7 reasons why you should never buy Instagram followers

If you’re relatively new to Instagram, the idea of slugging away to gain followers may feel pretty exhausting. And I’m not going to lie to you, it really does take time. But with that time, if you deliver valuable and creative content, the followers will come.

But hold up! There must be ways for quick success, no? Well, for some, there’s the temptation of buying followers and likes. But I’m here to tell you why that’s a very, very bad idea.

1. They really are just a number, don’t expect engagement from fake followers

If you think your likes and comments are about to go sky high, I’m sorry, but buying followers won’t make this happen. Fake followers are simply a number. They often aren’t real accounts at all, merely fake bot accounts. If you’re lucky, you might get a “cool” comment here and there, but I wouldn’t count on it.

2. Your reach and engagement will go down the drain

Let’s say you now have 10,000 followers. But when your content goes out and there’s little engagement - because, ya know, they’re all bots - you’ll lose all sense of the real figures.

3. Fake followers will ruin your credibility

Let’s say you’re trying to sell makeup. When someone lands on your profile, they’re probably going to expect to find a bunch of beauty bloggers following you, maybe some fashion brands that want to rave about your products. But when every account looks a bit like this: Ashaspnwt10354345436 they’re going to be bouncing off in no time.

4. Instagram can identify and purge fake followers

In other words, don’t waste your money. Instagram will remove likes, follows and comments that are artificial, so your fake followers could be gone just as fast as they arrived.

5. It’ll be easy to spot that you bought followers

If you’ve just started out and you’ve instantly got thousands of followers, it’s definitely going to look a little fishy. 

6. You could end up with some erm, questionable, comments

While some bots are just there as a number, some will automatically comment. So when you post the cutest photo ever and they leave something a little gross, you’d have to be there pretty quick to delete their nonsense.

7. Numbers aren’t everything

Sure, we’d all love to jump to 10k and look like we’ve been creating content for months with some incredible results… But it doesn’t quite work like that. You’ll gain greater respect by building a community, rather than buying (a fake) one.

But what’s the alternative?

Focus on your engagement over your follower count. By showing the right content to the right people via hashtags and genuine engagement, your following will naturally grow.

To begin with, make your account public. If you’re looking to grow a business/creator account, switch your account to one of these from the very beginning. Then, get cracking on some research! Both in your niche (check out the other accounts doing what you do) and in terms of your audience.

Looking for more Instagram tips? Let us know and we’ll be more than happy to deliver.