Research indicates that four out of every five people have unfollowed a brand on social media for different reasons. HubSpot Blog Research further demonstrates that 14 percent of Instagram marketers reported losing followers between 2020 and 2021. Most people turn away from brands when they are no longer interested, or when the brand starts uploading irrelevant content on their platforms.
Social media is evolving with new features coming up almost every month. Since social media is the most effective platform that every marketer can leverage, you need to focus on brand-related content, consistently engage users, and maintain transparency to retain social media following. If you’re part of the statistics and wondering what could be causing the decline, here are reasons to help you rethink your strategies.
1. Being Too Salesy
It takes a lot of skill to sell online. As a marketer, you need to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from the mistakes. Still, with the efforts, most marketers are labeled ‘too salesy’. Being too salesy can harm your chances of closing deals and hurt your reputation.
To avoid being too salesy label, try using open-ended questions. Open-ended questions spark conversations and gain more perspectives on what your prospects want. Use active listening to help you understand clients’ perspectives. Show your authentic side when communicating to your customers and always remember to show a solution to your customer’s pain points.
2. Not Posting Enough or Posting Too Much
The more information you share, the more they know about you. This can put your brand at the risk of identity theft if the audience manages to get hold of your financial information. Not posting enough can also make you lose followers.
As a marketer, you need to strike a balance when posting to ensure that your posts reach the target audience. Post at least once on platforms such as Instagram. Choose among Instagram stories that are the second-best way to gain followers besides going live, in-feed posts, and reels depending on how the audience responds to your content.
3. Lack of Consistency
Consistency allows your brand to be recognized. Staying consistent with your branding and creative assets is essential in building strong brand recognition and also helps a visually appealing social media profile. If users notice a different tone in your posts, they’ll have a hard time understanding your brand, what it stands for, and the best they can do is unfollow you.
The audience loves consistency. Figure out what your brand identity and visual aesthetics are at the onset of the branding process. Leverage tools such as Canva to help build a visual profile that will stay consistent across platforms. You can also talk to marketing agencies in NYC to help you have a consistent brand voice and brand identity.
4. Not Engaging with People
If your audience has no reason to interact with your content online, they lose interest in your brand. Regardless of the industry you are in, content marketing is a critical component of the success of any marketing strategy. If content marketing is not working for you, you need to take another look at the type of content you are creating.
Ask questions that foster engagement and make your social media platform worth following. The more your followers engage with the content the more the posts appear at the top of the timeline and other people’s feed.
5. Followers are No Longer Interested
User’s interest is a variable that you might not control. Unfortunately, this is one of the top reasons why people are likely to unfollow your brand. A person who has no personal or vested interest in your brand will leave even if you never did anything wrong. Maybe such a user followed your page while shopping for similar products or services, maybe there was a promotion, or they just are no longer interested in what you are promoting.
You can mitigate this by varying your content. Don’t just publish promotional content but alternate it with more engaging content. Keep up with your audience, analyze your data, and rethink the best strategies that will keep them interested.
How to Keep Your Followers
Social media gives you a chance to connect and engage with your current and potential customers. Social media can be your marketing cornerstone if you use the right type of posts to reach your audience. Customers want to feel the relationship with the brand.
Create posts that will make customers see the need to have your product. Make them laugh as humor can help you increase engagement with your following. Share interesting content to help you build trust and increase your value.