I’m writing this Blog because nothing irritates me more than having people follow me and then unfollow me on Instagram because I don’t follow them back or in some cases even when I do follow them back, they still unfollow me. Come to find out there is a method to their madness.
I don’t know why the coach is telling them to do that, but they are playing with fire and Instagram knows exactly who they are. Not to mention it’s just unethical. If you’re going to be a business owner, you need to run your business with integrity.
So, what is Follow – Unfollow on Instagram?
Let’s just call it what it is. It’s basically a “Hack” It’s a method people use to gain a lot of followers at one time. They follow you in hopes that you will follow them back and then wait a few days and unfollow you.
Why do they do this? They are trying to gain social proof quickly.
If you feel the need to do this then in my eyes, you’re an imposter. You are scamming people into following you for your own gain and not building the Know-Like-Trust factor. If you have to pretend, you’re an influencer what else are you lying about. Just sayin’!
In my opinion, this is a bad idea for a lot of reasons.
#1 It’s unethical:
The best way to build a business is with integrity. Give your followers something they want something of value, and they will follow you.
#2 You’re reaching the wrong audience:
It doesn’t matter if you have 10K or 100K followers if they are not buying your products or services. Your goal is to reach your core audience, your ideal customer, people who are interested in what you have to offer. Wouldn’t you rather have 100K in your bank account or 100K followers who are actually hurting your algorithm? This brings me to the third reason.
#3 It hurts your Algorithm:
The short version on how the algorithm works. If you have 100K followers who are not engaging on your posts it ultimately hurts you in the long run.
WHY? Because Instagram sees everything that happens on your platform. If they see that you have a large following and no one or very few people are commenting or liking you post, that tells Instagram that your content isn’t relevant, and they aren’t going to show it to as many people and that hurts your reach.
#4 You can get banned:
More importantly, if you exceed the limit (see the chart below) Instagram will shadowban you. What is, shadow banning? Instagram will block your content in such a way that you are unaware that it’s even happening. Your content will not appear in anyone’s Instagram feeds unless they follow your profile.
Also, the new Instagram algorithm will remove accounts that look like spam or bots. For instance, if you are doing mass following or unfollowing in a short period of time you look like a spammer and will get banned for 24-48 hours and if you ignore it, you can get banned permanently.
A better option and the right way is to “GO ORGANIC”
If you want to avoid getting banned from Instagram, you have to market yourself in a natural way. A normal user will search for hashtags, visit posts, like them, comment on them, watch their videos, visit their accounts and DM them, etc.
This is how you build relationships and find your ideal clients.
Want to know who’s playing the follow unfollow game?
Get the follow-Unfollow APP
I’m not going to recommend what App to use because there are many to choose from it just comes down to personal preference.
Just go into your APP store on your cell phone and type in the search “Follower Tracker”
Before you decide on what one you want to use read the reviews and look at the cost. Some of them are a little as $2 a month. This one way you can see who’s unfollowing you and people that you follow that don’t follow you back. #Iknowwhoyouare
What are the Rules/ Limits?
Think about it…. If you are doing this, you are spending 10 hours a day playing the follow-unfollow game. Wouldn’t your time be better served to find your ideal customer and generating revenue?
If you want to build your Instagram following with integrity and find your ideal customer there is a safer and better way. The fastest and easiest way to find your ideal customer is to interact with your competitor’s follower list.
Follow their followers, like their posts, comment on their posts or send them an emoji.
Hope this was helpful. Don’t want you to go to Instagram jail. LOL!
P.S. Are you ready to turn your hobby into an online business? Get the details HERE
Blessings
Cheryl
