I know you’ve seen them – seemingly new accounts with 50K+ followers that appear overnight. Impressive right? Until you dig a little deeper and start noticing that while they have tens of thousands of followers, their posts only have 30 like and no comments…
Makes you think, “hmmmm….something seems off.” You might be right!
Let’s start at the beginning, what motivates someone to pay for followers/likes?
Instagram is a pretty lonely place when you start. There are other pages (maybe your competition) with loads of followers and tons of engagement, and you think, I WISH!
Suddenly, someone slides into your DM or you get a comment on your picture:
“Get 50K free followers! Click the link in the bio! 👍🏼”
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You click their bio, and it seems so easy. Pay a little bit of money, and get thousands of new followers instantly!
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So you pay for your package (What the heck, $2.75 – it’s so cheap)
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CONGRATULATIONS! You now have 50,023 followers!
It sure feels great when you go to the page and see such a high number. Surely when people see your business has so many followers, they’ll have confidence in you!
Perhaps in theory. But what is the real cost of your bought followers? It could be more than you think.
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“Focusing on your Follower count is a vanity metric. The number of followers an account has is not a direct indication you will reach your goal.”
1. Bots don’t shop!
Why is your business on social media in the first place? I hope you said to build a following of engaged and real customers, with the ultimate goal of converting them into customers.
Bot’s don’t shop. They will not spend a single penny with you. They are fake bot profiles 🤖 with ZERO value.
The whole point of social media for your business is not to have the BIGGEST following, it’s to connect with your customers regularly and build a REAL relationship with them.
2. Fake followers skew your metrics.
Having loads of followers that don’t interact with your account shows the algorithms across the platforms that your followers aren’t interested in your posts. Which means fewer of your posts will appear organically on your “real” fans newsfeed.
You then have to buy more ads to reach your followers.
3. Fake Followers Cost You More In Advertising
So you’re ready to run an ad to reach your followers – INCLUDING the fake ones you bought. Basically flushing your money down the social media toilet.
4. You open yourself up to some shady service providers
Did I mention that you will have to give these random strangers your username and password? Yup! You sure do. So let’s not only provide them with access + control, let’s also allow them to spam your account with fake likes and crappy auto comments. People LOVE that.
5. Your Reputation and credibility could be ruined
If your real customers found out you bought your followers, do you think their opinion of you will change?
Could you be thought of as a cheater looking for the “easy way” instead of as a person that will put in the work to grow their page organically by engaging their followers and adding value to their lives.
Final Thoughts
I don’t know about you – but my reputation Is more important to me than any number of like and follows.
Look – I’m not saying that every person that buys followers is coming from a bad place – I think it’s a misguided attempt at promoting their product/ service/ business. If you’re a national brand, you may want to look into investing in a prebuilt account (more on this later).
But alternatively, you can invest the time and effort to engage with your fans, build up a real following and show that you have the patience to nurture your relationships.
Or if you don’t have the time to do so – hire someone that will create an effective strategy to help you build your social media accounts – organically. (like me!)
Have A Question?
Get In Touch!
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“What do you think? I’d love to know your opinion on bought followers.”
