When you began creating social mediapages for your business, you probably had a number of objectives in mind.

Perhaps you desired to increase brand awareness, referrals, or sales.

However, you definitely did not anticipate losing social media followers.

It is unrealistic to believe that every social media post will go viral.

You cannot always please everyone.

But if you're consistently losing more followers than you're gaining, or if you're not seeing the level of engagement you desire, you may need to take a step back and identify areas for improvement.

Let's examine the various reasons why you are losing followers on social mediaand how toprevent it.

3 Reasons Why Your Social Media Platforms Are Losing Followers

‍Reason 1 - An Incomplete Profile

In addition to being businessowners and marketers, the majority of us are also consumers of a variety of goods and services.

You likely follow a variety of brands on your preferred social media channels.

If so, launch your preferred social media application and view the brand profiles that you follow.

You may notice that all of these profiles are filled with information about the brand, such as a website, aesthetically pleasing profile and cover photos, and a recurring theme in each of their posts.

There is a simple explanation for why every successful brand's social media profile is "complete": it conveys professionalism.

Conversely, a "incomplete" profile, such as one without a profile photo or one with a poorly cropped cover image, screams unprofessionalism.

As a consumer, would you engage with or purchase from a brand that doesn't care enough to post two photos and a well-written bio on their own profile?

‍Solution - The solution is readily apparent.

Create an outstanding bio for your brand's profiles and upload a professional profile picture and cover image.

Include your website in your bio, follow related accounts, and don't forget to include any brand-related information.

Taking the time to ensure that both images are satisfactory (to you) and professional will pay off in the long run when you don't need to update your profile photo.

Your followers will be confused, and some may even click the "unfollow" button if you change your profile picture.

Reason 2 - Your Audience Isn’t Aligned With Your Brand

You can anticipate a normal ebb and flow of followers; as long as the overall trend is upward, your audience will remain engaged with your brand.

But if that number decreases, it's likely that you need to broaden your reach and attract more individuals who share your brand's mission and values.

However, quality followers are always more valuable than quantity.

Buying fake followers is not only against the rules, but it adds no value to your business whatsoever.

A social media contest is another popular method for beginners, particularly brands, to quickly gain more followers.

This is an excellent strategy for increasing brand awareness within your community and acquiring authentic, valuable user-generated content(UGC) in the process.

After a contest concludes, we will discuss how you can repurpose UGC for marketing campaigns.

Brewed By Hand via Best Coffee encouraged its community membersto share their home coffee setups on Instagram or via direct upload for a chance to win a new machine and specialty pods.

Offer discounts, prizes such as gift cards or free merchandise, or even a simple account feature, and users will be motivated to enter.

It works nearly every time, and the majority of brands that employ this strategy see a substantial increase in their social media following after the contest concludes.

Occasionally, users will only follow your account in order to participate in your contest and will unfollow once it has concluded.

If you recently held a contest on your social media accounts and are suddenly losing followers, this may be the cause.

How then can you counteract this?

‍Solution - Carefully consider what you are giving away.

Determine which types of prizes would be most valuable to your niche community, such as a multi-month membership or a discount code, and get your audience excited for future social contests.

This way, your community will continue to be interested in future contests and will engage with other content you share in the interim, rather than unfollowing your brand.

‍Reason 3 - Not Posting The Right Content

This section will explore all of the possible meanings of the statement "you are losing followers because you are not posting the appropriate content."

Too Much Promotional Content

According to a survey conducted by Goodfirms, one of the top ten reasons people unfollow a brand is excessive promotional content.

‍Solution - A good rule to follow when marketing a brand and its services/products on social media is the 80:20 rule.

This rule states that only 20 percent of the content you share on social media should be promotional in nature.

The majority of your content or posts (80 percent) should be social and provide value to your audience.

This value can be in the form of actionable information, tips, tricks, insights, or industry knowledge, or it can be in the form of entertaining content, but when it comes to authentic engagement, UGC may be the most valuable type of content.

By amplifying real experiences through your social channels, you make your target audience feel more heard and valued, as customers enjoy seeing others similar to themselves interacting with your brand.

This will result in increased interaction and participation from your followers.

To build rapport and social proof within its online community, cosmetics brand Morphe reshares community photos, crediting the user in the caption.

