Instagram has become a popular way to connect with friends, family, brands, and celebrities. Therefore opting for an Instagram account usually means that you want to communicate with friends/family, that you are a business wanting to market something, or that you are an influencer. And let’s say you are a business struggling to gain online traction or wish to become an influencer quickly. In these scenarios, it can be tempting to buy Instagram followers. However, we strongly advise you not to give in!
There are sound reasons why you should never buy Instagram followers, but let us go through them step by step:
The difference between buying and indirectly paying for Instagram followers
It may sound strange initially, but there is a difference between buying Instagram followers and indirectly paying for them. Namely, buying Instagram followers means paying for a number, and many of the followers you get are bots or inactive accounts, which means they will never engage with your posts. Plus, you violate Instagram’s community guidelines by buying followers, which may trigger a reaction from its moderators, such as disabling your account.
On the other hand, when you decide to pay for Instagram followers indirectly, you opt for paying for marketing strategies such as Instagram advertising or the services of Instagram influencers. These two approaches can help you reach real people (followers) successfully and encourage genuine engagement to your page. Although these techniques are basically paid advertising, their result is organic. And in a social media world with 1 billion accounts and skyward of 500 million active users, they are quite a great way to generate awareness about you or your brand.
Reasons why not to buy Instagram followers
#1 Fake Instagram followers do not engage with you
Fake Instagrams followers do not engage with your account because sometimes they are not real people; they are fake bot accounts. And if you are a business, that means that bots will never buy your products nor ever visit your website. So an automated “nice post” comment is the best engagement you can hope for from these accounts.
#2 You will be ruining your (brand) reputation
If your account has thousands of followers, but it only gets three likes on each photo, we hate to break it to you, but your page looks suspicious. The reality is that people can quickly notice who is buying followers and who is organically growing their page. So, if you want people to believe in your brand and dedicate themselves to following and reposting business, you have to show them everything about you is genuine.
#3 Potential customers will not trust you
Let us repeat it – people can quickly notice if you are buying followers. So, if you are a business and a potential customer comes across your Instagram page and suspects that you have bought your followers, chances are they are not going to trust you, hence not going to buy from you. Therefore, organically attracting people to your page is the only way to generate more business by using Instagram.
#4 It is against Instagram’s Terms of Service
According to Instagram’s Terms of Service, buying fake followers is officially banned and is considered fraudulent. So, if you go against this, they can purge your fake followers, shadowban you, and have the right to suspend your account or disable it permanently without the possibility of recovery. So, in the worst-case scenario, you will not only lose your money, but you will have to start your whole page again.
#5 You will not be able to analyze your account’s actual performance
Buying Instagram followers can create another complication – social media management becomes a waste of time. Namely, if you have many bots in your followership, you will not be able to estimate the real engagement on your account, the reach your posts have, or the number of genuine followers. Simply put, you will get the wrong analytics and not be able to see if your marketing efforts and investment costs are effective or not.
#6 You will not earn money by using fake followers
Whether you buy real or totally fake accounts, these followers will never spend any money on your products, nor will they ever refer you or your business to others. In case you aim to be an influencer, brands will soon spot your fake followers and choose not to work with you. So, you will never earn money from buying Instagram followers.
The bottom line
Instagram competition has only increased when it comes to growth and generating business. However, one way you absolutely should not grow your page is by buying followers. Instead, invest your money and efforts in intelligent marketing strategies, and success will follow.
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