Buying Followers, Likes, and Views On Instagram…Don’t Do It!

Look, I know it can be tempting to sign up for a subscription of likes, views, or “organic” followers. But, I promise you- it’s not worth it! 

Sure, having numbers go up seems like a good thing. Having a higher number next to your name seemingly gives credibility, right? Yes, to a degree, it does. However, what’s the point of having a big ole number next to your name if you have nothing to show for it?!

Social media can be a whole lot of smoke in mirrors. We share the highlight reel, or the vulnerability for attention. We post selfies from every angle, and let the world know we’re living our best life every chance we can get. 

A big part of showcasing our greatness is also around the numbers: followers, likes, views, comments, reactions, and so on. This tells us (and the world) that we’re important, relevant, and top of mind. A nice little ego boost, if you will. 

So, why wouldn’t we buy followers, likes, or views? It seems like the perfect way to get ourselves out there, and grow our brand. 

WRONG!

In fact, buying followers, likes, and views can actually HURT your true growth. And even get you shadowbanned. If that’s no reason enough to stop you from hitting a purchase on some shady site, read this quick list of 3 reasons why you shouldn’t buy followers, likes, or views. Hopefully, it will convince you to save your money on something that will actually help your business grow instead. 

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy Followers, Views, Or Like on Social Media

Social media is something we want to use as a long game, but also a place that has an emphasis in rapid, fast growth. This is the place where people strive to go viral, and skyrocket from 300 followers to 100k followers. 

As gratifying as it can be to see double (or triple) digits in your profile, it’s important to remember the LONG game- which is more associated with organic growth, instead. 

Engagement is more valuable than follower count

Whether you’re striving to become an influencer, or you’re starting a social media account for your own business- engagement is much more valuable than follower count. 

Engagement is more around likes, views, comments, saves, reactions, and DMs. This is the way that your audience is engaging with the content. Content that has high engagement will actually be boosted through the algorithm to show up on the explore page. 

This is where buying followers will actually do more harm than good. Say you have 250 followers, but decided to buy 10k followers on Instagram. When you post a photo you only get about 50 likes and 2 comments. This will tell Instagram that your content isn’t well received, because your engagement rate is low. The algorithm tries to bury content that doesn’t seem to be popular, which will make your content less visible. 

Now, if you didn’t buy the followers, and had the same engagement of 50 likes and 2 comments, this would actually be a pretty high engagement rate. Because 50 likes is 20% of your audience engaging with your content. This would tell Instagram that you did something good, and people like it- which could ultimately result in getting featured on the explore page. 

Regardless of the Instagram algorithm punishing or rewarding you, you’ll also notice that a lower engagement rate can lower your credibility with your audience and/or brands that you want to work with. 

If you’re a budding influencer, you’ll know that brands will ask for your media kit, which includes all of your analytics. Again, they might be initially attracted to you, because you have that 10k in your profile. But once they look at your media kit, they can easily assume that you bought your followers based on your engagement. 

Let’s say you chose to also buy likes and views when you bought your followers as a way to bolster the engagement gap. Sure, at a glance this could be helpful. However, Instagram analytics have so much data nowadays, it’s still quite easy to spot if someone is buying their numbers. 

Most of the time these accounts are bot accounts, or they’re based in more obscure countries where your demographic clearly wouldn’t be. Plus, if your post jumps from 5 likes to 2500 likes in 30 seconds, this can also trigger Instagram that you’re buying likes and views. Which can cause a lot more serious penalties than simply burying your content on the feed. 

Penalties from Instagram

Getting shadowbanned is not the kind of prison you want to be stuck in. It can be a pain to get out of! Of course you can get shadowbanned for things other than buying followers, likes, and views on Instagram. In fact, you can get shadowbanned for violating any of the community guidelines. Which is why it’s best to adhere to the rules when you’re using the app.

What’s worse than getting shadowbanned? How about getting kicked off Instagram altogether! Yes, this can definitely happen. 

If you’ve continually violated community guidelines by buying followers, likes, and views on Instagram- they can delete your account. And, trust me, you won’t have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to getting it reinstated. 

That means you’d have to start from total scratch. And all of the money you poured into those followers, likes, and views- has just been flushed down the drain. 

Invest in something that will actually contribute to monetary growth in your business 

Here’s the thing, none of these services are cheap. In fact, they’re pretty dang pricey! Not only that, but I called them shady earlier for a reason. There’s tons of hacking that occurs on or within these services- not only in your Instagram account, but with your credit card information, as well. 

I’m all for investing in yourself and your business to get it to grow. This is super important for you to take things to the next level. Oftentimes people buy these followers, likes, and views services as a way to “invest” in their business. But the truth is, this money could go a lot further in other services. 

I’d recommend investing that same budget into paid ads, instead. Paid ads will also increase your follower count, as well as your engagement- but in an ORGANIC manner that’s actually sustainable and valuable to your business. Additionally, Instagram rewards you if you use the paid ads feature, because- duh- you’re giving them money. And they like that. 

Buying followers, likes, and views on Instagram might look good momentarily. But investing in paid ads will actually be reflected in your sales, or true growth to the page. The point of your page is to GROW, right? And yet, the real purpose of the growth is to eventually monetize. 

Whether you’re monetizing yourself as an aspiring influencer- which means the higher your engagement is, the more you get paid per post. Or, whether you’re monetizing your social media page as a business to sell a service or product. What you want are people there who will actually invest in you.

Numbers by your name cannot, and will not, invest in you. 

Using social media for the long haul means putting in the effort to grow steadily, and organically. If you do have a budget that you’re able to invest, then invest in paid ads. Or, invest in an agency that can create a social media strategy of growth for you. 

As a new business owner, I’d hate to see you throw away your hard earned dollars on something as fleeting as followers, likes, and views. Invest in yourself in a meaningful way, and it WILL pay off. 

I guarantee it. 

xx,

K