Have you unintentionally ghosted your Instagram audience? When your followers are used to you consistently posting and then all of a sudden you stop, it can throw them for a loop. However, life happens. Emergencies take priority, and breaks are needed. If your break has turned into weeks or months without posting or giving an update on what’s happening, it may be time for a re-engagement strategy. Making a comeback after leaving your audience hanging for a while can leave them wondering who you are and why they followed you. The good news is it’s never too late to get back on track. Here’s how to bounce back strong after an Instagram break.
Don’t overexplain your absence
You don’t need to apologize to your audience or go into great detail about why you haven’t been posting. You don’t owe them anything, but if you want to remain transparent, sharing a few details surrounding your absence is fine. If you ghosted your Instagram account because you needed to rest and recharge, just tell them that. There will probably be many more people who can relate, and you might just inspire them to take a break.
Start posting
The very first thing you want to do is start posting. Since you’ve taken a break, it will probably take some time for you to start showing back up in your audience’s feed, thanks to the Instagram algorithm. You want to start posting 2-3 times per day to increase your visibility, and then you can decrease it to once or twice per day. Also, be sure to post Stories since doing so strengthens the connection you have with your audience.
Remind people why they followed you
Since you will be consistently posting, make one of your first posts a nice photo of yourself with a caption reminding your audience why they followed you in the first place. Reintroduce yourself by reminding everyone of what you do and why you do it. Talk about any upcoming things you’ve planned, give a sneak peek at what you’re working on, and what they can expect to see from you.
Engage with your community
Instagram is an engagement-driven platform. Be sure to caption your posts with questions so that your audience has a reason to comment. Do polls and questions in your Stories. Remember to take some time each day to reply to comments and answer any DMs you might have. Also, reach out to other creators in your niche and engage with their content. It’s always a good idea to follow new people and engage with their content as well, which increases your chances of showing up on their follower’s Explore pages.
Final thoughts
These tips are for creators who have had an emergency or desperately needed to take a break. If you don’t get into the habit of ghosting your followers, you won’t need to use these tips again. Once you build trust back and reconnect with your audience, don’t fall off again. Keep up the momentum!
