“It’s not you, it’s me,” might work for a breakup. But in the world of social media, an “unfollow” is almost always a “you” problem. Whether you work in social media marketing like I do or self-manage your brand’s social accounts… you know that a slew of “unfollows” hurts (at least a little).
My advice to clients: Don’t worry about it. Now, that doesn’t mean you should ignore an unfollow. On the contrary, losing followers on your social media channels provides you with a learning opportunity. You may ask yourself…
- Why did I lose that follower?
- What would I change about the content that may have turned off this follower?
- Was that even a follower I wanted to have?
- How can I maintain and grow my audience on social?
If these are your questions… good news… you aren’t the only one asking. Research groups Fractl and Buzzstream recently surveyed 900 social media users, asking them about their “unfollow behavior” in order to figure out what brands are doing wrong and how they can correct their behavior. The findings were published on AdWeek’s SocialTimes this past week.
I’ve included the full Unfollow Algorithm infographic at the bottom of this post. But first, check out a brief summary of the key findings involving unfollows on social media…
#1 – How Often Do People Unfollow Brands?
Researchers discovered that it depends on the platform:
- 12 percent of Twitter users unfollowed a brand in the last few days.
- 25 percent of Facebook users unfollowed a brand in the last month.
- But a whopping 49 percent of LinkedIn users have never unfollowed a brand.
#2 – Why Do Social Media Users Unfollow Brands?
- One out of five users unfollow because the content is repetitive and boring.
- Nearly the same number of respondents said they unfollow a brand that posts too often (defined as 6x per day on Facebook).
#3 – What About Email Unsubscribes? What Causes Those?
- Not surprisingly, nearly the same number of users (one out of four) said repetitive and boring content will cause them to unsubscribe.
- Even more users (one in three) will unsubscribe if you email too frequently.
#4 – So What Do Social Media Users Like to See?
The surveyors asked this question, and found that the following activities on a brand’s social channel is what matters most (in order of importance):
- New content in posts.
- Content that is relevant to the brand.
- Engagement with followers.
- Consistent frequency of posts.
“New Content?” Okay. What Type of “New Content?”
Images were far and away the most preferred type of content (22 percent of users said so), followed by videos (15 percent) and customer reviews (15 percent).
More Statistics About Users Unfollowing Brands…
For more statistics about unfollows on social media, see the full infographic below.
We’d like to know: What type of content does your brand post most often? Tell us in the comments section below.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: New Study: Why People Unfollow Brands on Social [Infographic]
More Digital & Social articles from Business 2 Community:
- How to Learn Social Media Marketing: 15 Blogs for Beginners
- 50 Percent Of Marketers Don’t Have A Content Strategy – Digital Marketing Research
- Why Aren’t You Already Cross-Posting On LinkedIn?
- 9 Social Media Rules That Are Meant To Be Broken
- Marketing: How To Measure Social Media: A Step-By-Step Guide