Irrelevant Content

Brands that are aware of the 80:20 rule and the significance of sharing non-promotional content frequently commit the error of sharing irrelevant content.

According to Goodfirms, one of the top two reasons why users stop following a brand is irrelevant content.

When a brand shares too much irrelevant or promotional content, 45 percent of users unfollow that brand.

Notably, "irrelevant content" does not only refer to content that is not relevant to your niche.

It may also indicate that you are posting 'inappropriate' content on a particular social media platform.

Sharing personal anecdotes and stories, for instance, may be effective on Facebook but will almost certainly backfire on a professional network like LinkedIn.

‍Solution - It is essential for social media marketers to continually assess the relevance of their content.

This not only helps you maintain your follower count, but it also helps your brand establish authority and credibility in its niche.

Practicing social listeningentails determining which of your community's posts are the most successful and what type of content motivates your audience to interact with your brand online.

Only Posting Content On Profile

Another frequent error made by brands on social media is posting content through their own handles.

They do not participate in conversations or groups, which may cause their audience to stop following them.

Social media marketingsuccess cannot be achieved by simply "shouting" your content at your followers, unlike traditional forms of advertising.

‍Solution - It is important to interact with your audience on social media.

This may include following back your most active followers, engaging with their posts and stories, and participating in pertinent social media group discussions.

Taking this action will yield two benefits for your social media presence.

One, you will be able to increase your chances of attracting more relevant social media followers by posting in comment sections and groups, thereby enhancing the visibility of your brand.

This will also allow you to increase your business's niche authority and credibility.

By engaging with community posts and even reposting content from your customers, your account will appear more genuine and inviting.

Engaging with your audience will also help you establish a human element for your brand, as opposed to an impersonal corporate image.

Posting Too Frequently

Inconsistent social media contentposting is a well-known way to fail, but posting too frequently may also be detrimental to your brand.

Across all social media age groups, the top reasons for unfollowing a brand account are posts that are perceived as "annoying" and "spammy."

"If a user must scroll through 10 of your posts in order to see a post by someone else, they will perceive that your content 'clogs' their feed and be prompted to unfollow you.

‍Solution - There is no correct answer for the 'ideal' number of posts.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the subject, and the optimal response depends on the social media platform(s) you employ and, of course, the preferences of your audience.

Having said that, the numerous studies and surveys conducted on this topic have yielded some numbers that you can use as a starting point and then modify based on the audience's response.

In conclusion, social media is a channel for conversation and should always be treated as such.

If you are rapidly losing followers, your social media marketing strategy is probably not customer-focused.

When designing a new campaign or publishing a new social media post, consider whether you are adding value to the lives of your audience.

Being customer-focused does not guarantee social media success, but it greatly increases your chances.

Why Facebook Users Unfollow

You’re Not Sharing Well

Examine your posting practices with candor.

• Are your posts too frequent? Multiple daily posts indicate that you are likely sharing more than necessary.
• Are you not at all generous? Review your most recent posts. Are there significant intervals between them? Your followers anticipate consistency and participation.

What type of content do you intend to share?

• Are you providing value to the reader, or are you just posting pictures of your breakfast? Followers do not desire a stream of random, unrelated content.
• Does your Facebook page resemble an advertisement? 57.5 percent of respondents, according to Sprout Social, would unfollow a brand for excessive self-promotion.

You’re Not Being Social

Start and join conversations, respond to comments and complaints, and demonstrate to your followers that you are a real person.

It is essential to keep in mind that once you join a conversation, you must continue it.

We always encourage our customers and business partners to view social media as a dialogue.

There is give and take and reciprocity.

If you are only ever talking and never engaging, you may begin to lose followers as a result.

Additionally, recognize that social media users anticipate prompt responses.

83% of people anticipate a response within 24 hours, while 38% anticipate a response within an hour or less.

Even if you are unable to respond to every comment immediately, followers should not be left waiting for days.

You Don’t Have The “Right” Followers

These posts have been published before.

It used to consist primarily of "Like us on Facebook to be entered to win..." posts.

The "Follow us and tag three friends" strategy to increase exposure and enter a contest is now more prevalent.

This post is not suggesting that you should never attempt this.

