Why Buying Social Media Followers is a Terrible Strategy
There’s no question that social media is necessary to have a successful business these days. You can’t expect people to know about your company if you don’t have a social media marketing campaign. It’s not enough to setup your official social media pages. You must also have tons of followers to ensure popularity. It also creates an image of credibility. When people see that you have several followers, they will consider buying your products and services. As such, it’s tempting to buy social media followers. Growing the number can be exhausting and time-consuming. Buying followers is an easy way out. Before doing so, remember that it could hurt your campaign more than it helps. Here’s why.
It’s also about interactions
While having a good number of followers is a plus point, it’s not enough. You should also see interactions on your social media. When there’s barely anything when you post updates, real followers will notice it. They will eventually realize that the other followers are fake accounts to make it seem you have a lot. The algorithms will also notice it and could hurt your ranking on search engines.
You want to generate leads
Your goal for advertising on social media is to generate leads. You wish to convert the followers and visitors to paying customers. It won’t happen if these are unreal accounts. It might even adversely impact your credibility among real followers. Algorithms will also see the lack of interaction and fail to help you generate more leads.
Even real accounts might not be what you need
Some people might argue that not all purchased followers are fake. They might be real people with verified accounts. While it’s possible, these people aren’t necessarily potential buyers. Sure, they agreed to follow your accounts, but they don’t intend to buy from you. They might not even be your target group or live within the area. You’re only wasting your time and financial resources with this strategy.
It gives you false confidence
Seeing the number of followers rise might make you think you’re heading in the right direction. You believe that you’re doing an excellent job in convincing people to buy your products and services. The truth is you’re advertising to nobody. It’s like having a social media account with only a dozen followers without real interactions. No one can see what you posted and you will barely have likes and shares. It doesn’t matter how good your campaign is. When no one sees it, you’re wasting your time.
Hopefully, you do the right thing and let go of this strategy. Build your accounts from scratch and try your best to impress potential followers. Once they stay loyal to your brand, expect them to keep buying from you. Besides, once the word goes out about how good your company is, you can grow your customers. Organic word of mouth is way more powerful than buying fake accounts.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://unsplash.com/photos/tLZhFRLj6nY
2nd image from https://ampjar.com/blog/social-media-buying-decisions/
