6 REASONS WHY YOUR INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT IS DOWN AND HOW TO FIX IT

If you’ve been enjoying decent engagement on Instagram and it suddenly falls off a cliff leaving you in a state of panic, don’t fret!

There are several things you can check to ensure you get back on the right track. Once you’ve identified the culprit, you can easily find a fix and get back to your former glory.

As long as you are being social on Instagram (it’s called social for a reason) and genuinely making connections with others, there are a few factors which may be affecting your performance.

Here are 6 things to check if you have seen a huge drop in numbers

1) Hashtag quality – What is the quality of the hashtags you are using? Low-quality ones can flood your account with bots and spam.

This interaction will signal to Instagram that the content on the account is rubbish and does not appeal to genuine followers who want great content.

Spending some time researching the best hashtags for your account may be required.

2) Competition – Yup, that plays a part! If there is someone in your niche who you share the same followers as proving amazing content and totally killing it, it might be time to review your content strategy.

3) Spammy phrases – Instagram hates (and also a good majority of people) spammy behaviour. Flouting calls to actions such as “like my post, comment below and tag a friend” will not work wonders for your account.

If you keep repeating the same mantra on every post, you may eventually get flagged as spam.

4) Holidays – This is a weird one at different times of the year mean that it can be more competitive for some, or even less. Black Friday and Christmas holiday sales are an example of times where you may see high competition for some accounts.

Depending on your niche, there may be times in the year when this may be high or low.

5) Images – Have the quality of your images changed recently? If so, and engagement and reach have dropped whereas before it was high, perhaps your audience is not enjoying it.

Always keep an eye on what your audience is best responding to, and try to introduce any changes gradually so that you can monitor response and have the data to back it up.

6) Bots and 3rd party apps – Are you using a like and comment bot? You know the one that promises amazing engagement and to grow your account to unknown numbers? If this is you, STAWP IT!

People are more switched on than you think and can usually tell if you are using a bot. You also run the risk of being reported as spam and Instagram shutting down your account.

Also, beware of certain 3rd party apps with Instagram that do not follow the Community Guidelines or Terms of Use. Instagram is always on the hunt for accounts that try to grow followers and likes using non-authorised methods.

If you have been unwittingly using these you might see a big drop in follower numbers and rubbish reach and engagement.

Once you’ve identified the main culprit, keep in mind it may take a few weeks to get back to or surpass your former glory.

Be patient, continuously monitor your results and make any necessary tweaks and adjustments. You’ll be there in no time.

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