On every dating app there’s that person who says they are “29” but when you meet them for a date they seem to have magically aged decades overnight and their job title of “Olympian and Nobel Prize Winner” now seems fishy.
This person probably buys their followers on social media as well.
Buying followers may have some benefits at the start of any social media venture but the benefits are quite often dwarfed by the consequences. You’re not wrong to want to be paid thousands of dollars for a Tweet or to start a movement with a Facebook post or to have millions of people admire what you ate for breakfast on Instagram. But purchasing followers just isn’t the answer.
So, why not?
* Your Engagement Will Suffer…A Lot
There is no magical number for an engagement to followers ratio, because it varies based on your purpose. But if your profile boasts 100k followers and each post is getting five interactions, that’s a red flag to your (real) audience and any potential brands that are looking for promotion. There are some services that will create engagement as well as give you followers, however, it’s easy to see through this as well. Most of the accounts will have 0 followers and obviously fake profiles.
* You’ll Lose Your Existing Fanbase
The cheaper or free services can spam your real audience, without you even knowing. From your account a service may post something to the effect of “Want to get 10 k followers for free??? It’s easy. Click here!”. That’s a sure fire way to get unfollowed or blocked.
* Fake Followers Eventually Get Deleted
Social media platforms will randomly sweep through millions of profiles and delete fake followers. A mass execution of phony accounts. Even Justin Bieber lost 3.5 million followers on Instagram in 2014 in exactly this way. Facebook has an estimated 83 million fake accounts and you better believe they are cracking down on this.
* There’s No Substitute For Building Followers Organically (And It Can Be More Efficient)
When you run a social media account whether you are selling anything or not, you are a brand. If you want to grow your following it’s better to determine your target demographics, find out the best times to post for maximum exposure, follow other accounts with similar interests, attach trending hashtags, and promote your posts using the social media platforms ad services or any other legitimate amplification services.
Yes, entering your handle and credit card information on a service that promises stellar results is easier. But you risk losing credibility (erasing your value on social media overnight) and your engagement will be horrible or non-existent, leading to abysmal conversion rates.