Follower trends

Here we’ve presented the follower trends as a graph (you’ll be able to download a template in the next step). This helps to create an at-a-glance view of the number of followers you have this month, last month and this month last year.

To download a detailed description of this visual, scroll to the “Downloads” section at the bottom of this step.

It also allows you to account for seasonal trends and steady growth (or decline) in a simple way.

If your follower numbers are declining, you need to work out the trigger. Below are a number of common causes and how you could respond to them:

Your audience is becoming bored with what you are posting:

Look for poor performing content and explore how you can give it a refresh.

A change somewhere which your audience doesn’t approve of:

This is why closely monitored testing of one variable at a time is advisable. If your current test isn’t working, drop it and move on.

A conscious strategic decision to focus on a niche more engaged audience:

Hoorah! It may be working, check your engagement rates to confirm either way. If your engagement isn’t up – try something new to entertain your niche target audience.

The reputation of your brand or organisation damaging your performance:

Have you had a product recall or a PR disaster in the last month? If so, start building a content strategy to rebuild trust. Be transparent about the problem, add some humour if appropriate, and be clear about how you are fixing it.