Weekly letter

Why Having Fewer Followers on Instagram Can Actually Be Better for Your Massage Business

If you have looked at my own account lately, you will have noticed a HUGE drop in followers. That’s because I did a huge clean up myself recently and I practice what I preach and I am here to help you do the same to help you in your business.

I hope this helps!

If you’ve ever looked at someone else’s Instagram and thought, “Wow, they have 10K followers - I’ll never get there,” let me stop you right there.

Because here’s the truth: follower count means absolutely NOTHING if those followers aren’t engaging with your posts or booking appointments with you!

Yep. Having 200 ENGAGED followers is far more powerful than 10,000 who never interact with your content or even SEE your content.

In fact, those deadweight followers-whether they’re bots, ghost followers, or people who followed you for a giveaway then forgot you even exist - are actually HURTING your account.

Today, I am diving into why having FEWER followers can actually be better for your massage business, why you should remove bot followers, and how to improve your engagement so your Instagram actually helps you grow your business online!

Let’s get into it shall we…

The Instagram Follower Myth: More ≠ Better

It’s easy to get caught up in the ego… that’s what most people out there are fighting with - but you aren’t like them.

Social media (and society) has trained us to believe that bigger is better when it comes to … well… anything and it’s BS.

But let’s flip the perspective. Imagine you’re standing in your treatment room right now. Now imagine 300 clients all crammed inside.

Feels a bit overwhelming and a tad crazy, right?

Now imagine 10,000 people in there.

Absolute chaos. No one is getting a massage. No one can get your attention and there is no way on earth you can massage that many people at the same time. It’s just a crowd with no real connection to YOU!

This is what happens when you have a big following that isn’t engaged. You’re just collecting numbers on a page, not clients who actually want to pay you. You aren’t building relationships with people you WANT in your business… it’s a hamster wheel so many of us get stuck on and focused on when we shouldn’t. Numbers on a page don’t book with you.. real connection clients DO.

The Silent Business Killers

Let’s talk about who’s actually following you. Because chances are, not all of them are even real or engaged (those are the ones lurking around watching and not liking or commenting on anything).

There are two major types of bad followers dragging down your vibe on the Gram:

1. Bot Followers (Fake accounts, spammy profiles, or those weird "DM for promo" accounts… eew).

These are accounts that never engage with your content because… well, they’re not real. They were either:

❌ Purchased from a shady “Get 1,000 Followers Overnight” service (never do this - I made this mistake at one time and I think I am still paying for it - literally).

❌ Random accounts that followed you because of an engagement group.

❌ Spammy pages that exist just to boost numbers but serve no real purpose.

2. Ghost Followers (Real accounts that never interact with your posts)

These are people who followed you at some point but never like, comment, share, or engage in anything you share. Maybe they:

📌 Followed you from a giveaway and forgot about you.

📌Are inactive or abandoned accounts - if they haven’t posted since 2020 they are likely gone.

📌 Followed you for a random reason but don’t actually care about your content or have an intention of ever booking in with you.

Why These Followers Are Hurting Your Account

Having tons of followers who don’t engage is a problem because Instagram prioritizes engagement first.

Here’s how the algorithm works:

👉 You post something.
👉 Instagram shows it to a small percentage of your followers first.
👉 If those people engage (like, comment, share, save), Instagram pushes it out to MORE people.
👉 If they don’t engage, Instagram assumes it’s shit and stops showing it to more people.

So if you have tons of fake or inactive followers who never engage, your content dies before it even has a chance to reach real potential clients.

Translation: Your own follower count is sabotaging you. See now why it’s not good to have a bunch of dead followers?

But it’s ok because we are going to fix it…

How to Check Who’s Engaging (And Who’s Dragging You Down)

Before you go on an unfollowing shopping spree Supermarket Sweep style, let’s get strategic about cleaning up your audience.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Check Your Engagement Metrics
Head to Instagram Insights and look at:

✔ Engagement Rate: How many people interact with your posts?
✔ Top Posts: Which ones got the most engagement?
✔ Reach vs. Followers: Are your posts actually reaching your audience?

If your engagement rate is low (under 3%), you’ve got a lot of deadweight followers.

2. Identify Inactive Followers
Use apps like:

📌 Instagram’s “Following” List (See who follows you but never interacts).
📌 Cleaner for IG or Follower Analyzer (To check ghost followers).

These tools help you see who never engages-so you can decide whether to remove them.

The problem with apps is most of them (if any) don’t remove followers so you have to go into each profile and become an Investigator anyway - so bite the bullet and just do it. Even if you do it every 6 months to 12 months consider it like a Spring clean of your account to keep it healthy.

Why Removing Followers is the Ultimate Ego Deflector (and Why You Should Do It Anyway)

Let’s be real: removing followers feels scary.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that higher follower counts = success. So the idea of deleting followers can feel like you’re going backward right?

But here’s the truth:

💡 More engaged followers = higher reach and better visibility (and people likely to book with you)
💡 Instagram rewards engagement, not just numbers.
💡 It takes confidence to remove what isn’t serving you.

Being strong enough to remove fake or inactive followers is a power move.

It means you’re prioritizing quality over quantity-and that’s what actually grows your business.

How to Remove Bot Followers & Ghost Followers the Right Way
If you’re ready to clean up your account, here’s how to do it:

1. Remove Followers Manually
Go to your follower list and start removing inactive accounts one by one. (They won’t get a notification.). Yes it takes time - nobody said this was easy, but it will help - even thought it might not feel like it at first.

2. Use Instagram’s Restrict Feature
Not sure if you should remove someone? Restrict them. This limits their interaction without fully blocking them.

3. Stop Attracting Bots in the First Place

🚫 Don’t use “follow-for-follow” groups.
🚫 Don’t buy followers (EVER).
🚫 Don’t use spammy engagement pods.

What to Do Instead: Build an Engaged, Loyal Following That Actually Books You

Instead of chasing vanity metrics, focus on real engagement and real relationship building as that’s what leads to people booking!

1. Create Content That Sparks Conversations

📌 Post client transformations & stories.
📌 Ask questions in your captions.
📌 Use Instagram Stories to engage with polls & Q&As.
📌 Watch what’s working and what isn’t

2. Show Up Consistently
The algorithm loves consistency. If you’re only posting once every 6 months, Instagram assumes you packed up and left and assumes you’re irrelevant… even though you always come back from your instagram haitis. It doesn’t know that.

3. Build Relationships in DMs
Engage with your ideal clients. Comment on their posts, reply to their stories, start conversations. TALK TO YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENTS!

Final Thoughts: Fewer Followers, More Impact

At the end of the day, Instagram is a tool - not a popularity contest. It’s mean to be SOCIAL.

✅ Would you rather have 10,000 silent followers who never book?
✅ Or 500 engaged followers who actually pay you?

The choice is obvious.

So be bold. Remove the deadweight. Stop chasing numbers. Focus on engagement and real relationship building.

And watch your real audience (the ones who actually care about your work) start to grow.

Oh and, you might see a dip in views and engagement after you do a clean up, but your account will pick up again - I tested this myself and can confirm!