Have you noticed it’s getting harder to gain followers on Instagram?
I have.
The Broke Agent account has been stuck around 541,000 followers for the last year, and that’s despite some of the best engagement I’ve ever had.
There are five reasons this is happening.
1. Following someone isn’t as necessary anymore
We’re in the interest media era.
If you watch someone’s Reel, like it, share it, or linger on it long enough, Instagram will keep showing you their content. You don’t have to follow them to see them again. So getting someone to actually hit follow takes more than it used to.
2. Your profile doesn’t give people a reason to follow
Someone watches a great Reel, clicks your profile, and sees: “Helping people buy and sell real estate in Orange County.” Why would they follow that?
Your profile should immediately tell someone what they’re going to GET from following you.
- Local news.
- New restaurants.
- Development updates.
- Stories about your city.
- Real estate, of course.
But whatever your lane is, make the value more obvious than the assumption that following you just means real estate content from another real estate agent.
3. You’re not actually asking people to follow you
This is the stupidly simple change I recently made. At the end of my captions, I started adding: “Follow @thebrokeagent for more real estate humor.” And I started gaining followers again.
Don’t just say “follow for more.” Tell them what the “more” is.
4. Your content doesn’t give people a reason to come back
Create recurring series.
- “Every neighborhood in Scottsdale explained.”
- “What $750K gets you in different parts of Tampa.”
- “Restaurants actually worth trying in Austin: Part 1.”
If someone discovers Part 4, they should want to go back and find Parts 1 through 3, then follow so they don’t miss Part 5.
5. Your content could have come from anybody
This might be the biggest one. Generic AI scripts, generic market updates, slop carousels, “5 tips for first-time homebuyers.” Information is everywhere now. Your perspective isn’t.
Recently, I posted a Broke Agent opinion video that got around 250K views and a mortgage rate meme that got 1.1 million.
The opinion video gained more followers, even though the meme out-viewed it by nearly a million. The meme could have come from anybody. The opinion could only come from me.
Here’s that opinion reel:
View this post on Instagram
And the mortgage rate meme:
View this post on Instagram
That’s the distinction I think more people need to understand. Views are about the content. Follows are about the person behind it.
So if you’re getting views but not gaining followers, stop asking only “How do I get more reach?” and start asking “Why would someone want to hear from me again?” That’s followable content.
Want to go deeper on what’s actually working right now? Start a 7-day free trial of BAMx and get in the room with the agents building the content that everyone else ends up copying.
