Do Private Profiles Get Less Followers than Public?
Switching from public to private profile is a common trend nowadays. Some people claim that it also helps one to get more followers on Instagram. For personal accounts, making your Instagram profile private is no big deal, but for businesses and people with a large following, there are things you will miss out on when you change your profile to private.
Most people prefer a public Instagram account for more followers because of the following features:
- Promotions on Instagram posts
- One can apply for Instagram ads
- Switching to a creator or business account is easy
- Opportunities for more engagement
- One receives Instagram insights and analytics to help on strategizing growth.
Some of the perks you will not enjoy on a private Instagram profile, and which might reduce the number of followers is:
Hashtags
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For business accounts with a hashtag as one of their growth strategies, it is a setback to switch your account to private since the hashtag will not appear under the trending hashtags.
Explore Tab
For private accounts, the explore tab is not functional. Through the tab, brands and influencers connect to potential clients easily. If you make an Instagram account private, it impacts negatively on their market niche reach.
Why switch to a private profile on Instagram?
1. Protect privacy
Privacy online is a big issue, and most users are switching to private profiles to protect their privacy. One can hide inappropriate photos and information and only share information with the target audience privately.
2. Get more followers
Curiosity among potential followers will drive them to follow your private account. They fear that they may miss out on your content. Loyalty from existing followers and networking will also bring more followers.
3. FOMO aspect
When you change the profile to private, many users will opt to follow you because of the fear of missing out. It is a strategy that many fitness stars, bloggers, and businesses adapt to get more followers.
4. Guard against harassment
On a private profile, one has control over the comments, likes, and messages, and controlling bullying and harassment online is possible.
5. Content protection
For most businesses, this is vital as it helps one to protect their content. Stealing content on Instagram is an issue to many people, and one way to curb it is by making the Instagram account private.
6. Avoid being banned
Due to community guidelines cracking by Instagram administrators, most Instagram users opt for private accounts to control their content and ensure the viewers are also appropriate to avoid banning.
Do private profiles get fewer followers than public profiles?
Making an Instagram account private has its benefits and the few drawbacks above. But whether to make your Instagram profile private or let it remain public depends on the type of account. Below are some of the considerations to make:
- Instagram account meant for personal use and need for more security.
- A business account that needs to grow followers or increase sales and create more brand awareness.
- Brands with huge Instagram following with no need to increase followers.
- Content originality protection for influencers and meme accounts.
