Don’t Be Fooled by Instagram Followers Count

I’ve written about collaborating on Instagram before in this post but I’m sure a few of you still don’t believe me when I say the number of Instagram followers means nothing. It’s used to matter but those days are long gone. Soon after Facebook took over Instagram & messed up another social platform working organically for small businesses, the power of “Influencer” accounts diminished.

For those who follow me on @allprojectsgreatandsmall you saw Southern Living Magazine reposted my Thanksgiving Tablescape. OMG!!! 1 million+ Instagram followers!!! Yes. Amazing but….I’m gonna be real honest with you.

It really wasn’t THAT big of a deal.

Stop clutching your pearls.
Lightning is not going to strike.
{Ok, it already did. Twice. But that’s for another post}

I’d seen it over and over again this year so I was prepared with realistic expectations. The scenario played out like this:

Big account shares smaller accounts’ post → Repost gets thousands of Likes → Engagement helps huge account remain relevant in the feed → Original account gets very little traffic to profile → Of those, even less click “Follow” → Even less click through to website

Prime Example:

This post was shared by Country Living Magazine, 1.3 million Instagram followers, earlier this year. A HUGE account. When I saw the repost in May, I watched the original account’s Instagram Follower count out of curiosity to see the effect CLM would have on a tiny account. Spoiler alert: Not much.

9,000 likes
243 comments
Original account gained 20 new followers

Do you know how much an “Influencer” would charge with that many Instagram followers for one post? Several hundred dollars.

Why am I making such a big deal out of this?

This repost was perfect for CLM’s audience!!! It’s a chicken for heaven’s sake! If they had posted a city skyline featuring a rooftop party, I would say it was off brand and probably didn’t appeal to their followers but it’s a chicken cake! It’s on brand, without a doubt, and a super cute cake at that. By all metrics, this was the perfect opportunity for the smaller account to gain access to a larger audience.

I brought my findings up in a large Facebook group {that I have since left bc it was filled with draaaaaaama} and another instagrammer I adore shared her experience with the same magazine. They shared photos of her home all the time and never tagged her and even if she was credited, it really didn’t drive traffic to her account. Lots of other people shared their experiences with bigger accounts, all with this same story over and over again.

It was nice to have posts shared but in reality the repost benefited the larger account more than the original creator. 

Let’s break it all down by looking at my big repost.

I can not stress it enough.
The number of Instagram followers means jack.

In Conclusion:

If someone approaches you & the only metric they can give you is their Follower count, pass. It does not matter how many Likes a post gets. It’s too easy to double tap. You need to know their past performance numbers. Go on their accounts and see who they’ve collaborated with before & contact those people. Would they do it again? Did they see any traffic? Was the traffic engaged (potential customers clicked through & stayed on their site for a couple minutes).

Would I ever pay to collaborate with someone? Nope. I have too much experience & the people who have driven the most traffic were customers I had no idea posted about me. I only found them because I saw a blip in my Google Analytics & tracked them down.

How do I know how many people actually went to my blog from the Southern Living repost? Google Analytics & Lesley with Artisan Analytics. Everyone needs a Lesley in their life. Before her, I had no idea where people were finding me or how they were interacting with my site. She’s AMAZING.

Have you seen Etsy’s new Social Media tool? I tested it out & you need to read this.