NEW Instagram Following Limit July 2017
A huge change hit Instagram today.
It is important to note that Instagram are yet to confirm the change. However, across several accounts our team manages, all the accounts tested (yes, 100% of them!) can only follow a maximum of approximately 15-30 new users, before having to wait a period to be able to follow again. This dwarfs the previous limit of around 200-300. With following being a huge, organic engagement technique for numerous businesses on Instagram, this change is massive! This could be the end of the follow and unfollow technique, used by aspiring entrepreneurs and social influencers since the birth of Instagram – well at least make it a lot more annoying, time consuming, and possibly even more dangerous! “Dangerous?”, you ask.. Instagram began a crack down on accounts when they introduced business accounts to the scene, taking note of who are spammy to their community.
STAY CALM!
With this change, we have compiled a list of other ways to increase your audience on Instagram.
- Start a Competition: Capitalise on the use of competitions, from a simple giveaway where users tag a friend in the comments to be in the draw, or something more elaborate like a share/follow train with other brands.
- Make Use of Paid Promotions: Paid promotions can increase your brand awareness drastically. However ensure you have engaging content that is sure to drive people to your page!
- Utilise Hashtags: Don’t go overboard. A huge no-no here at Bottrell Media is using unrelated hashtags in excess to gain more likes (such as #likeforlike, #instagood, etc). These draw generally nothing but fake, robotic accounts, bringing no added value to your business. Use quality hashtags, that have relevance to your business, for example, if you are an Italian restaurant, use the likes of #pasta, #italy, #pizza, #chef, #dinein.
- Like Users Comments on Popular Pages: Find a popular account within your industry or location, and begin to like the comments on the posts. There is a limit of about 50 per about every 10 minutes, however this is an easy way to attract attention to your brand. An example of this is, if you are a surf brand, head to @wsl (World Surf League) and like away!
- Push Followers to Instagram from your other Sales Channels: If you have a large following on any other channel, get them to head to Instagram! An incentive works best, such as a competition.
Our team has addressed the issue, and some of us think it may just be a bug, however this is likely not the case. This is because on Instagram’s website, they have a page called ‘Known Issues’, and straight of the page is this, “We don’t currently have any known issues to report.”
Either way, we will be sure to keep you updated on what Instagram has to say about the change, and whether it is a bug, or for real.
If you require social media assistance, and want to grow your following, get in touch, our expert team are more than happy to help!
