For millions of businesses, social media has become an essential marketing tool. What better way to connect with customers, promote your products or services, and build brand awareness all at the same time? However, there’s a dark side to social media marketing: shadowbanning.

Shadow banning is when a social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) hides your content from other users. If you’re a business owner who uses social media to market your business, then shadowbanning can be a major problem. It can significantly undermine your marketing efforts and make it hard to connect with potential customers.

Here are three signs that your business account has been shadow banned.

Your Reach and Engagement Have Suddenly Decreased

If you’ve noticed a sudden drop in the reach of your posts and engagement with your account, then you may have been shadowbanned. When your content is hidden from other users, it’s less likely to be seen or interacted with. As a result, you’ll see a decrease in the reach and engagement of your posts.

Say you’re a senior living facility that uses Instagram to promote your business. You post regular updates about events, activities, and news from your facility. But suddenly, you notice that your posts now receive significantly fewer likes, views, and comments.

Your Hashtags Are No Longer Working 

Hashtags are a simple way to connect with new users and interact with loyal ones. However, if you’re shadowbanned, your hashtags will not work as they should.

When you use a hashtag, it’s supposed to link to all the other posts that have used that same hashtag. But if you’re shadowbanned, your post won’t appear in the hashtag feed.

Let’s say you own a travel agency and you use the hashtag #travelagency to promote your business on TikTok. But after a few weeks, you notice that your videos are no longer appearing in the hashtag feed when users search for them. This is a strong indication that you’ve been shadowbanned.

You’re Not Getting Any New Followers

If you’re not getting any new followers, even though you’re regularly posting content, then you may have been shadowbanned. Remember, when you’re shadowbanned, your content is hidden from other users. 

So if someone stumbles across your account and likes what they see, they may not be able to find your account again because your content is invisible to them. This will invariably make it difficult to grow your following.

If you suspect that your business account has been shadowbanned, don’t panic. There are a few things you can do to try and fix the problem. For example, reach out to the social media platform and let them know about the problem. They may help you troubleshoot the issue and get your account back up and running. Or, check the guidelines of the platform to make sure you’re not violating any rules or best practices. If you are, then make the necessary changes to your account and content.