It’s true. I did. I’m still losing followers and I’ll tell you why.
First, I should clarify that I’m talking about my personal Instagram account @mel.martell and not my Social Media Management account @withmel.social.
I was able to grow my personal IG account to just over 20,000 followers by the middle of 2021. I had no Social Media Strategy. I was totally winging it.
I had always loved dancing, but I never had any formal training. Covid had me STRESSED and I needed an outlet. So, I popped on Instagram and searched dancing. A shuffle video of @lizziecl_ came up. I was hooked.
Dancing was something I turned to as a stress reliever, it made me feel happy and I did it because I loved it. I had 6 videos go viral with one of those videos having over 2 million views. Click here to view it. The one below is one of my favourites and has over 1 million views.
Anyways, as you now know, dancing was something I did for stress RELIEF, but all of a sudden I found I was STRESSING because I felt so much pressure to put out a new video every day.
What did I do?
I stopped sharing dance reels.
Do I still dance?
Of course I do. I just don’t share it with anyone.
I know you’re still wondering how I lost all those followers. It’s as easy at this:
I changed my content.
I gained 20k followers of people who loved watching me DANCE. The content I was putting out was dancing reels, so they were happy.
I’m pretty much only sharing my travel adventures now. The people who were following me for my dance reels are no longer getting what they signed up for, so they no longer follow me. Although, it should be noted that when you lose followers, this also includes people who have deleted their accounts, as well as Bots that Instagram has deleted.
But, It’s as easy as that. I changed my content, and my audience wasn’t interested in the new content I was putting out.
That's why it’s SO important to stay consistent with your brand, voice, tone, and content.
I believe this is also why it’s important to separate your business and personal IG accounts (in most cases). I still have my personal Instagram account, but use my @withmel.social account for things that are related to social media management, social media marketing, content creation, and instagram tips and tricks.
People who want to follow you and your personal life, may not want to hear about what you’re selling. If you have a business account, your audience is following your business, not your personal life. Know what I’m sayin’?
I’ll be writing a Blog Post on how I gained 20K followers in 8 months soon.
I didn’t have a social media strategy or a social media marketing plan at the time, but knowing what I know now, I can see that there were a lot of things I did RIGHT. I will share them all with you! Stay tuned!