How to Not Get Banned on Instagram

The discrimination against sex workers, pornstars, and adult models is undeniable. Even as a general statement about society- this is true, but I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to, and you shouldn’t be missing out on the opportunity to monetize your following using Instagram.

Yes, they are making it difficult- more complicated than is fair if you’re following the rules. We all know that people, even verified celebrities, can break the rules without facing the consequences. Even Britney Spears, who has 41.6M followers, constantly gets away with posting what Instagram describes as “sexual and inappropriate” photos.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdW2maqJX6s/

FACT: Instagram Community Guidelines state that you can only post content that is appropriate for a diverse audience.

FACT: Posting hand bra and nude photos censored with an emoji when she has 41.6 million followers means that she is violating the Community Guidelines.

FACT: Her account didn’t get banned, and the post (and others like it) didn’t even get taken down.

But I’m not going to talk about this injustice and discrimination. We know this is happening, so let’s proceed accordingly.

If you believe your account got wrongfully removed, you can file a complaint on the Adult Performance Artists Guild (APAG) website. Due to the continued deletion of performer accounts (and the numerous reports, incidents, and negative press), Instagram agreed to revise the complaints submitted to the APAG website and even make manual recoveries.

They have us under a microscope, so let’s review what can get you banned and what might be decreasing or limiting your reach. Then I will give you some tips and tricks so you can avoid getting banned, promote your brand, and monetize your following effectively.

First of all, there are three types of bans:

1. Action bans happen when you exceed the number of actions you should perform on IG within a time frame. These are usually temporary; you can get your account back up and running after a couple of hours or days.
2. You can get shadow banned when you use broken or banned hashtags or if your account gets reported by other users. If this happens, your content gets limited reach and visibility, and it doesn’t show up on hashtags or anyone’s feed unless they already follow you.
3. Permanent bans permanently delete your account from IG, and you will no longer have access to it. You’ll probably never get your account back if this happens.

Let's briefly review the obvious mistakes that can get you banned:

Yes, automation tools (aka bots) are very effective in managing and growing your page. Even though buying fake likes and followers is common, it’s officially banned and considered fraudulent according to the community guidelines. So you could get an action ban for liking too many posts and following too many accounts too quickly.

Anything unlawful, misleading, fraudulent, or for any illegal or unauthorized purpose will get you permanently banned.

Posting sexual, inappropriate, or copyrighted content: IG takes sexual content very seriously (evidently much more so with people in the adult industry). The community guidelines say you can only post photos and videos appropriate for a diverse audience. KEEP IN MIND that see-through lingerie that shows your nipples or pubes, a butt photo with a bit of vag, and hand bras are considered inappropriate.

Using banned hashtags could get you shadow banned. I suggest you google “Complete List of Banned Instagram Hashtags,” but here are a few that I was surprised to see on the list and that you might be using: #ass, #babe, #bikinibody, #costumes, #dm, #fitnessgirls, #followforfollow, #humpday, #likeback, #likeforlike, #lingerie, #milf, #models, #snapchat, #tgif, #woman.

You can still use emojis in your captions but keep in mind that they know what 🍆🌮💦 means. Community guidelines now tell users they can remove content if you’re using emojis to offer or ask for sexual images, sex chat conversations, or sexual content. 🥵

Now I want to give you some tips and tricks so you can monetize your following without getting banned.

1. In your bio, use a deep link (instead of a standard link) if you want to post a link to another page or website so your fans don’t have to sign in when they click on it. There are free converters online, and using them can significantly increase your conversation and retention rates.

2. Use your captions to generate engagement and give some context. When you post stories, you want to get your point and message across fast, and captions can be like a summary. Remember that fans might have the audio off or might be quickly scrolling, so a caption will tell them what you want them to do (swipe up, check out my new post, etc.) or what message you want them to receive (I have new merchandise on my website).
3. Do primary calls to action (CTA): For example, “double-tap if you agree” and “comment below and tell me your opinion.” This helps you boost the algorithm because you want that activity for your post to rank higher and show up on more people’s feeds. You need to know that IG values recency so this will only work for 48h. It won’t show on anyone’s feed after that.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd8tl-6J-x-/

4. Do secondary calls to action: DO post a primary CTA like “swipe to…” but also have a secondary CTA telling people about the link in the bio or any extra information. Add something that benefits your product/service.
5. Use your highlights: It’s great to do free tutorials, give valuable info or previews, and post unique content in your stories, but that value is up for 24h. So please save it to highlights: get a return of investment (ROI) for your effort.

6. Double watermark your content: If you add your handle to the bottom of a post, it can get cropped out and stolen, so add another one and hide it in the post. Doing this also helps grow your business if people share your posts on their stories which helps get you brand recognition.

Now you know what can get you banned and at least six things you can start to do now to grow your brand, extend your posts’ reach and engage your fans. Losing your account means losing access to some of your fans and possibly business connections that you've worked hard for. So, the truth is, despite the apparent discrimination, Instagram is a powerful tool you should try to keep and work towards growing.  Getting banned can hurt your brand and your business; simply put, it will hurt your wallet! So, follow this advice and DON’T GET BANNED!