Is buying Instagram followers a good idea?
On the internet, you can buy pretty much anything under the sun, for better or for worse: likes, comments and of course, followers on social networks are no exception.
Despite the measures taken by the big platforms to fight against these sorts of practices, they are still flourishing businesses.
The number of fake profiles on social media is estimated to 50%, which shows the extent of the phenomenon.
The success of buying likes, comments and subscribers all sums up to the image that brand wants to convey: the image of an attractive brand, recognized and appreciated by a large audience.
Your customers share your vision
For a business to work, you need people who believe in what you are and what you do. Simply put, they need to share your view of the world, your values.
If a user identifies with your vision, they will most likely become a subscriber on your Instagram profile and then a customer.
To achieve this result, the traditional way is :
- Developing an effective content strategy on Instagram
- Create an editorial calendar
- Publish inspiring and authentic content
- Interact regularly with your community
With this process, you should see your audience gradually increase over time. I'm not saying this is easy to achieve, but consistency coupled with an impactful message should lead to good results.
The Follow/Unfollow option
Before you start unconsciously buying followers, Instagram is the network where an unspoken rule still applies: the Follow/Unfollow rule.
In short, this rule goes likes: "you follow me, I follow you" and vice versa.
Many agencies or tools automate this step because it is very time-consuming and requires rigor.
If you want to try this out, start by targeting users in your core audience on competitor accounts or hashtags in your industry.
Buy Instagram followers
Many companies, influencers or individuals use this kind of ploy to artificially inflate their accounts and give the illusion that many people are following you. This way you hope that more followers will follow because people are more likely to naturally follow a popular page. 🤔 Meeeh...
As explained above, you should be aware that buying followers on Instagram is not the magical solution that will allow you to reach your goals.
The risks of buying followers on Instagram
- Purchased subscribers are, in most cases, fictitious people. They have been artificially created via bots with the sole purpose of counting 1 in your subscriber count. These "fake followers" remain inactive until Instagram's algorithm detects them and deletes them. Do not rely on them to have any interaction with your Instagram account.
- By buying subscribers, you increase your audience. As a result, you dilute your "real followers" in a larger group. When you know that Instagram only submits your new posts to a small percentage of your audience (about 5%), you are likely to miss your "real followers". If your latest post is only displayed on the walls of your "fictitious followers", you will notice a drastic drop in the number of likes and comments
- To compensate for your lower engagement rate per post, you will then be tempted to buy a few likes on Instagram and a few comments... You see where I'm going with this 😄 This is a never-ending spiral that costs a lot of money for completely artificial results.
Rates for buying subscribers
If, despite all my warnings, you absolutely insist on buying subscribers on specialized sites, this is the part you'll need to read.
At the time of writing, it is possible to buy 10,000 subscribers for your Instagram page for €110 or 1 cent per subscriber.
Prices can go up if you opt for highly specialized niches, such as "French subscribers" or "fast delivery."
As far as Likes are concerned, count €10 for 1000 Likes.
Recognizing an account that has bought followers on Instagram
It is now possible to find out if a brand has bought followers using analytics tools on Instagram.
There are several ways to quickly tell if an account has purchased subscribers.
- The first is an abnormal growth in the number of subscribers over a given period.
- Most new accounts do not have a profile picture
- The new subscribers have curious names
- Followers often have names of exotic countries
- Subscribers have a total of ten photos posted on the same day.
If some of your customers, partners or even staff members realize it, your credibility will be damaged.
In summary
Instagram also relentlessly tracks fake accounts, so there's a good chance that eventually your followers will disappear one after the other, taking you back to square one. In the end, isn't the easiest thing to do is to follow our tips on how to improve your marketing on Instagram?
Good luck 👍