There are several reasons you could get unfollowed on social media but today we are going to talk about the 8 I see most often. If you are guilty of any of these things, it’s not too late to fix it and retain your followers. Let’s jump right in.

 

Lack of Engagement

 

37% of people will unfollow you due to lack of engagement. That was a little surprising to me. I knew engagement was huge but didn’t realize it was 37%. If you are not participating with your audience, you should realize that community is the number 1 marketing tool of 2020. When someone has a comment or question or sends you a direct message you need to respond. You don’t have to reply with a paragraph. It could be as simple as a like or a heart or just a “thanks.” As a consumer, I get extremely frustrated when I reach out to a brand and they don’t respond. This is a simple one. Engage your audience.

 

Posting Too Often

 

A whopping 41% of people will unfollow you if you post too often. How often is too often? Excluding Twitter and Pinterest where you can literally post all day, on most platforms once per day is plenty. Do you have 10,000 followers? Maybe twice on Friday and Saturday. For most businesses, once per day, 5 to 6 days each week is plenty to post. If you start posting 2 or 3 times per day on Facebook you’re going to wear that audience out in a hurry. There are a few exceptions. If you have a ton of super-engaged followers, you can get away with twice per day but most businesses can’t. Plus, who has time to post several times per day on each platform? Not me. 

Being Too Sales-y

 

If you are too sales-y, 56% of people will hit that unfollow button. If you pitch yourself constantly, you are going to wear your audience out. Nobody wants to be constantly sold to. There’s a reason for the used car salesman that drives people crazy. You do want to remind people about what you do and let them know that they can buy from you but only in about 1 out of every 10 posts. Once every couple of weeks post a call to action. If you have an event coming up that’s a true benefit to your followers, post about it. That’s a service and you do want to talk about it but you need to mix it up with other stuff. 

 

Being Boring or Repetitive

 

79% of people will unfollow you for being boring or repetitive. They lose interest. Ouch. Don’t post the same thing every day. Nobody’s got time for that. For example, if you’re a realtor you can post listing after listing after listing. It drives people crazy. If you sell cars you can’t fill your feed with car after car. You have to change it up. Don’t be boring. 79% is the biggest number on our list today so this one is huge. To keep from falling into the boring or repetitive trap, use a content calendar. When you have your content planned out in a way that allows you to see it before posting you can spot those repetitive moments before they happen.

 

Posting Irrelevant Content

 

66% of people will unfollow for posting content that isn’t relevant to your page. You know, like politics or…..politics……or politics. Get the idea? Now if you are a conservative republican preacher and you have a radio show then absolutely post about that but if it’s not your brand don’t do it. 

 

If Social U posted about shoes, that would be weird. We do social media so if we start posting about the best place to buy shoes it’s going to seem random. Don’t post anything that wouldn’t make sense and be on brand for your business. 

 

Offensive Post or Activity

 

38% of people will unfollow you for an offensive post or activity. It’s become more mainstream in the past few years to let people know when you’re mad. You want to be as courteous to the people on your page as you would be to your grandmother or your boss. The goal is to make sure everyone is being treated with the same respect. 

Posting Fake News

 

13% will unfollow you if you post fake news or bad information. Make sure any information you post is good information or you will irritate people in a hurry. Covid-19 is a good example. You’re not the CDC. You don’t need to tell people what they should do in regards to this virus. What you’re doing doesn’t matter. What matters is the official, scientific, informed information. It’s fine to post about it but post the link that leads them to the official information so they have what’s true and factual. There is a small i underneath articles on Facebook which means that they are verified. Be careful and verify your information before posting. Make sure what you’re posting is true and helpful, even on your personal profile. 

 

Having a Bad Service or Product

 

11% of people will unfollow you if the service or product you offer is just bad. You’ve got to put your money where you mouth is. It’s not enough to have a great online presence. You actually have to have a good product. Who knew? Without a good product, none of the rest matters. 

 

Keep Your Followers

 

Stop these practices and retain more followers. Social media is an excellent business tool but only if you have the followers to engage with.