Instagram Followers Decreasing: How To Maintain Your Fanbase

It takes a lot of hard work and consistency to build a big Instagram fanbase from the bottom up. That’s why it’s extra frustrating when you see a drop in follower count for your page. You might be racking your brain, asking, “Why are my page’s Instagram followers decreasing?” Is it because of low-quality content? Nosediving engagement levels? Are there sneaky fake followers that deleted your page from their following list?

There are plenty of possible reasons why you’re losing your followers on Instagram. Today, we’ll take a deep dive into each one to give you a better understanding of that sad drop in follower count.

We’ll also give you some tips on how to maintain your current followers so they don’t unfollow you. Let’s jump right in!

Why Are My Followers on Instagram Decreasing? See These 3 Possible Reasons

Are you excited to find ways to grow your page and get new followers back? Well, the first question you need to ask is, “Why are my followers on Instagram decreasing?” By understanding the reason behind your drop in follower count, you’ll know what to work on to gain new fans.

Here are the top three things that can lead to Instagram followers decreasing:

1. Followers Decreasing After Buying Fake Followers

The first reason why you’re losing Instagram followers might be because you bought fake followers. Now, buying followers is great because it gives you an instant uptick in your fanbase. However, after this boost, you could experience consequences. One of them is Instagram followers decreasing shortly after buying these fake followers.

When you buy cheap followers online, you could end up with low-quality bot accounts and fake followers in your fanbase. These followers are inactive and automated. So, while they increase your follower count, they won’t actually interact with your content, which kills your engagement levels. Consequently, this lowers your rank on the main Instagram feed.

What’s worse is that many bot followers will end up unfollowing you a few days after you buy them. Automated accounts are sometimes designed to unfollow people after some time automatically. That way, they don’t have a bloated list of people they follow, making them look more legit. Sadly, for you, that means Instagram followers are decreasing.

If your real followers realize that you are buying fake followers online, they might unfollow you, too.

Buying followers is considered inauthentic and could be a turn-off for many of your current followers. It shows that you are shallow and not credible. This could give you a negative image, leading to people unfollowing you instantly.

2. Instagram Followers Decreasing Suddenly After Being Thoughtless With Posts

The second reason you might see a decrease in your followers is that you have been thoughtless with posts. If you’re not consistent with your content and notice your Instagram followers decreasing suddenly, don’t be surprised. As soon as you lose your current followers’ interest, it’s easy for them to hit that “unfollow” button.

This could be because of several reasons. Most commonly, someone’s loss of interest in your page might be because of low-quality content.

Maybe you’re not as serious about making cool, artsy content as you used to be, leading to boring, redundant posts. Maybe you’re using low-quality photos that don’t meet the standards of your fans. Whatever it may be, you need to work to raise your content quality again.

You could also be losing followers because of your intermittent posting schedule. If you don’t post regularly, your feed will look old and never up to date with trends. People might think that you’re no longer on the platform. So, when they do a clean-up of their following list, they might delete you.

If you were offensive or hurt people on Instagram, you might also see a drop in follower count. This might be because you spoke up about a controversial topic, bullied someone openly, or even used vulgar language. As a result of this scandal or thoughtlessness, some fans might have unfollowed you.

3. Instagram Followers Decreasing Automatically as the Platform Cleans up Inactive Accounts

Have you noticed Instagram followers decreasing automatically even if you didn’t recently buy followers and are posting high-quality content? This might be because of the third common reason for losing followers—the platform’s clean-up of inactive accounts.

Instagram is notorious for its fight against inauthentic activity on its platform. Its algorithm works to identify which accounts are showing bot behavior or are inactive. Then, it “cleans up” these accounts, deleting them from the platform.

If you have bots or fake followers from way back, Instagram might end up deleting them someday. When that happens, you’ll notice a drop in follower count. If all your current followers are real, you won’t even notice your Instagram followers decreasing.

According to Instagram, they regularly remove fake pages, spam accounts and users that don’t follow their community guidelines. These “purges” are in line with their effort to remove fake, inauthentic activity from the app.

Instagram doesn’t flag you if they see fake followers on your page. So, there’s no way to know for sure if the decrease in your followers is due to this reason.

Elevate Your Content Strategy: How To Stop Decreasing Followers on Instagram

Now that you know why there was a drop in follower count, let’s move on to the next step. You need to do the opposite of what you were originally doing that was causing followers decreasing on Instagram. For some, that means avoiding buying fake followers. For others, it could require a total overhaul and revamp of their Instagram content strategy.

Ready to take control of your page again and grow your community online? Here’s how to stop decreasing followers on Instagram.

Produce High-Quality Content To Prevent Losing Followers

The first thing you want to do to maintain your current followers on Instagram is to kiss low-quality content goodbye. Relevant, interesting, high-quality content is key if you want to keep your followers interested in your posts. By consistently posting this type of content, you’ll have a better chance of maintaining your current follower count.

Always post content that is well-thought-out and aesthetically pleasing. Don’t post photos that are blurry, half-baked or have a horrible composition.

Take flattering, visually stunning photos that tell a story and can capture the attention of others. One way to ensure that you’re posting high-quality images is by investing in a good camera, tripod and lighting equipment.

Of course, you need to be sure your content aligns with your niche and branding. Don’t just post content for the sake of preventing Instagram followers decreasing. If your page is about art and graphic design, upload artsy content. If you’re a fitness influencer, produce high-quality, engaging content about nutrition and exercise.

Not sure if your content is doing well or not? If you have a professional Instagram account, look through your Instagram Insights to see how each post is performing. Use the data and learnings from this dashboard to improve your content moving forward.

