If you’ve noticed that your Instagram follower count has been fluctuating, you’re not alone! This is a common occurrence that many creators, influencers, and businesses face.
While it may not matter as much to accounts with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers, those with smaller followings need every last hand on deck to boost their engagement. With that in mind, it’s natural to worry that you might be doing something wrong.
The good news is that, depending on the reason for the changes, you may be able to do something to keep your follower count more stable – or, better yet, help it grow at a consistent rate!
So, let’s explore the answer to your question, “Why do my followers go up and down on Instagram?”
Why Does My Instagram Followers Keep Going Up and Down?
There are four main reasons that your Instagram follower count is not behaving. Let’s dive into them now!
Reason #1: Some of Your Followers are Bots
We’ll start with the most common reason of all for your follower count swinging between high and lower numbers: bots.
Social media platforms like Instagram are teeming with bot accounts. These profiles are fake, meaning they don’t represent real people. In fact, they’re not even operated by real people; instead, they run on commands from a computer – commands which were set up to run autonomously by a human being at some point.
Bots are let loose on Instagram for a variety of purposes, and one of the top ones is to inflate a real person’s follower count. You may even have purchased some bot followers in the past to increase your followers and help you rank higher in the Instagram algorithm. This strategy would, theoretically, attract more engagement on your posts.
But you can also acquire bots inadvertently. For example, you may have thought that you were buying real followers but received fake ones instead.
What if you didn’t buy any bot followers at all? They may be following your account anyway; there’s just no way to predict how bots will behave.
If you’ve purchased bot followers before, don’t feel bad. The truth is that everyone (even your favorite celebrity) does it.
But whether you bought them or they simply appeared out of the blue, it doesn’t matter to Instagram. What matters is that bot accounts violate Instagram’s Community Guidelines. When the platform detects them, it removes them immediately, hence why your follower count is always rising and falling.
We’ll cover ways that you can fix this problem later. But for now, check out some other reasons why your Instagram follower count is fluctuating.
Reason #2: Some of Your Followers are Inactive or Deleted their Accounts
Followers can also go up and down, not because they’re bots, but because they’re real people who haven’t logged in for a long time. After 90 days or longer of no continuous activity, Instagram flags their accounts as “inactive” and removes them.
They could also be deleting their accounts themselves and then creating new profiles later. This can happen when someone decides to take a prolonged social media break and then follows you again after they return.
Reason #3: The Quality of Your Posts is Inconsistent
What if you post regularly and frequently, but not all your content is all that amazing?
In that case, it may be the inconsistent quality of your posts that’s attracting followers and then driving them away. Especially if the number of low-quality posts outnumber the high-quality ones.
Reason #4: You’re Not Posting Frequently Enough
Let’s consider another possible culprit: the Instagram algorithm.
The Instagram algorithm uses several different factors to determine where to rank your posts and which users to show them to. One of those factors is how frequently users interact with your posts. But if you’re not posting often enough, your rate of engagement will go down, and so could your ranking.
If you don’t post frequently, this could be the reason that your follower count is inconsistent. Your new fans as well as your old ones may simply not see your posts anymore because the algorithm isn’t displaying them. Alternatively, they may be disappointed with how sporadically you publish new content.
The ultimate outcome of either scenario is they may decide to unfollow you. This can happen even if you upload amazing photos, Reels, and Stories.
How Do I Keep My Instagram Follower Count the Same?
We’ve gone over the reasons for your followers going up and down. Now it’s time to tackle the solutions!
Solution #1: Use a Scheduler to Post Regularly🗓️
Most social media experts recommend posting at least once a day on Instagram. That adds up quickly, though, so we also encourage you to use a scheduler and plan your content far in advance. You can utilize the social media platform’s native scheduler or subscribe to an Instagram management tool that comes with a virtual calendar.
Solution #2: Focus on Posting Great Content Every Time
This is sound advice for all of us, but it is possible to lose sight of the importance of quality when you’re trying to post multiple times throughout the week.
Remember that it’s important to only post great content on your Instagram feed. To that end, make sure your images and video footage are clear and high quality, and that your caption is clear and engaging. Don’t forget to proofread your caption to ensure there are no embarrassing misspellings or grammatical errors, and that you’re incorporating appropriate hashtags.
Solution #3: Buy Real Instagram Followers
If you’re losing followers due to bots or inactive followers, the best way to counteract that loss is by acquiring real followers in their place.
Focusing on producing great content on a regular schedule will help with that, but so will purchasing real Instagram accounts.
The latter strategy is definitely the best way to buy followers. Given the fact that human beings operate these accounts, they will not be flagged and taken down. Plus, if they genuinely like your content, then they can also be a source of other types of engagements, such as likes or Reel views.
Grow Instagram Followers Consistently With Viralyft
If that last solution sounds like something you want to try, then look no further for a reputable provider of real Instagram followers. Viralyft is here to offer you as many real, authentic followers as you need to provide your account with consistent growth.
No more suffering from followers that disappear on a dime. It’s all upward momentum from here!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It Normal for Followers on Instagram to Fluctuate?
Yes, this is normal. Your followers often go up and down a little bit due to some of your followers being bots or inactive. It can also happen when one of your followers decides to delete their account and create a new one.
