Everyone has been talking about how Instagram is a great marketing tool for businesses. The marketing opportunities range from paid ads and product posts to IGTV. For those things to work, though, you need followers, and that’s what we’re going to discuss.
There is the right way and the not as correct way of gaining more followers. If you don’t know why, keep reading, and we’ll tell you two of the biggest reasons why you need to get more Instagram followers the correct way.
So, Instagram is known for sharing images that capture the attention of others, and those people like your photo and choose to follow you on Instagram. But there is more to it than that for a business to get the most from Instagram.
As a business, you need to interact with these people that have liked an image or post. You do this by liking their images and post, and frankly, it is time-consuming. What business owner has time to be on Instagram, liking, commenting, and sharing all day?
For a business owner, managing your business Instagram account is one more duty on an already overflowing to-do list of deadlines, meetings, projects, and the unexpected. So, business owners have found a way to gain more Instagram followers by buying them or engaging in using Instagram bots.
If the thought of doing either, or both, has occurred to you, don’t. Avoid that mistake for these two main reasons:
1. Instagram Bots Aren’t Human
An Instagram Bot will make comments and likes automatically and follow other Instagrammers automatically in your business niche. You’ll end up with a lot of likes and more followers in a short time. The problem with those followers, they aren’t genuine, and they aren’t organic.
While the Instagram bots got you followers and likes, they didn’t get to the people that would be genuinely interested in your products or services. And because they are not genuine, organic followers and likes, there won’t be any honed engagement between you.
More and more Instagram users are getting wise to these Instagram bots now. They’ve come to realize these aren’t humans when they leave just a one-word comment to an image or post. So, these real people that could be honestly interested in your product or service realize you’re using these bots. They get a negative opinion of your brand. And you know what they say about lousy advertising – it spreads fast.
These bots will leave what turns out to be an inappropriate comment, too. A short comment to a sad or tragic post like “How cool!” will make your brand look insensitive. A bot only understands hashtags, and they don’t read and understand the context of the post.
Additionally, Instagram has begun shutting down several third-party automation apps and sites for violating Community Guidelines and Terms of Use. If Instagram catches your brand using these bots, your account could be in jeopardy.
2. Paid For Instagram Followers is Big Time Fake
Yes, boosting your number of followers by buying some sounds enticing, especially when you get 100 for under $5.00. The first big problem with this method is that it violates the Terms of Use set up by Instagram that you agreed to when you set up your account. You know that fine print we all click through without really reading.
And yes, Instagram does monitor its platform for fake followers and deletes those accounts. That alone will wipe out some of those followers you purchased. Not only will your Instagram account suffer, but other issues you can expect are:
• Since the bots don’t engage with your content, your Instagram’s engagement isn’t increasing.
• Your brand’s reputation can be destroyed if your audience notices that you have a lot of followers with very little or no engagement.
In the End
You have to work at growing your followers on Instagram. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worthwhile. Taking shortcuts only puts your brand at risk of Instagram banning you, which can ruin your reputation.
The best way to use Instagram for business is to post engaging content and interact with your followers while using the right hashtags. These are the things that will attract an audience and keep them following. No matter how much the world becomes automated, human interaction is still prominent.