Avoid Losing IG Followers by Posting Consistently

As mentioned earlier, some people will unfollow accounts that they think have gone cold or are officially inactive on Instagram. To avoid your followers decreasing on Instagram due to this reason, make sure you post regularly on the platform.

By maintaining a regular posting schedule, your audience knows when they can expect to hear from you again. No one will mistake you for being perpetually offline and hit that “unfollow” button anymore.

Posting a few times a week maintains interest, so they likely won’t delete you from their following lists. It’s best to post around 2-4 times every week to keep your fans’ eyes on you.

When you post consistently, you might also see a boost in your engagement levels. The more you post, the higher the chances of your content garnering more likes and comments. When this happens, your engagement rate goes up. This helps push out even more of your content on the feed, leading to added growth on the platform.

Posting regularly also forces you to play around with different Instagram formats. Trust us—if you post feed posts all the time, you’ll get bored of your content, too. Mix it up and add Stories and Reels to your content mix. Not only will content production be more fun for you, but the diverse formats might be more interesting to fans.

To ensure your posts don’t end up drowning in the feed, choose the best posting times for your content. You can also schedule content in advance so you can keep track of what’s going up on which day. By maintaining a good posting frequency and organizing your posting schedule, you can avoid your Instagram followers decreasing.

Engage With Your Followers To Build a Connection With Them

To maintain your fanbase, you need to do more than come out with stellar content during the best posting times. You also have to put in the effort to engage with your followers when they interact with your posts.

By replying to comments and direct messages from your current followers, you can build a strong relationship with them. If they feel the camaraderie and rapport from your end, they will be loyal to you. This friendship will keep them from hitting that “unfollow” button. The stronger your bond is with them, the more likely they are to stay for good.

Engaging with your current followers online can help create meaningful relationships between you and your fans. If you have a good relationship with them, you will have more credibility and trust. Aside from maintaining your follower count, this credibility can also land you more brand deals in the future.

Talking to fans also humanizes you as a content creator or brand. You will look more authentic and relatable, which can increase your trust scores immensely.

Host Fun Giveaways To Encourage Fans To Stay

A fun way to prevent Instagram followers decreasing is by hosting a giveaway. Tap into your current followers’ competitive spirit and put a prize on the line.

A giveaway does two things. First, it incentivizes your followers’ loyalty to you. If they see you being generous, they’ll warm up to you and love you even more. It can renew how they see your brand, making them appreciate you more. That means they won’t unfollow you any time soon.

Secondly, a giveaway also boosts engagement. It’s up to you to craft the mechanics of your giveaway. Maybe sharing your post on their Story or tagging someone in the comments can constitute an entry into the contest. Whatever your mechanics are, make sure they boost your engagement levels.

The higher your engagement levels, the more likely you are to pop up on people’s Instagram feeds. This makes you more discoverable, allowing you to gain new followers. So, not only does a giveaway maintain your follower count, but it also grows it.

Collaborate With Much-Loved Brands and Creators

Another way to gain the favor of your current followers and prevent Instagram followers decreasing is by collaborating with brands. But don’t just work with any brands. Do research on your target audience and look for influencers, labels and content creators they admire. Then, reach out to these pages and ask if they’re interested in collaborating.

By collaborating with another brand, you could win the trust and interest of your current followers again. If they see you working with a brand they know and love, your trust scores will increase. You’ll be more relevant in their lives when they associate you with people and brands they’re interested in. So, it will be unlikely for them to unfollow you.

When you work with a partner brand, use the collaborative post feature on Instagram. That way, the post appears on the feed of your followers and those of the brand you’re working with. This gives your brand more exposure to a whole new set of people that could potentially follow you.

If a brand is sponsoring a post for you, don’t forget to add the paid partnership label on it. Adding this to promotional posts allows you to keep things transparent with your followers. If you do this, you can maintain the level of trust they have for you.

Avoid Losing Followers by Buying High-Quality Followers Only

Lastly, you can avoid Instagram followers decreasing by breaking the habit of buying fake followers. As discussed earlier, fake accounts can lead to lower engagement levels and a drop in follower count. If it damages your credibility, real followers might even unfollow you, too.

So, if you do choose to buy Instagram followers online, only buy real, authentic, engaging followers. While these followers may be on the more expensive side, you’re assured of real people behind each new follower. These people will consistently like and comment on your posts, increasing your engagement levels.

Many of these real followers are also non-drop followers, which are followers that are permanent and never unfollow you. Buying these kinds of followers is well worth your money and is more sustainable in the long run. With them in your fanbase, you’ll never have to worry about randomly losing Instagram followers again.

Fix Instagram Followers Decreasing by Improving What and How You Post Content

If you notice your Instagram followers decreasing, it usually means there needs to be some tweaking in your content strategy. You need to scrap the low-quality content and your bad habit of buying fake followers online.

Maintain your fanbase and discourage them from consistently unfollowing you by putting out high-quality posts. Follow a strict posting schedule while keeping the best posting times in mind. That way, your followers know when to expect new content from you and look forward to it every week.

Add content buckets like promotional posts and giveaways to your content mix to keep your followers interested, too. This keeps them on their toes about what you do next so that they won’t unfollow you.

Another way to prevent Instagram followers decreasing is by working with Path Social. Our advanced algorithm looks for your niche target audience and delivers your content straight to their feeds. This can boost reach, visibility and engagement organically. It can even win you some new followers, allowing your page to grow even further. That way, you’ll never have to worry about your follower count decreasing again. Grow and maintain your fanbase today!