Instagram can account for most of your audio-visual marketing. As the years go by, your account will grow in followers, content, and photos. However, it may reach a point where the content and pictures in your account may not reflect your current brand outlook. This may send wrong and outdated information to potential clients.
If you have an account that needs visitors to scroll through a lot of content before getting to the right one, you’ll need to do a little bit of clean-up. Of course, one of the steps is to unfollow everyone on Instagram and start afresh by following accounts relevant to your brand.
The other step is to sort through the noise and clean out what doesn’t belong and what’s outdated. If you’ve had the account active for several years, this method may take time and feel overwhelming. However, this guide will help simplify the cleaning process and give your Instagram account a refreshing look.
1. Unfollow accounts by using the ‘Least Interacted With’ function
You may have followed as many accounts as possible during your start-up days to give your brand a wider audience. Over time, however, your association with these accounts may have diminished due to different goals and objectives. Instagram may action block you if you unfollow some of these accounts individually. But the ‘least interacted with’ feature allows you to unfollow accounts that may not be relevant to your brand.
To access this feature, tap on your profile icon and then go to ‘following’, which shows you the list of accounts you follow. You’ll see ‘least interacted with’ and ‘most shown feed’ on this page. If you haven’t interacted with an account for at least a month, it will show in the first category. Accounts that fill up your feed will appear in the second category.
The feature helps you reduce the noise on your account and can be vital to increasing your interaction with relevant accounts and followers. You can even use Instagram automation tools to manage interactions with users, such as comments and likes.
2. Freshen up your Bio and Account Information
This is the key to giving your brand an appealing look during your account cleaning process. Check if your profile picture correctly represents your brand. If not, it’s time to change it. Additionally, see if the name still identifies with the current market or if there’s something you need to adjust. As the edit profile settings allow you to change the name only and not the username, you can use this feature to rebrand if necessary.
Moreover, go over your bio and make sure it aligns with your brand goals and objectives. Given that the profile page is what your followers or visitors see first, treat it as though it were a website’s landing page. Your profile page should market your brand without being too intrusive.
The account information should also include a contact number, an email address, and a website link. If you don’t have a website, you can insert a link to the shop page where your followers can check out your products or services.
3. Clean your Instagram search history
While using Instagram, you may visit various account profiles to see if they’re worth following. Alternatively, you may view feeds and stories once but may not be interested in exploring them further. Even though it might be a one-off visit or view, Instagram will continue to show you related content. This is because most social media sites use an algorithm that keeps a tab on your page visits.
Basing your future suggestions on your history can be helpful, as it allows you to gain new followers or expand your target audience. However, it will only be one visit sometimes. Thus, any future suggestions may be irrelevant and fill up your explore page.
To remove any suggestion on the explore page, click it and tap on the three ellipses on the top right. You’ll see the ellipses on the bottom right if it’s an Instagram Reel. After clicking suggestions on the explore page and the ellipses, you’ll find a list of options. Select ‘not interested’, and you’ll now see fewer similar posts.
4. Delete or archive old content, posts, and photos
Visitors use your highlights to have an overview of your content and its relevance. Hence, keeping your saved stories and highlights more current is essential. Take time to analyze the posts, content, and photos you have if they’re time-sensitive. If a post was directed to a special sale or event, it might have lost its relevance due to the lapsed time. You can decide whether to delete or archive. It’s important to note that deleting is permanent and lacks a backup. So, evaluate carefully before proceeding.
You might have old photos and content that aren’t time-sensitive but don’t portray your brand’s current objectives. You can archive them to make your account more refreshing. In fact, archiving lets Instagram’s algorithm show you feeds that are relevant to your account’s growth.
Deleting and archiving also apply to hashtags and captions you ran some time ago. Most captions and hashtags can be time-sensitive, so you can archive the oldest ones. In most cases, they’re relevant and effective for a shorter period only.
Conclusion
Maintaining a clean Instagram account lets you maximize your time on social media. You get to reach the right audience for your brand, as well as get relevant feeds. These tips will make the cleaning process of your Instagram account smooth and help you maintain an up-to-date page.
Read Next: Detailed guide on how to host a virtual networking event
