Looking to expand your reach on Instagram? Just buy followers!

NO!

Buying followers is one of the worst things you can do to a brand’s presence on Instagram. Don’t worry, we get it. Whether you’re trying to become an influencer or grow your small business, it can be tempting to take shortcuts to expand your audience.

Keep reading to see why you shouldn’t buy Instagram followers, and what you should invest in instead!

Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy Instagram Followers: 

1. Engagement Tapers Off

It’s not the best idea to buy Instagram followers as the purchased followers will most likely be bots or inactive accounts. This means that the followers you paid for are just a number and won’t engage with your posts. The content you post won’t show up on your real audience’s feed or on newsfeeds. 

Buying followers will spike your metrics but ultimately engagement will taper off over time. Bots and inactive accounts provide no long-term value to your profile’s content. Early into purchasing followers, they might give your page views, likes, and comments, but this initial attention will not continue. 

Engagement is key to Instagram’s algorithm and being successful on the platform. Without likes or comments, your content will get considerably less engagement and it won’t matter that your account has thousands of followers. It’s much better to invest time and money in a social media strategy and build a community on Instagram that will engage with your content. 

2. Fake Followers Hurt Your Credibility

Another reason why you shouldn’t buy followers is it hurts your company’s credibility. Having a lot of followers looks nice on paper and might even convince a real user to follow your page. But remember the risk that purchased Instagram followers will never engage with your content. Once your real followers see the lack of likes and comments on your content, your credibility is greatly reduced. 

Real users will notice that your content does not get a ton of engagement and this will ultimately deter them from following you or cause them to unfollow you. Even if you have some loyal customers, seeing that most of your followers are bots and inactive accounts will lead to them doubting the credibility of your brand. It’s much better to post content that will attract authentic followers and build a community that will engage with your brand.

3. Buying Followers Skews Your Metrics

It’s essential to analyze Instagram metrics as part of your social media marketing strategy. But, it’s impossible to measure how well your target audience is connecting with your content if a high percentage of that audience is made up of purchased followers, AKA bots, or inactive accounts.

These distorted metrics make it difficult to convert your Instagram followers into real customers. You won’t be able to track how well your posts are doing or what your audience thinks about your brand. Ultimately, when you pay for Instagram followers, you aren’t paying for quality audiences, but instead just a blank number.

By taking the time and money you would put into buying followers into a social media strategy, you can build genuine relationships with possible clients who will engage with your content on Instagram.

4. Instagram Purges Fake Followers

Lastly, Instagram is working diligently to identify and remove inactive and bot accounts from the platform. Buying followers is a violation of Instagram’s community guidelines. So, even more, than skewing your analytics and reducing engagement, your account could trigger a reaction from Instagram’s moderators due to the purchased followers.

Instagram’s main priority in the algorithm is engagement, with the goal to establish genuine connections on the platform. Fake followers and lack of activity infringe upon this mission. It’s much better to invest in growing an audience organically that will create a community and protect real accounts and experiences within your brand.

Alternatives to Buying Instagram Followers

Develop a strategy

It’s much better to invest time and money in a social media strategy and build a community on Instagram that will engage with your content versus buying Instagram followers that are bots and inactive accounts. The key to a successful social media to grow your brand and increase your following is strategy. An intentional social media strategy will cover your goals, your target audience, your branding, your content pillars, and your mission statements. You need to create a plan that produces content aligning with your strategy in order to engage your audience and grow your business. By investing in a strategy you’ll attract a real audience that appreciates your brand and turns into customers.

Post quality content

Posting original and quality content is necessary to attract new followers. Start by posting a variety of forms of content such as images, carousels, reels, stories, UGC, and more. Establish yourself as an industry leader by building trust and excitement among your followers. This can be accomplished through unique content that relates to your field. Be sure to include hashtags when posting as well because this is a great way to reach new audiences.

Engage with your community

A great strategy to grow your Instagram following is by engaging with other users, specifically your target audience. By liking, commenting, saving, or sharing others’ posts, you’re establishing a relationship. Instagram’s algorithm favors engagement and it can increase the visibility and growth of your page, eventually leading to more followers.  

Hire an SMM

Social media managers are specialists in digital marketing. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of growing your Instagram following organically, it might be a good idea to invest in an expert. Social media managers are able to effectively strategize social media campaigns to align with the rest of your marketing efforts and ensure strong, consistent brand messaging.  Employing a social media manager can give you a competitive edge to grow your brand on social media and increase your audience. 

Closing Note: 

There you have it! There are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t buy Instagram followers and even more ways to grow your audience without it. Feeling unsure of how to grow your Instagram page without buying followers? Corkboard Concepts can help! Corkboard Concepts is a strategic marketing agency that is data-centric. We can take your social media strategy to the next level!