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3 Outdated Instagram Tips: Revealing Your Age by Still Employing Them!

Instagram’s algorithm and interface are constantly evolving, leading to the occasional phasing out of once-popular techniques. However, despite their decline in effectiveness, some outdated practices continue to be utilised by many. In this article, we have selected 3 common outdated approaches. If you are still employing them, it’s time to reconsider and abandon these methods.

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There was a time when hashtag strategies were widely discussed, with the most well-known being the “sandwich-style hashtags” method, which involved categorising hashtags into three tiers.

The top tier consisted of broad hashtags targeting a large audience and with a high volume of posts. The middle tier included less commonly used hashtags but still with a reasonable number of posts. Finally, the bottom tier encompassed hashtags directly related to one’s business or company but with fewer posts.

Furthermore, users would attempt to maximise exposure by utilising the maximum allowance of 30 hashtags.

Too many hashtags may mask the original message.

However, the hashtag interface has undergone updates, and now only displays popular hashtags, excluding the most recent ones. Based on our own post data, less than 0.5% of the exposure originates from hashtags.

While you can still use hashtags, it is important not to assume that they will generate significant free exposure for your posts.

Outdated Technique 2: The "Follow Unfollow" Strategy

In the earlier years, one of the widely popular methods to increase followers for free was the “Follow Unfollow” strategy we are discussing here. The idea behind it was to manually follow 50 users daily (and then unfollow them later), which would trigger notifications on their accounts, thereby increasing exposure and the chances of others following you back.

Putting aside the fact that this approach can raise suspicion from Instagram, potentially resulting in an account ban for being flagged as a non-genuine user, even if the people you follow do follow you back, the conversion rate is typically low. Moreover, those who follow you may not necessarily be your target audience. Therefore, focusing on quality content and utilising advertising to grow your follower base proves to be more practical.

Outdated Technique 3: The Grid Layout

This method was once popular for beautifying personal Instagram profiles.

Considering the user experience, when seeing a grid layout on the timeline, regular users may not necessarily understand the overall pattern of the entire image, which diminishes the overall interactivity of the account.

Furthermore, the importance of consistency in personal profiles is debatable, so this posting method has gradually lost its appeal. Unless there are exceptionally creative applications, it’s best to avoid using it.

Forming a complete image with 9 post grids on IG profiles is getting less popular.

In conclusion, the above three techniques were once popular on Instagram. However, based on our observations, there are still many people who continue to use these outdated strategies. Do you have anything in mind that is no longer effective but still widely used? Leave a comment and let us know!

This article is originally published by MORE Digital:

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MORE Digital Limited

MORE Digital is a Hong Kong-based Digital Marketing Agency. Our clients include real estate developers, media organisations, utilities, record companies, and more. In addition to the examples mentioned above, we have also helped various clients establish and grow their Instagram accounts to achieve various goals. If you encounter any challenges in your marketing efforts, feel free to reach out to us via our website or on Instagram (@moredigitalhk) for a direct conversation.

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