But you’ve been tagged in one of those ‘buy real followers’ posts and thinking about giving it a whirl? Buying followers on Instagram can be incredibly tempting but let’s look at what can happen.

There’s a common misconception that lots of followers on Instagram automatically means amazing sales and conversions rates –Â and you’ll become an instant ‘influencer’.

The truth is, the number of followers you have on Instagram means absolutely nothing if your posts don’t get engagement – it’s a sign your audience isn’t interested in what you’re talking about – and makes you a less ideal influencer for a brand. Although it might look to outsiders that your brand is super popular, (and give you a sneaky ego boost!) all it takes is for someone to click on one image to see you’re lacking engagement to see right through your plan.  Likes and followers don’t necessarily mean that people connect with your brand. Comments, (and not bot comments!), show that people are interested and engaging with your story and your content. PSST –> HERE’S HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR ENGAGEMENT RATE ON INSTAGRAM

You’ll see spammy styled accounts inviting you to ‘buy real followers!’, if you’ve ever been tempted and thought seriously about buying followers on Instagram, here are the reasons we strongly advise against it.

1. SPAM, SPAM, SPAM

When you follow through with buying followers on Instagram, the chances are that a large percentage of those accounts are actually shock, horror, not real accounts, but spam accounts that are run by bots. Not only does this mean your account will be subjected to spam regularly, but you’re also exposing your authentic followers to it as well – which can often lead to them unfollowing you.

2. ALGORITHMS

Thanks to Instagram’s algorithm, we are shown what they’ve calculated we’ll find most interesting. That means a small percentage of your overall followers will actually see your posts at any given time. If you buy followers, which are fake accounts, they’re not going to see your posts let alone comment and like them – demonstrating to Instagram that your content is not worthy of being shared wider.

3. ENGAGEMENT AFTER BUYING FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM

By now you’ll know engagement is king – buying followers will harm your engagement rate and your Instagram growth in the long run.

You’ll spot an account that has bought followers a mile away. They’ll have a high amount of followers but a very low engagement rate. Some accounts have hundreds of thousands of followers, but get a few hundred likes and zero comments – a dead giveaway to the unseasoned of stalkers.

4. REMOVING BOT ACCOUNTS

Honestly, the worst part about buying 10,000 followers – is removing 10,000 followers.

If by now you hadn’t realised you’ve wasted your time on fake followers, it’ll be when you have to manually delete those 10,000 accounts, one by one….screams

Every now and then Instagram will do a purge of fake accounts to clean out the spam. So if you have already bought followers lets hope this helps.

 Out-of-the-box strategies guide 9 growth strategies to skyrocket your Instagram

5. WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP BUYING FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM?

Short answer: I don’t know. (My gut says An ego boost? Get quick rich schemes?) Overall, buying your followers is a little silly. Not only is it not going to help your business make sales, or convert to adding profit to your business, but it’s also really obvious when you have bought followers.

Social Media is all about the long game. We know how exhausting it is to build your followers list from nothing. But honestly? You’re better off having 500 real followers than 5,000 fake ones! At least those 500 are genuinely interested in your brand and want to be involved with what you are doing.

Our top tip for getting followers?

Beautiful images that appeal to your target market, catchy captions and a gallery that showcases your brand’s story and personality. Organic is best. 

Need a hand? We’ve built Plann, a beautiful visual designer and scheduler that helps you organise your feed with a drag and drop feature, draft captions and schedule posts days, weeks or months in advance.