Pathway to Profit Q&A

Instagram: why are views not converting to follows? (answer from Edwina)

• Edwina Peden & Katie Rose • Season 1 • Episode 3

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0:00 | 12:16

We unpack why reels can surge while follower counts dip and show how to turn fleeting attention into trust. We share a clear profile audit, debunk the milestone myth, explain healthy churn, and lay out steps that convert views into real growth.

• what views signal versus what follows require
• the summer scrolling effect and passive engagement
• wide reach versus deep relevance on reels
• how to audit bio, pins, and first nine posts
• designing series and clear calls to action
• separating vanity metrics from revenue drivers
• platform bot cleanups and healthy follower churn
• staying consistent while building trust pathways

For those of you that are listening to this, we go really deep into you know how to do all of this, how to get create create great content, how to get new followers, all of this stuff we talk about in the Yoga Business Accelerator. There’s a whole module in the Shakti Roadmap based on authentic social media. We actually work in real time in creative labs where we get down and dirty with our content and we work it, we analyze it, we do all of that. So definitely check out that if you’re up for getting really good at your content so you can sell your offers.Chapters


00:00 Understanding Instagram Reels and Followers
06:58 The Impact of Engagement on Growth
09:51 Strategies for Building a Stronger Instagram Presence


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Edwina & Katie x

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to this next question. Why have my reels had great views, but I've lost followers, especially as I'm close to a thousand? Is the algorithm making it harder? So this is from Lovely Claire, and look, in short, no, the algorithm isn't punishing you for being close to a milestone, lovely. Um, but I know it can feel really darn frustrating when you know that this you've got a goal or a milestone and you're trying to reach on social media, and you you feel like it's just plattering, it's going up and down and around. There's lots of things that happen with Instagram. So let me go into a bit more of a longer um answer for you, and I've got to share a few things here and a few a few points. Um, so views don't necessarily equal followers, especially over the summer period. So think about your own relationship with social media for a moment over summer. Um, there's a lot of scrolling going on, so reels and things might be getting more views and might be performing better, but at the same time, um people aren't really in a space to um to hit follow for whatever reason. So I'm just thinking back to you know, like with other clients and myself, where you know, we've had seasons where reels have performed really well on views, um, but they're not hitting the follow button. And then I have had times where reels just don't perform, but yet I get three or four new followers from a reel. So it's really interesting, isn't it? So it's about getting it in front of the right people at the right time. So what's happening with your reels is they're probably being shown to a wider audience, but not necessarily a more focused or deeper audience. So Instagram's probably pushing out content to pe which they do with reels. Reels get pushed out to more people that don't necessarily know you, so there's no relationship there. Um, and they've only watching you for six seconds or whatever it might be. Um, so they might watch, they might like, they might share it, they might even re-watch it, um, but there's no relationship, they don't even know who you are. There's like there's no relationship there. Um, they might be slightly starting to connect, and what you've got to remember it's the same with sales as well, is that um we are it takes like 30 odd touch points before someone will commit to you, okay. So, this is with sales, this is with Instagram followers, this is with um um what's the other one? Sales followers, anyway, you know what I'm oh email, getting people onto your email list. So this can happen. So, what is what could be happening as well is have a look at so if they liked the if they liked your reel, they watched it, they rewatch it, you got good views, you got good engagement, they've then come to your Instagram page to see a little bit more about you and learn a little bit more about you and see if they want to follow you because just remember, we're actually we we don't necessarily just want noise in our feed all the time. We only want to really follow people if they're gonna really offer some value to us and if it's if it's aligned. So have a look at the posts that you've got pinned, have a look at the first nine sort of posts in your feed and your first nine sort of reels, because if somebody goes to your profile from a reel, they're going to go to your reels feed and have a look at that. And if the other reels sort of were not to their liking, and the content, the rest of your content didn't resonate with them, then they're not going to follow you. Okay, so that's sort of the that's the truth of it. Um that's the truth of it, but it is that's that's the truth. Um, so you need to make sure that it's not just one or two, you don't want to be a one-hit wonder, one or two great reels, like all of your content as a whole needs to be juicy. Um and want people to hit that follow button to keep getting more of your magic, okay. And we know that you've got beautiful magic to offer, um, so it's about you know communicating that. They'll also hit so my next point here is they'll also hit the explore feed, um, and so that's what I said before. You know, people haven't got a relationship with you yet, they don't really know who you are, and this was something big for me. It's like people need to really know who I am. So, you know, I