I am a huge fan of Instagram business profiles because
- You can boost your posts and show it to a targeted audience
- You have access to more data and insights about your fans
- Your fans can easily contact you from the mobile app
But recently I noticed a drop in my engagement.
With the same strategy (post frequency and hashtags) my engagement dropped by 50%.
I didn’t know what was going on.
Then, I noticed other people talking about the same issue inside different Facebook groups.
So I did a simple experiment. I switched my Instagram profile from business to personal.
And then posted the same image with same CTA (call to action) and Hashtags.
Do you want to know what happened?
Just look at this image below.
WOW. This is crazy right.
IMO there are 1000s of other factors that contribute to Instagram’s algorithm. However, if you are struggling with engagement, you can test it too
- Switch your Instagram business profile back to personal profile
- Keep your posting and hashtag strategy the same
- Give it a few days and see what happens
Here is a short video of this experiment.
Here is what Alex Tooby, an Instagram marketing expert recently said about Instagram business accounts.
“Remember Facebook Pages? They used to be an amazing way to connect with your current and potential customers, then Facebook drastically decreased the amount of people your posts would reach. They then implemented a “boost” feature and started encouraging people to pay in order to get their content in front of more people.
I’m not the only one who thinks that Instagram may begin to treat business profiles just like Facebook Pages. (Instagram is owned by Facebook you know!)
Maybe she is right? What do you think?
If you do test it, let me know how it goes?
I am curious to know if it works the same way for other people.
PS – Here is my personal Instagram account > instagram.com/alimirza2k/