Contests can be a viable way to quickly gain new followers or increase brand awareness, but the followers you acquire may not be the ones you need.

If they are not a true member of your target audience, they will almost certainly unfollow after the contest has concluded.

Buying followers is yet another quick method for acquiring the incorrect type of followers.

Buying followers violates the terms of service for the majority of the major social media networks, resulting in a decline in engagement and a potential hit to your reputation.

Take the time and make the effort to build the appropriate audience.

Why Twitter Users Unfollow

You’re Abusing The Retweet (RT)

There is nothing inappropriate about retweeting content.

In fact, you ought to!

But it shouldn't be your content strategy's focal point.

Why should people follow you when they can go directly to the source?

Do not attempt to retweet every tweet that mentions your brand or hashtag.

This is an honest error, but it can quickly clog up timelines and cause you to lose followers.

Also, avoid requesting retweets.

If your content is excellent, they will naturally come to you.

You’re Using The Follow/Unfollow Strategy

Many have experienced this within minutes of joining Twitter.

You follow back anyone who follows your account.

It's the start of a beautiful friendship... until you realize that they've unfollowed you!

This is not the way to develop customer loyalty.

As stated previously, this relates to the concept of cultivating the right followers.

Follow relevant accounts for your business and brand.

There is no requirement to follow every person who follows you and maintain a 1:1 strategy.

Why LinkedIn Users Unfollow

You’re Sharing Personal Content On A Professional Network

Whereas other social networks continue to blur the lines between professional and personal, LinkedIn is a relatively straightforward professional networking platform.

Yes, there are times when this line is crossed, but the vast majority of the time, the content people share reflects the platform's purpose.

LinkedIn is the ideal platform for highlighting your professional skills and connections.

Being human and genuine is essential to being you, so whenever it makes sense, include personal details in your updates.

Your Photo Is Missing

When you created your LinkedIn account, adding a profile picture should have been one of the very first steps.

If you are still using a placeholder image or somehow forgot to complete this task, it is now time to do so.

According to LinkedIn, members with photos receive up to 36 times more messages and 21 times more profile views.

Whoa!

If you are a data professional, you should immediately upload your professional headshot.

You should ideally use a professional headshot captured by a professional photographer.

When that isn't possible, here are a few tips for taking the best photo possible:

• Utilize a high-resolution, crisp image.
• Ensure that you are the only person in the image.
• Choose a photo in which your face is not obscured by sunglasses, a hat, or anything else.
• Keep your image up-to-date.

In summary, choose a photo that makes it easy to see you and only you!

Why Instagram Users Unfollow

You Post Inconsistently

If you post every two months or less, you may lose followers.

You are essentially allowing people to forget who you are and why they initially followed you.

Additionally, the Instagram algorithm favors accounts with engaged followers.

Ensure that you're posting frequently enough to remain prominent.

You’re Clogging The Feed

The excessive posting of images, stories, and videos is overwhelming.

If your followers must scroll through ten of your posts before they can see someone else, they will quickly become frustrated.

Even if they do not unfollow you, they will likely mute you, which is equivalent to unfollowing without causing your follower count to decrease.

Save all of this content for separate days to avoid overwhelming your audience.

People Also Ask

Is It Normal To Get Unfollowed?

It is normal.

At first, you may notice each lost follower, and depending on your personality or life experiences, it may feel like rejection. However, I want to reassure you that it is normal to lose followers, and that it is also very normal to feel this way.

But, as you keep going, it WILL get easier.

Why Do My Followers Go Up And Down?

Fluctuations in your follower count are completely normal and frequently the result of the foolish "follow/unfollow" game that many accounts play.

An individual follows you, waits until you follow them back, and then unfollows you.

The unfollow can occur within seconds, days, or even weeks.

What Causes Social Media To Lose Its Popularity?

What causes the decline in popularity of social media?

In conclusion, the dominance of social media platforms is decreasing the popularity of other websites.

They are declining in popularity for a variety of reasons, including ad fatigue, privacy concerns, the migration of friends to other websites, and a lack of time to use them

Conclusion

Social media is a platform for conversation and should always be treated as such.

If you consistently lose followers, your social media marketing strategy is likely not customer-focused.

Consult with digital marketing specialists to gain a firm grasp on your marketing strategy.