Do Instagram Followers Still Matter When Most Views Come From Non-Followers?

Instagram attracts so much energy and focus when measuring “success”, but have you ever wondered how much of your hard work your followers actually see? For many years, follower count has been one of the strongest indicators of “success” and “value” on Instagram. Brands continue to compete to grow their audience, comparing their follower count to other, similar brands, believing that more followers meant more reach, engagement and most importantly, sales. Unfortunately, that’s not the Instagram we have today. The algorithm prioritises discovery, meaning a large portion of views on many of your posts now come from people who do not follow your account at all. This has made us question: Is there still any value in having followers?

The Research

Let’s not forget that Instagram (owned by Meta) is a B2B platform. Its primary role is to keep its shareholders happy, so that means making lots of money. However, we tend to forget this and see it, and others like it, as a consumer-focused platform. Back in 2012, Facebook’s organic reach for business/brand pages was around 16%. Today, we’d be lucky if we saw it move above 1.5% and it’s still dropping. We’ve all seen Instagram change over the years, with the removal of their chronological feed and, recently, a heavy reduction in reach (similar to Facebook’s decline). Instagram’s reach has dropped to around 3.5% and while we thought other platforms like TikTok were generous, even their reach is dropping (currently sitting around the 10% mark).

That means if you have 10,000 followers, on average, just 350 of them may see any given post without any paid promotion. This means that at the end of the day, your content is now largely forced to rely on “discovery’ via the algorithm, rather than purely your follower list.

Why Followers Still Provide Value

Let’s be clear, I’m not saying that your followers are a wasted metric. It’s more like we need to adjust our definition of “value” when considering your followers.

Firstly, it’s still an important metric that a lot of people look at when considering whether they can trust your business. A new visitor to your Instagram profile will often make a quick judgment call based on the number of followers you have and the type of content that you’re creating. Having a credible follower count provides social proof.

Second, your followers are your community. While only a small portion may see your posts at any one time, they still allow you to host deeper interactions such as Stories, Lives, community Q&A, product launches, and behind-the-scenes content that all help to enhance brand loyalty. When they engage with your content, the algorithm will take note, which in turn can boost visibility to non-followers.

Lastly, an actively engaged follower group can actually help increase your content's reach to non-followers. When you post something and a large portion of your followers who get to see the post engage (save, share and/or comment), the algorithm is more likely to show your content to non-followers via Explore or Reels.

This means that the value of your followers now lies more in engagement potential than sheer numbers.

What Followers No Longer Guarantee

You can’t rely on your follower list alone anymore to deliver visibility. While many brands consider their follower count a vanity metric, many of those followers could be inactive accounts, bots, or people who rarely engage with your content. This means that your follower list could offer little strategic value. In fact, it could harm your engagement rate, which in turn could reduce the algorithmic momentum of your posts.

Have you ever noticed how many times you see content from people you don’t follow, but when you decide to follow them, all of a sudden, their content stops coming up on your feed? That’s the algorithm shifting. The key mechanics now favour relevance and interest over simply “someone you follow”. In other words, the emphasis is on content being relevant to someone’s feed and showing your similar content, but on a broader scale. As a brand, it’s important to remember that with such a small portion of your followers seeing your content, it is clear that the follower list no longer underwrites reach in the way it used to.

How to Think About Followers in Today’s Strategy

Given the research and the changes in these platforms, your strategy must evolve as well. Think of your followers not as the end of your strategy, but as one core component of a broader ecosystem. They provide social proof and a community, but they do not guarantee visibility.

Instead, it’s important to start considering the quality of those who see your posts. Asking questions such as: who is actually seeing your content? Are they engaged with your content? Do they convert? Are they likely to become brand advocates?

Metrics such as engagement rate, shares, saves and website clicks are more meaningful than simple follower counts. As we all become brand storytellers, the goal should be to attract the right followers. People who align with your values and appreciate the narrative you champion. A smaller audience of high relevance will always perform better than a large list of low-engaged followers.

Practical Implications for Your Social Strategy

Here are the strategic implications for your business and brand work.

Continue to grow your follower base, but with purpose. Use your Instagram profile to create credibility and let it act as a signal for prospects. Recognise that the real growth engine is discovery and optimise your content to attract non-followers by leveraging formats that the platform favours: Reels, carousels with strong first slides, collaborations and share-worthy content.

Make sure each post has the dual objective of: (a) reaching non–followers and (b) compelling them to become followers or to convert. Use your follower list as a stepping stone, not the landing zone.

Audit your followers periodically. Are they engaged? Are they relevant? Are they growing in alignment with your brand persona and product ecosystem? If you find large numbers of inactive or mismatched followers, prune and refine because 3.5% of a thousand truly engaged followers may yield more results than 3.5% of ten thousand passive ones.

Finally, invest in owned channels. Research tells us that when reach is low and when platform dynamics are unpredictable, owning your audience via email lists, website communities, or apps can become more strategic. Think of Instagram as one tool in your ecosystem, not the only one.