & the interaction from my followers has dropped too.

    If you could take the time to look at my page, I would be extremely grateful.

    Lou
    x

    Reply
  16. James Harvey says

    September 25, 2019 at 5:54 am

    I think the bigger impact that has made here is its lack of reach as this indeed matter most at last.

    Reply
  17. bestappsclub says

    October 31, 2019 at 12:48 am

    Thanks for the indepth guide. it really help me in growing my followers.

    Reply
  18. Noah John says

    January 20, 2020 at 2:24 am

    Instagram is my favorite social media platform. I believe if we want to grow on Instagram, we should use all the options that are available at our disposal such as photos, videos, story, hashtags and live stream. I’ve noticed that Instagram influencers try to use every tool Instagram has to offer. Secondly, engagement matters a lot in Instagram growth; pay attention to the comments, likes, and mentions.I also agree with your point that frequently posting can be effective. Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  19. charmi says

    March 06, 2020 at 6:36 am

    thamks for the post.

    Reply

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