Walking Away from 45k Followers: Lessons I’ve Learned from Starting Over on Instagram

PodcastMarketing

Jan 29

Episode 817: Show Notes

Have you ever thought about starting your Instagram page from scratch? Maybe you want to separate your brand and your personal life, or you’re interested in seeing if taking a more niche approach can help you reach your core audience. Either way, it’s difficult to know what the results will be without actually taking action and running an experiment. Luckily, I went ahead and did that myself, so that you won’t have to!

In today’s episode, I’ll walk you through my decision to start a new Instagram page and why I was willing to walk away from 45,000 followers. Tuning in you’ll hear about my Instagram journey, the follower count I had on different pages, and what my findings were from this wild experiment. So, if you’re interested in learning more about what it’s like starting over on Instagram in the 2020s, then this episode is the peek behind the curtain that you’ve been looking for!

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Does It Make Sense To Start Over?

Does it make sense to start over if it means walking away from a page with 45,000 followers? To answer this question, we need to travel back in time, all the way back to the start of my Instagram story.

I started my Instagram journey back in 2013, right when Instagram kicked off. Initially, it was my personal space where I shared all those over-filtered pics of my life and meals. As I started my design business, it evolved into a showcase for my work. But, honestly, it took over. It felt like the business and I were one and the same, and I lost touch with who I was. To reclaim some humanity, I made a separate personal page.

Despite being on social media for years, it wasn't always of financial benefit to our company. It was more about staying on people's radar. In 2019, I got this hunch that it was time to start a new page for Boss Project. So, we sprang into action on that project and approached it as an experiment (it literally says ‘experiment’ in the bio). We decided not to move forward with that plan, so it was never shared or rolled out, but the page still exists. I was left wondering about what might have been. And I kept having that question pop up in the back of my head “Does it make sense to start over?”

This got me thinking—how can you know if it's worth starting over or reviving something? It's tricky with social media's unpredictability, but I tried my best to set up a situation to answer that for fellow small business owners facing the same dilemma (and myself!)

How I Decided To Start Over on Instagram

Throughout the fall of 2023, I tried to show up more intentionally on Instagram. Despite my opinion that Instagram was on its way out, Meta's recent changes convinced me that they could not only save the platform but renew its significance for small businesses.

Even with all the effort I was putting in at the time, growth still felt painfully slow. And the question of whether I should start from scratch kept nagging at me. A couple of days before the holiday break, I felt an unusual surge of inspiration instead of the expected exhaustion. Embracing that motivation, I allowed myself to work during the break. The freedom to experiment without fear of failure or the need for meticulous planning was so liberating, and resulted in an unexpected rush of creativity!

Fast forward to December 29th, I made a bold call — to start over on Instagram. I shared this plan with my spouse, who thought I was nuts, but I insisted that he needed to trust the process. I didn't want to just talk about the possibility of starting over; I wanted to demonstrate it to all of you!

Creating The Experiment

So, on December 29, 2023, I hit the reset button and started a new page. At the same time, I committed to posting intentionally on both my revamped personal account @abagailsays (now a mix of me, business, and life) and my fresh new page, @abagailpumphrey. That way I could run an experiment and see how each performed compared to one another.

Now, for my brand new page, I decided that I wanted to take a more considered approach. I wanted it to stick to one specific topic. My theory was that this type of specialized content would result in quicker growth since I would be training the algorithm to know and understand the type of content I serve, which would help it reach the right audience.

Going into this, I knew that the experiment would not be entirely fair. Not only did my personal page already have 4000 followers, but the content was also being cross-posted to Facebook automatically. My heart was also rooting for my personal page, the one with years of my life documented.

I absolutely could have taken the Boss Project page – which had 45,000 followers – and put my time and attention there. I could have leveraged that following and simply changed it to my name. But that’s not what I did. I chose to focus on the personal account, @abagailsays, and the brand new page, @abagailpumphrey.

The Results

Interestingly, the @abagailsays account didn't gain as many new followers as @abagailpumphrey, even though it had way more views than the new account. My old account got 248 new followers, while the newer one gained 308, just a 60-follower difference.

I actively promoted @abagailsays to my email list and the Boss Project page, but I kept @abagailpumphrey followers in the dark about these other pages. I'd guess that more than half of the new @abagailpumphrey followers were already following me elsewhere.

Now, you might be thinking, "That doesn't sound like huge growth," and I agree. I was hoping for a big viral moment, gaining 10k or 30k followers at once. However, I don't necessarily think going viral or getting a bunch of followers all at once is the thing that's going to help you get traction. If anything, I proved to myself that you don't need a ton of followers (or new additions) to re-engage people and really get them paying attention again.

What’s Next?

So where do we go from here? My plan is to wrap up January on a strong note, gathering all the data I can. After that, I'll reveal to the @abagailpumphrey followers that the account has been part of an experiment. Some followers might be lost in the transition, but that’s okay, not everyone needs to move over. The focus will shift to @abagailsays for the long term. Consolidating content in one place aligns with my posting strategy, and I'm excited about this decision.

This experiment on Instagram has shown me that you can change your narrative and attract the right followers. It's possible to re-engage an existing audience and make sales both to newcomers and those who haven't bought in years.

While I may need to provide another update in 30 or 60 days, my goal for the year is to hit 100,000 followers on Instagram. I still believe followers aren't mandatory for a sustainable business, but I'm enjoying the process and having fun this year. You can make any choice work for you; there's no definitive answer. After analyzing data for days, I've decided to trust my intuition!

I want to note that this may not hold true for other platforms, and I'm experimenting with strategies on different social media platforms to understand what works best. In essence, whether you start over, reinvigorate a small page, or pivot an existing account, there's no wrong answer! The key is showing up for something you care about.

Quote This

You don't necessarily need a ton of followers or a ton of new followers to re-engage people and really get them paying attention again.

Highlights

Does It Make Sense To Start Over? [0:03:04]
How I Decided To Start Over on Instagram [0:19:40]
Creating The Experiment [0:23:36]
The Results [0:31:02]
What’s Next? [0:37:34]

OUR HOST:

Abagail Pumphrey

Abagail on Instagram

Boss Project on Instagram | Facebook

Abagail Pumphrey, the Co-Founder & CEO of Boss Project, has been a driving force in the creative entrepreneur industry since 2015. With a passion for empowering service-based business owners around the globe, she became internet-famous after the launch of the transformative training, "Trello for Business." This innovative system revitalized the operations of over 10,000 business owners, making a significant impact on the online business landscape.

Under Abagail's leadership, Boss Project has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Marie Claire, INC, and HuffPost. Her twice-weekly podcast, The Strategy Hour, is a staple in the business community, continuously topping Business and Management Charts on Apple with millions of listeners from around the world.

Abagail's superpower lies in her ability to break down complex concepts into easy-to-implement, duplicatable systems. As an expert in online sales and a data-driven strategist, she has turned a layoff into a 7-figure work-from-home business. Abagail's mission to help more female founders become financially free, without letting their businesses take over their lives, continues to inspire and guide entrepreneurs on their path to success.