PipeflowWhy the offer is so tempting
Anyone starting an Instagram profile for their business soon sees the offers: packages of followers, likes or comments, delivered instantly. The idea behind it is understandable. A profile with few followers looks unremarkable, and a large number is supposed to build trust.
The problem: for a business, followers are only worth something if there are real people behind them who see your posts, react and at some point buy from you, book or call. That is exactly what you do not get when you buy them.
What you actually get when you buy
Bought followers are almost never people who are interested in you. Usually they are:
- Automatically created accounts: profiles with no real person behind them, set up only to follow others.
- Inactive or hijacked accounts: profiles nobody uses any more or that belong to someone who knows nothing about it.
- Accounts with no connection: people from countries where you will never have customers and who do not speak your language.
- Swap accounts: accounts from so-called follower apps or groups that follow you so that you follow back. They often disappear again if you do not.
Why bought followers harm your business
Bought followers do not just cost money, they also do damage:
- They do not react: when sorting, Instagram takes into account how people react to posts. Lots of followers with no reaction make your posts look less interesting. How this fits together is explained in the guide Understanding the Instagram algorithm.
- They distort your statistics: if a large share of your followers come from distant countries, you can no longer see what interests your real customers and when they are online.
- They cost credibility: anyone who looks more closely quickly notices when many followers are not real people. For a business that depends on trust, that is a bad sign.
- They break the rules: Instagram prohibits artificially collecting followers, likes or comments.
- They can put your account at risk: some services want your password or access to your account. That hands strangers control over your presence.
Instagram cleans up
Instagram says it takes action against inauthentic activity. Fake accounts are removed again and again, and the bought followers disappear with them. Then you have spent money and the number drops anyway. Instagram has also stated that it removes likes and follows created artificially through third-party apps, and warns or restricts accounts that use such services.
Whether there are any restrictions on your account can be seen in the settings under an item like Account Status. Instagram does not reveal exactly how it detects fake accounts. Counting on it going unnoticed in your case is a bad plan.
How to spot fake followers
Even without buying, some profiles are suddenly followed by strange accounts. Typical signs are:
- No profile picture or a random one, often a photo you can find elsewhere too.
- No or hardly any posts of their own.
- Usernames made of random letters and numbers.
- They follow a huge number of accounts, but have hardly any followers themselves.
- Comments that would fit under any picture, such as a single word or symbols, often with a link or a request to send a message.
- A sudden jump: lots of new followers in a short time without you having posted anything special.
What you can do about fake followers
You can remove fake followers one by one in your followers list. With a few accounts, that is worth doing so your statistics stay clean. Do not reply to messages promising you followers, reach or a badge, and do not click any links in them. Messages like these are often scams.
Advertising is something different
Paid advertising on Instagram is not buying followers. When you promote a post, Instagram shows it to real people, whom you can select by region, for example. Whether they follow you is their own decision. That is a legitimate way to become better known in your area. But advertising does not replace a good profile. Start with the free approaches and then try advertising with a small budget you can afford.
What works instead
Real followers come more slowly, but they stay and become customers. These approaches work for small businesses:
- A clear profile: picture, name and bio that show straight away what you do and where. Ideas for this are in the Instagram bio ideas for businesses.
- Posting regularly: in a rhythm you can keep up. More on this in the guide How often to post on Instagram.
- Pointing it out offline: a QR code at the till, on your business card, on the invoice or in the shop window.
- Becoming visible locally: use regional hashtags and the location, see Instagram hashtags in Austria.
- Working with other businesses: tag partners, run joint promotions, recommend each other.
- Talking to your followers: answer comments, ask questions, reply to messages. More ideas in the guide More Instagram followers for businesses.
The right number for your business
For a bakery in a small town, a few real followers from the area are worth more than very many from all over the world. So do not measure your success by your follower count, but by what really matters: messages, enquiries, reservations, people who say they saw you on Instagram.