Optimising Your Instagram Audience for Better Brand Collaborations
I used to think that more followers meant more opportunities. Surely, brands would be falling over themselves to work with me if my numbers were high enough. Turns out, that’s not how it works.
After cutting 40,000 followers from my account (over 100k) - yes, forty thousand - I watched something interesting happen. My base of followers from the Netherlands (where I am based) grew from 11% to 20%, and my audience share in key English-speaking countries (my other key focus markets) also significantly increased.
The result? A profile that is far more commercially attractive with the majority of followers seemingly aligning with my commercial objectives. It was proof that strategic follower removal can be a game changer.
I’ve talked before about why it’s important to remove deactivated and ghost followers (read more here). But this time, I want to dig deeper into how curating your audience can boost brand opportunities.
If you’ve been struggling to land paid collaborations despite a decent following, it might be time to take a closer look at your audience.
Why a Targeted Audience Matters for Brand Deals
Brands don’t just care about how many followers you have. If that were the case, anyone could buy a few thousand bots and call it a day. What brands really analyse are Engagement Rate, Audience Demographics, and Reach.
If your audience is mainly from countries that aren’t commercially relevant to your niche or sponsors, it weakens your value. For example, if you’re a UK-based influencer working with British fashion brands, but half your audience is from regions where the brand doesn’t ship, it’s unlikely they’ll want to work with you.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean I don’t welcome genuine followers from all over the world. Of course, I do. But when my statistics were so skewed, it became obvious that many of the followers from certain regions were not genuine, and the result of a few viral reels. And yes,
I’m aware that I may have accidentally deleted a few who were genuinely interested in my content - that’s collateral damage, unfortunately. Hopefully, they’ll find their way back.
A curated audience means better engagement, more relevance, and greater trust. It’s not about chasing numbers. It’s about making sure the right people are following you.
Understanding Instagram’s Metrics and Algorithm Priorities
Instagram’s algorithm is a mysterious beast, but one thing is clear - it rewards engagement. The more engaged your audience, the more Instagram pushes your content to people who actually care.
Here’s what really matters:
Engagement Rate – A highly engaged audience is far more valuable than a large but passive one. Brands check this metric closely. If your engagement is low, they’ll assume your followers aren’t real or interested.
Audience Insights – Instagram’s analytics show where your followers are from and whether they align with your commercial goals. If your follower base is out of sync with your content, brands will notice.
Algorithm Impact – Instagram prioritises content that sparks engagement. If you remove unengaged followers, your content has a better chance of reaching people who are actually interested.
Identifying Irrelevant or Low-Quality Followers
So how do you know if your followers are helping or hurting your profile? Start by digging into Instagram Insights.
Some red flags to look out for:
A large percentage of followers from countries that don’t align with your brand collaborations.
Accounts that never engage with your content. If someone follows you but never likes, comments, or saves your posts, they’re just taking up space.
Suspicious or spam-like profiles. These often have generic usernames, no profile pictures, follow A LOT of other accounts and zero posts.
Having followers that don’t add value isn’t just a numbers game - it’s affecting your reach, engagement, and brand appeal.
The Process of Refining Your Follower List
Now for the fun part. Well, it’s not exactly fun, but it’s necessary.
Manually remove followers – Yes, it’s tedious, but manually removing followers you know aren’t engaging is the safest and most effective way. Instagram won’t penalise you for it if you do it the right way, and you have full control.
Pace yourself – Instagram doesn’t like sudden, drastic changes. If you remove too many followers in one go, you risk getting flagged for suspicious activity. I found that removing a few hundred each day kept things under the radar (after being locked out of my account a few times).
Avoid third-party tools – Many promise to clean up your audience, but most are unreliable. Some violate Instagram’s policies, and the last thing you want is to get flagged for suspicious activity.
Regularly monitor your audience – Keeping your follower base relevant isn’t a one-time job. I check all my new followers and my insights regularly to make sure my audience is still aligned with my goals.
How I Actually Removed Instagram Followers
So, how did I go about removing 40,000 followers without losing my mind? I wish I could say it was a sophisticated, high-tech process, but honestly, it involved a lot of manual searching, scrolling, and a few questionable Google searches.
I started by identifying patterns in the markets I wanted to reduce. Certain names and keywords kept popping up, so I searched for those within my follower list. Local take away restaurants on the other side of the world? Probably not here for my interior design content. Car rental services in countries I’ve never set foot in? Also unlikely to be genuinely engaged. Beauty salons with no posts but thousands of follows? Suspicious.
Public profiles made things easier. You can tell pretty quickly whether an account is a real person interested in your content or just another random addition to your follower count.
Another giveaway? Language barriers. If someone only communicates in a language I don’t speak, and we’ve never interacted, chances are they aren’t deeply invested in my latest post about colour palettes.
I also did some research (which, let’s be honest, mostly involved Googling) to find demographic filters that would help me identify followers who didn’t fit my audience. This wasn’t about excluding people based on where they’re from - it was about spotting clusters of inactive or irrelevant accounts that were distorting my reach and engagement.
The goal wasn’t to create a closed-off community but to make sure my content was being shown to those who genuinely cared about it.
The Impact of a Curated Audience
After cutting 40,000 followers, I definitely saw improvements. My reach in key markets increased, my engagement levels improved, and my profile started attracting more of the right kind of attention.
Better reach within target markets – My content is now being shown to people who are genuinely interested.
Higher engagement – A smaller but engaged audience is far more valuable than a large but passive one.
More relevant brand interest – While I wouldn’t say my inbox is suddenly flooded with collaboration offers, I am seeing more interest again from brands that actually fit my content.
It might seem counterintuitive, but removing followers actually helped me grow in the right way.
Conclusion
Optimising your Instagram audience isn’t about limiting growth. It’s about making your profile more attractive to brands, improving engagement, and working with the algorithm rather than against it.
Brands are looking for authenticity, relevance, and audience alignment - not just a big number at the top of your profile. If your Instagram audience doesn’t reflect your commercial goals, it might be time for a clear-out.
If you want to dive deeper into how to do this effectively, check out my other posts on removing followers the right way. And if you’re interested in seeing how I put this into practice, follow me on Instagram @whisperingbold.
