OMI Insights: Should I Be Buying Social Media Followers?
Buying social media followers – this is the #1 thing our social team gets asked when talking to anyone (client or otherwise) about social media strategy. “Can’t I buy the followers I need to create my audience”? You absolutely can BUT just like FitTea promised to make me look like Kim K, it will fall short. #Bible. And here’s why:
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Engagement Rates
- Let’s say your current following is 1,000 and you buy enough followers to get you to 10,000. If 100 people were engaging with your posts before the buy then you had a 10% engagement rate. After the buy, you will still have that same 100 people engaging but now you have only a 1% engagement rate.
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Algorithm
- Both Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms will begin to penalize your content in News Feeds because it will think the content is not relevant because of the low engagement rate. Your follower number might look good at first glance but your content will not be getting nearly the amount of eyeballs you might have gotten before.
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Pro Tip:
- Instead of buying social media followers, grow your following the right way by posting value-adding content, engaging with your audience and employing a smart boost/ad buying strategy.