Visibility and exposure on social media are like a lifeline for many businesses, as audience engagement drives sales, brand awareness and marketing reach. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are prime places for companies to gain potential customers through profile follows and post likes.
Unfortunately, businesses don’t always have control of who can view their content, especially if they experience a shadowban on Instagram. In this article, we discuss how a company can get shadowbanned and what you can do to avoid that possibility for your business.
Shadowbanning: A Social Media Controversy
So, what is a shadowban? It’s when Instagram blocks users from viewing content produced by an account that uses banned hashtags, or the exact same hashtags, repeatedly. Shadowbanning limits what users can view from Instagram feeds, as well as in searches.
Shadowbanning allegedly blocks an account’s content from visibility to the wider Instagram community, while still allowing existing followers to view the content. Violating Instagram’s policies and standards, both stated and unstated, can significantly reduce engagement.
Shadowbanning refers to covert methods social media platforms use to screen and hide inappropriate or low-quality content. It may block or limit the visibility of your content to other users.
The shadowban is a controversial subject from its effects to its very existence. Instagram claims that the shadowban does not, in fact, exist. However, many users and media outlets tell a different story.
In one of their recent updates in December 2022, Instagram attempted to explain shadowbanning and why certain users may not see your content.
“Shadowbanning” refers to covert methods social media platforms use to screen and hide inappropriate or low-quality content. It may block or limit the visibility of your content to other users.
What Are Social Media Shadowban Indicators?
A steep drop in engagement metrics, such as likes and follows, is the telltale signal an Instagram account has been shadowbanned. To be sure that Instagram’s algorithms are to blame, use Triberr’s Shadowban Tester – available here.
How Does A Shadowban Affect Social Media Users?
Businesses rely on social media engagement to reach out to consumers; getting shadowbanned can quickly cut into a business’ bottom line. According to Hootsuite, more than 2 billion people use Instagram each month. That means losing potentially thousands of content views, even temporarily, is a massive risk.
Businesses produce social media content, such as Instagram stories to be seen. Shadowbanning makes it difficult for stories and traditional posts to be viewed and for profiles to be followed, posing a tremendous negative impact for companies that mismanage hashtags and content.
How Can Businesses Avoid A Social Media Shadowban?
Shadowbanning is something your business needs to avoid at all costs. To ensure your company is not at risk:
- Assemble an extensive list of hashtags you can regularly rotate between (Kicksta is an excellent source tool)
- Vary your hashtags regularly but not in a predictable pattern
- Only use hashtags relevant to the content topic of your post
- Read and always follow Instagram’s guidelines
- Do not use bots to post or comment on content
- Do not use banned hashtags or post inappropriate content
For a list of banned hashtags, see Kicksta’s post here! Make sure to look through those on a regular basis, as they can change over time.
Social media content creators and the businesses they serve face significant risks since the introduction of shadowbanning.
How Can A Social Media Shadowban Be Removed?
If you fear your company has been hit with a shadowban on Instagram, the best ingredient is time. Supposedly, good behavior should eventually reverse the ban. Engagement should slowly but surely increase until the ban is completely lifted. Since Instagram is not open about shadowbanning, it’s hard to know what the actual probationary period is on a banned account. The best practice is not to engage in behavior that can result in a shadowban in the first place.
How Can Your Business Recover From A Social Media Shadowban?
Whether you’ve been shadowbanned or experienced a dip in engagement for other reasons, you may be wondering how to build up your audience and raise engagement. You can do this by:
- Creating new Instagram stories regularly
- Using the maximum number of hashtags – 30 per post
- Posting content that is relevant and captivating for your audience
- Using high-quality images and video content
Think of your Instagram feed like a shop front or gallery you want visitors to flood into. Curate content with care and the people will show up! Some of them will even make a purchase after looking around. Here are some other suggestions from Hootsuite.
Recovering from a social media shadowban can be costly in terms of time and strategy. Act preventatively to keep your business visible on social media platforms like Instagram.
Recovering from a social media shadowban can be costly in terms of time and strategy. Act preventatively to keep your business visible on social media platforms like Instagram.
What If The Shadowban Is A Social Media Myth?
There’s sufficient evidence to suggest that Instagram’s algorithms limit visibility on accounts that do not conform to the aforementioned best practices and use the same hashtags repeatedly or post inappropriate content. The best approach when dealing with a shadowban is prevention; caution is the best policy.
If you need help or advice on drafting or curating quality, relevant Instagram content, contact Three Girls Media today! We can help!
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