had some I've had reels have millions of views and not gotten any followers from them because they've been like funny or um, you know, this or that, and it's got huge engagement because engagement because people just keep resharing and resharing it, but that's not making me money, okay. So just also I want you to also remember here as well that views on your Instagram reels are not going to give you an you know, it's not a direct correlation between your engagement on Instagram and your um income. What happens is what you know you do with people once you get them onto your email list, and that's a whole nother conversation. But um, yeah, so that's um you know that's the other thing. It's that it's that relationship building and and seeing your business as a whole and what you offer the world and if it's right for them. So it may just be that they shed it on to someone else who is in that space at the moment, so it really does um that does matter. Um, so yeah, who is this for and why should I stay? Exactly. So that's that's my next point is who they they really want to see, you know, your Instagram as a whole, and I think I've I've I've mentioned that. So this is not failure, okay. What it is, is it's all learning, and it's really great that you're questioning this, Claire, because this is how we learn and how we grow and how we get better at continually making that content that does get more views. So you're doing something right. So this is a really important point. What you're doing is right, you're not doing anything wrong, and if you are losing followers, I'm gonna talk to that in a minute, but you're doing something right, so keep doing that, keep creating that content that's working well, and it will slowly it will it will build, it will get momentum. Um, so now losing followers isn't necessarily a bad sign, okay. I know it feels crappy, um, but you need to it's it tap, you know, like I know you want to get to a certain thousand point, um, I think so you can run lives and whatnot. So, you know, I understand that um side of it. So what Instagram does on the regular as well, it will actually clear its system of bots. So if you've got um you know bots following your page, which we all have and it happens, or inactive accounts, um then accounts that you know don't look real or whatnot, Instagram will will clear that, okay, will clear that clutter, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that your engagement can actually go up when that happens because there's more of the right people that are in your Instagram world and they'll see your posts more. So that's why Instagram do that, they clear it off, and you can actually do that yourself. You can actually go to Instagram and have a look at the settings, and you can sell all the all your followers, and it will actually you'll see that it suggests followers that are um what's the word? I'm just looking for exactly um so you go to your profile and then you go to your um followers. Where are the followers? There they go, up there, and it will um at the top it's got a categories and it says, you know, deactivated accounts. So I've got you know on my page like 11 deactivated accounts, so I can remove those if I want to, um so which is really interesting that some of that, you know, you can remove those yourself and um and and and whatnot. So you can remove them and have a look around. There is um also yeah, they they're not doing it now. They did do it once before where it would show you um bots. Um yeah, so again, it's it's deactivated accounts that they're doing, they've changed the bot thing, so that's something that you can think about as well. So all those deactivated accounts you can remove them and they will um you know come off your um off your page and help with your engagement. So milestones, you know, are really interesting, and I know you want to hit that thousand K milestone, but Instagram will not, it does definitely does not penalize you. They want to keep you on the app, they want to keep you there, they want your followers to be there, your followers to be into into um um engaging with you and whatnot, so they're not they're definitely not going to penalize you. I just think you need to really think about your making sure, and I've talked about the bio in another answer from um previous on this page. Um, your bio clearly tells people who you are, you've got your pinned posts to help viewers um orient themselves quickly. Um, your content is inviting the right people to stay and follow and not just watch. So, yeah, which I I think that you're doing all of those things and you're getting there, it's gonna happen. So it's just about you know what to do next is just keep that consistency, double check your bio, is it crystal clear? Um, pin two to three posts that help people really understand you, your your reels, your posts. Not just necessarily the ones that get the most views and the most likes, but the ones that actually you know tell people about you and make people feel seen. Um, definitely stop obsessing over the number, focus more on trust, make sure that you've got that sort of call to action in place, like um, you know, follow, follow me and whatnot. Now, um, yeah, just keep going, just keep going. And for those of you that are listening to this, we go really deep into um you know how to do all of this, how to get create create great content, how to get new followers, all of this stuff we talk about in the Yoga Business Accelerator. There's a whole module in the Shakti Roadmap based on authentic social media. We actually work in real time in creative labs where we get down and dirty with our content and we work it, we analyze it, we do all of that. So definitely check out that if you're up for um getting really good at your content so you can sell your offers. All right, well, thank you so much, and um, I hope that you've enjoyed this and it's been helpful for you, Claire, and for everybody else.