I’ve dramatically improved my Instagram followers, likes and video views, despite knowing bugger all about how the platform works. No clever marketing strategy, no expensive courses, just a little experimentation and an unexpected result. Could following fewer people actually help your account? I’ve absolutely no proof, but here’s what happened.
by Chris Harris
As someone dipping in and out of social media and occasionally wanting to learn more about how I can improve my own platforms, I have often read blogs and watched videos with these grand statements: how you can do this, how you can do that, all the surefire methods of dramatically improving your social media performance. Which ultimately will only work if you devote a lifetime to it!
It’s therefore to my surprise that I realise, despite knowing bugger all about it, I can do that too. What I’m about to tell you, please note, disclaimer, there is no proof that this will work for you whatsoever. Absolutely no evidence. Let me be quite clear on that. I’m just telling you exactly what happened to my account, but I’m not going to try and explain how it happened, no science behind it, no insight, good old trial, error and experimentation.
I set up the account in question a few years ago, used it in bursts, and probably stopped using it about nine months ago. At that time, 400 people followed me and I followed 300. Three hundred of those followers had come from me following them and them following me back, and 100 organically. I lost interest as the focus of my life turned to my business and my fledgling writing career, always with the intention of getting back to it, which I did six weeks ago. The account is basically for my vintage business, and I wondered whether I should just set a new one up for my book writing and blogging. There was no real thought process behind it, or investigation. I just thought to myself, why don’t you just junk off all the people you’re following? See what happens and reinvent the account.
I lopped 90 people I am following off and waited for them all to stop following me. But absolutely nobody did. Three weeks ago, I got rid of everyone except the 18 people I personally knew. And nobody left. So I now have 400 followers, and I’m following 18. Now, anyone knows that that is incredibly healthy, albeit for a small account. For most people with between a few hundred followers, up to a couple of thousand, their number of followers is generally commensurate with the number of people they’re following. We all do it. We all go in for a spot of self-aggrandisement and boost our followers by following people. And the real narcissists amongst us pay for followers. It’s just how it all works. But everyone knows that an account followed by 400 people and only following a handful back has more weight and more kudos, it just looks much better and tempting, like my content is not just like 95% of Instagram accounts, full of drivel.
But what was more interesting was that, when I was regularly using it, I would probably pick up a couple of organic followers a month. Since I chucked everyone off, this month I’ve picked up ten. Not only that, as a relatively unused account, I was probably averaging a couple of likes per post. Some would get ten, lots would get zero. Now I’m getting up to twenty and averaging six. Now, I know lots of you reading this get hundreds and this, that and the other. Well, good for you, but I’m talking as someone who is a relative novice to Instagram. So I’m picking up followers. I’m getting infinitely more likes and comments since the cull.
Go onto AI or anything and ask why that’s happening, and they’re not going to say to you, “Well, it’s because you’ve stopped following everyone.” Because nobody actually knows exactly why it happens or how their algorithms work. But in my case, and I’ve been using Instagram on and off for way over ten years, the improvement over the last three weeks has been greater than anything I’ve experienced before by a country mile. I’ve even had some of my random short videos pick up two and a half thousand views. So maybe, like a diet, cutting off the fat of people you’re following not only makes your account look much healthier, but helps it function more efficiently too.
Just experiment. It is normal to want lots of followers and to keep the ones you have got, but do you want to hoard followers or create a better, more fruitful account that, in the long run, may dramatically improve your all-round account performance and visibility? My tip. Just experiment with thirty random accounts, stop following them and see what happens.
