Why It's A Bad Idea To Buy Instagram Followers
Planning To Buy Followers On Instagram? Seeing ads like "Buy 1000 Instagram followers for as low as $10" seems like an easy way to build your brand with little to no effort, especially if your business is having a hard time gaining online traction. Let's be real, as a business owner sometimes it can be really hard to attract new customers.
Well, trust me when I tell you that you need to think twice before buying Instagram followers.
In fact, buying followers on Instagram could make things much worse not only for you but also for your brand!
In this article, we will tell why it's always a bad idea to buy Instagram followers and how can it affect your brand. So let's dig in.
Disadvantages Of Buying Instagram Followers And Likes
As you probably know, building followers organically takes a lot of time in addition to the right amount of effort and strategy implementation.
And this is why buying followers online sounds tempting to business owners. But in this section, we will go through why you SHOULDN'T buy Instagram followers.
1. Bought Instagram Followers Ruin Your Engagement Rate
The engagement rate shows how much people engage with your content.
For example, if you have 1000 followers and you get 100 likes per post this means you have a 10% engagement rate, yep it's that simple.
Buying followers doesn't increase engagement. In fact, it actually lowers the engagement rate of your Instagram account.
Most companies will sell you fake followers. In other words, they are followers that won't engage with your content; they won't like, won't comment. In the best scenarios, they might only view your content.
2. They Will Mess Up Your Performance Metrics
Bought followers WILL NOT buy your product or even promote your brand. In the best cases, some of them may occasionally like your posts.
However, it has very little effect on your brand and won't help to make it look bigger than it actually is.
If you think having a lot of followers will tempt all big brands to offer you sponsorship, you are sadly mistaken.
Most brands, especially big brands can now easily detect fake and automated accounts using numerous tools online such as; HypeAuditor, Social Blade, MODASH, and many more.
Keep in mind that having tons of followers means nothing, what really matters is the engagement rate and buying followers is an engagement ratio killer.
3. Buying Instagram Followers and Likes Get you Banned...
As you probably know, people designed many third-party apps that have only 1 job; grow accounts.
Well, Instagram didn't like it, so they recently updated their terms of use to remove botted and inauthentic accounts from Instagram.
Instagram decided to remove all likes, comments, and even follows from all third-party apps and fake accounts.
Buying Instagram followers from apps or sites is against Instagram's community guidelines and it can get you penalized by Instagram's moderators.
So trust me when I tell you, buying followers will do you more harm than good.
The Ultimate Guide To Spot Automated And Fake Instagram Accounts
Spotting automated Instagram accounts is very easy.
All you need to do is the following:
- Go to HypeAuditor or any other Instagram analytics tool.
- Enter an Instagram user name.
- Look at the engagement and followers stats. If it has a low engagement rate and a lot of followers, then this Instagram account 100% bought its followers.
Here are the most common engagement rates per followers:
- 1000>: 8% engagement rate.
- 1000-10,000: 3%-5%.
- 10,000-100,000: 2%-3%.
- 100,000>: Less than 2%.
How Fake Followers Defeat Your Purpose...
Why Are You Using Instagram? Below are the three main reasons why people use Instagram.
1. Connecting with people. Often, we use Instagram to update people of what's happening in our lives.
2. Marketing a product or brand. Businesses dive into Instagram marketing to sell, and you can't sell your products to fake followers!
3. You are an influencer or aiming to become one! How will you be able to influence fake followers when they give zero engagement?
If you're one of these people who use Instagram for the same purpose, why should you buy followers? After all, it's easy to spot fake ones from real ones.
How To Grow Your Instagram Account Without Buying Any Followers
Given these points, buying fake followers seems to offer you no value and do you more harm than good, so what can you do now?
Here are some tips you can use to start implementing:
1. Publish Content Regularly
It's easy, right?
Keeping your posts up to date and informative will make your followers feel more engaged and there's a higher chance that they will look into your account to get ideas of your expertise.
It could be a post or a story, whichever you prefer.
2. Promote Your Brand With A Branded Hashtag
Hashtags are used as a way to promote campaigns and brands. When you see #JustDoIt, you know it's Nike, or even #ShareACoke by Coca Cola which drive over 600,000 posts alone.
Imagine having that amount of post linked to the hashtag you created specifically for your brand. Sounds Awesome ha!
They are now an integral part of digital marketing which can drive an entire campaign or brand.
3. Engage With People In Your Niche
Engaging does not necessarily mean you have to mention your brand to them with every comment.
I suggest you search posts that have hashtags that are relevant to your niche, and leave comments on them. Posting a relevant comment that says something about what they posted will drive engagement, and it will also increase the chances of them following you when you leave thoughtful or engaging comments.
4. Optimize Your Bio
Your Instagram bio is the first thing visitors see on your profile, that's why it's important that you present yourself very well.
What do you offer? What is your business about? Of course, your bio should be able to at least summarize what you do.
Pro tip: Add links to your website to increase referral traffic.
5. Create Relevant Captions For Each Posts
For the most part, make it engaging! Asking questions in the caption can be a great way to get your followers to react.
Use emojis, trending hashtags along with engaging caption to skyrocket your engagement and possibly get on the Instagram explore page.
6. Start With Locals
You can see what's going on in your area through Instagram stories by location, which means you can tag an address or physical location in your stories to make them discover-able under the location tag.
7. Hire An Expert On Organic Instagram Growth
Many businesses invest in outsourcing services that need experts in the field.
Social Uplift offers the expertise, skills, and experience in digital marketing to help influencers and small to medium sized businesses grow their following and social media presence faster.
Instagram marketing can be tricky and it may seem intimidating when you're misinformed, that is why we recommend seeking help from the experts in the field for a foolproof Instagram engagement and overall improvement of your brand.
Are you ready to take your Instagram to the next level? Click Here Now To Get REAL Instagram Followers And Start Growing Organic Traffic Today.
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Author: Josh Horowitz
I live and breathe Instagram. I've spent the last 8 years mastering the art of digital marketing. I have gained millions of followers and generated millions of dollars in sales on Instagram for brands, influencers and celebrities.
I am excited to share tips and tricks to help you grow your business faster.
Personally, I enjoy skateboarding like an enthusiast, jogging with my dog, Bertie in Venice Beach every morning. Either that or I could end up watching an entire season of Game of Thrones in one day.