But these practices actually can cause your business more harm than good. One reason is that Instagram is looking to crack down on fake users and accounts that are buying these users. Instagram wants to make sure that accounts are not misleading their followers or instilling a false sense of trust in them. If you engage with these fake accounts or load up on fake bot followers, you run the risk of Instagram deleting those accounts, which will delete them as followers. Not to mention, in some cases, Instagram may even put restrictions on your own account for trying to build your follower base with fake accounts.
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Another reason not to buy Instagram followers is that none of those followers will turn into customers. Since many of these accounts are fake, they can’t actually provide any value as potential leads or customers. Sure, you might appear more legit with 20k followers as opposed to 5k and that legitimacy might turn into a few extra real followers who may have not followed you otherwise. But for the most part, people follow accounts because they like the content or the product, not because they have tons of followers. You’ll see much more success with fewer numbers of followers who are really engaged with your product and content rather than a ton of followers who don’t comment, like, share, or buy.

Another reason to target real Instagram followers is that they’re more likely to buy your product. Whether you’re advertising a product through an affiliate partnership or selling your own, you’re much likely to convert a sale with a lead who chose to follow your account on their own accord.
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A third reason to focus on gaining real Instagram followers is that you’ll actually be able to build legitimacy. Modern day consumers and Instagram users are quick to identify accounts that seem fake or seem to have an inflated number of followers. With Instagram followers who are actually following your account because they like what you post, you’ll likely have more engagement on each post which means when someone new visits your page. People look for this engagement (likes, comments, shares) as a litmus test for authenticity. Accounts with tons of followers but not a lot of likes might appear fake or inauthentic.
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One final reason that real Instagram followers are the real path to growth for your business is that you can actually gain insights about your customers and audiences from those real followers. Watching how people respond to your posts and tracking metrics that measure their engagement can give you tons of insight on not just what type of content you should be posting, but also how you should be addressing customer pain points and how you should be building and refining your product. This type of direct user data is invaluable for businesses, brands, and individuals and having a strong base of engaged, real Instagram followers is a great way to get consistent, reliable market data.
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Like we said, building your base of these real followers is much harder to do than buying fake ones. But the payoff is much higher. And while it may seem daunting to start building your following with only a handful of Instagram followers, there are tons of tools and strategies out there to help you. Remember to post consistent, quality content and comment, like, and share other content that is relevant to your brand.