Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy followers and likes on social media.
With the latest updates to Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms, growing a quality following and creating engagement is more challenging for businesses and brands. Many businesses have opted for shortcuts, otherwise known as buying likes and followers. You too may have been tempted to invest just around nine cents per follower on Instagram but beware: the costs add up, (20,000 followers will set you back as much as $1800) and the results will burn.
When building a fake following on Instagram, for example – keep in mind that anyone can scrutinize your followers to see if they’re real, where they’re from and, with a little more research, how you obtained them. In addition, fake followers are often from overseas and they don’t interact with your posts. A savvy marketer can quickly identify a gap between your following and your engagement.
Instagram isn’t the only social media where these questionable practices persist. According to Cisco, Facebook scams are the leading method of web-based attacks – and it’s not even close. Facebook has been combatting the issue head-on since 2015, as only one percent of active users were fake in 2016.
Here’s what you’re losing when you buy likes:
Your Credibility.
Having more followers than your competitors may look great in your eyes, but no so much in your audience’s. The real accounts out there won’t be fooled when they see they’re one of 20,000 followers, but only one of five likes. Social media is a phenomenal way to get creative and conversational with your marketing, but it also holds you accountable. Your social media page should be a reflection of your company’s mission and values – make it a good one.
Your Time.
When you come to the realization that you’ve spent $1800 to change just a lone metric on your page, find a comfortable seat. It’s going to take an awful long time to try and cleanse your page(s) of 20,000 followers. That time could be spent participating in more useful business practices like blogging, creative trade & consumer events, advertising and mailing. Social media is built to give you valuable feedback on what content your followers want and when with tools like Page Insights on Facebook and Instagram, and Audience Insights on Twitter.
Your Money.
According to Facebook, after you’ve finished your followers shopping spree, those followers are “extremely unlikely to engage with a page after liking it.” Today’s algorithms rely on post engagement and interaction. When you have strong engagement in relation to your total following, Facebook & Instagram deem your content more valuable. This pushes your posts onto your follower’s feed vs. other pages.
Another downside to buying fake followers is that you can lo longer effectively target market paid social media ads. By building a true page, you can place paid ads by “cloning” your audience for your paid campaign. This targets people that are most likely to be interested in your brand and content. With a fake following, you sacrifice the ability to employ this intuitive method of target marketing ads to your following.
Keep It Real.
Focus on creating valuable content, and the followers will come. Follow relevant people in your industry as well as others who are likely to follow back. The quality of your followers is far more valuable than the quantity of your followers.
Into the Blue Agency can help you boost your online presence using nothing but creative and innovative strategies. Contact us today.
