Do you want to buy some followers or subscribers? You are in the right place. In this article I will explain to you, how… bad of an idea this is.

I suppose you want to grow your audience into a significant size, so you can gain brand collaborations and get paid for creating content.

This is why I understand the need for a high number of followers. But the number itself doesn't matter as much as you may think.

What Metrics Are Important

Don't get me wrong, the number of followers is important, but not by itself. You have to put this number into context to make things work.

When addressing your increasing number of followers, you also need to ensure that they actually consume your content. That is, that they spend time, comment, like and interact with that content.

This is called Engagement Rate. It is the ratio between the number of followers and the reactions they gave your content.

The higher the number is, the better it is for you. The average engagement rate differs with the size of the audience. Your account should always be above these numbers.

It is in your best interest to get rid of fake accounts rather than buying them.

What Happens When You Buy Fake Followers

So it is logical that buying fake fans decreases your Engagement Rate, because fake accounts don't interact with your content. And it affects potential brand collaborations, because the brands simply didn't gain anything from the collaboration – who wants to speak with people who are not real and have no intention of buying anything (from a brand’s perspective)?

What Are Typical Signs of Accounts with Fake Followers/Likes

Sometimes it is sooo obvious. Even a brief look at a profile can tell you, something is off. Typical indicators of fake followers are below.

A Low Engagement Rate

If you have 100k followers and receive 30 likes and comments per post, your ER is 0.03%. But it should be around 2%. From the brand's point of view, it looks like your content is irrelevant for your audience or that some followers are fake.

Check yours with a tool called Phlanx.

A Spike In Followers Growth Graph

The graph curve of your number of followers growth over time is usually uniform. If the curve shows a significant increase or decrease, something might be wrong. And brands usually go deeper and check your audience in detail to be sure that those followers are real.

Spam Comments

Some fake accounts also create fake activity, so even if you have enough comments and likes, most of them will be from empty accounts without any posts or followers. This is another sign that something is wrong with your account numbers.

A Brief Fake vs. Real Followers Check

If you scroll through a list of followers and see profiles without profile pictures, few posts or gibberish usernames, it's a clear sign that those are fake followers.

How Brands (and you too) Can Recognize Fake Followers

Brands usually do an audit before a potential collaboration to check where their money might go. They use simple tools that tell them if your account is credible. And you can as well.

• MightyScout (Instagram)
• Social Blade (YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and Twitter)‍
• Twitter Audit (Twitter)

Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy Followers

Low ER isn't the only reason you shouldn’t buy fame. Doing this can bring many more problems to your account.

It's Against The Rules

“Accounts that continue to use non-Instagram apps to get more followers may notice that certain parts of their IG account are limited.”

It can end up with a deleted account.

📖 Read more in this Instagram post.

Spamming Your Followers

Even if your followers are real people (from “those” Engagement Facebook Groups like this or this) they do not interact with your content, because it is simply not relevant to them. It causes low ER and also algorithms will consider your content irrelevant and decrease your reach. 

It's a Scam

I didn't mention it earlier, but it is purely a scam. Think about this situation- that you come to a restaurant, order and pay for a meal and you only get one French fry. Isn't that a scam? And this is the same situation with fake followers.

How Can It Affect Brand Cooperation

The effect on potential brand cooperation is obvious. With fake numbers companies are not able to achieve their goals, which means no cooperation.

In the case that you do start a campaign, the brand won't get the expected results and your reputation will be ruined.

It all ends with destroyed credibility and it is difficult to repair trust as well as a bad reputation. Why would brands believe you anymore?

So How Are You Supposed to Get New Followers?

We have put forward a number of reasons why you should not buy fake followers. But what is the secret formula needed to grow your audience?

Keep in mind, that there is no shortcut. It's a lot of work that you can't just skip over. Follow these rules again and again. It takes time, there is nothing like overnight success.