Here’s Why You Should Ditch Follower Bots for Organic Audience Growth
Will growing my followers from scratch take a lot of time? Yes. And these tips will show you it’s worth it.
Undeniably, when it comes to forging friendships and relationships, the real test lies in nurturing and maintaining those bonds.
Perhaps you’re dealing with a fear of the unknown since you’re new to social media and unsure how to truly invest and nurture a mutually fulfilling relationship with your followers and use a competitor’s profile as a vision board.
All these reasons are valid btw. You’re right to set achievable goals in order to attain growth, and it’s okay to not be in the know, in terms of social media, brand awareness, and user experience.
Keep reading to discover rational pieces of evidence as to why buying follower bots and striving to collect as many followers as possible, regardless of their interests, will only hurt your brand’s online presence and growth.
Buying followers or using bots violates the terms of service of most social media platforms
The practice of buying followers or using bots is generally considered to be against the terms of service of most social media platforms. For example, Instagram's Community Guidelines clearly state that users should not "post repetitive content" or "use bots or other automation software to engage with people on Instagram." Similarly, X's rules prohibit "artificially inflating account interactions," which includes buying followers or using bots. These guidelines and rules exist to protect the integrity and authenticity of the social media platform, as well as its users. When accounts engage in these deceptive practices, it can create a false impression of popularity or influence, which can ultimately harm the platform's reputation and the trust of its users.
Bots damage your online reputation and credibility
Buying followers or using bots to artificially inflate your social media metrics can harm your reputation and credibility in several ways. Firstly, it creates a false impression of popularity and engagement, which can be easily detected by others who are familiar with social media trends and practices. This can lead to others questioning the authenticity and credibility of your brand, product, or service.
Buying followers wastes your money and time
The followers you gain through these methods are often fake accounts, which means they are unlikely to engage with your content or become genuine customers. This can make it difficult to achieve your marketing goals. Additionally, many social media platforms have algorithms in place that detect and penalize accounts that use bots or engage in other forms of spammy behavior. This can result in your account being suspended or even permanently banned, which can be a major setback for your business or personal brand.
Using follower bots hurts your performance and reach
Social media algorithms prioritize content that receives high levels of engagement and relevance. Fake followers equal inactive accounts, meaning they won't engage with your content or contribute to your online community. This lack of engagement can negatively impact your reach.
How can I Grow My Audience Organically?
It's important to understand that social media growth requires effort and dedication. You need to start by defining who you are, what you do, and who your audience is. From there, you can conduct research to determine what your audience wants, needs, likes, dislikes, struggles with, and dreams of.
Keep reading to discover the boxes you left unticked and how your brand can adopt them as opposed to using follower bots.
?Are you searchable?
Visibility on Social Media is one of the key factors for growing your social media audience. This means that people can find you easily when they look for keywords related to your brand, niche, or industry. However, different social media platforms have different rules and features for making your account searchable. Here are some general tips that apply to most platforms:
?Are you engaging with users in and outside your niche?
To build a stronger connection with your followers, it's important to engage with them. You can do this by commenting, liking, sharing, following, tagging, mentioning, or collaborating with other users and accounts. Remember to respond to comments and messages, ask questions, and participate in conversations as well. By engaging with other influencers, commenting on posts, and joining groups or forums, you can attract new followers and expand your reach. This will help to increase your engagement rate, boost brand awareness, and ultimately grow your social media audience.
?Have you chosen optimal posting times?
To make the most of your social media presence, it's important to know when your audience is most active. Take a look at your automation tools' weekly calendar to find the best time to post. Additionally, set specific goals for each post, track your metrics, and analyze your results to continually improve your social media strategy. Be sure to allocate enough time for this task. While an hour per day is doable, spending 1.5 to 2 hours per day or one day per week for optimization can make you stand out. Remember, there are no shortcuts in the digital world. Putting in the hard work is essential, and there is no substitute for it.
?Are you driving traffic from other platforms to your primary platform?
One of the best ways to grow your audience organically is to leverage the traffic from other platforms where your potential customers and fans hang out. This can help you reach new audiences, increase your brand awareness, and drive more visitors to your website or social media profiles.
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Some of the platforms that you can use to drive traffic are:
?Are you leveraging third-party tools?
To grow your follower base and keep them engaged, it is important to have the right tools and resources to understand your audience, competitors, and content performance. Along with this, you should focus on producing captivating content and regularly posting to establish trust and credibility with your followers. As a business account owner, there are several tools available that can help you with your social media audience growth strategy. For instance, Buffer, and Sprout Social are useful tools that allow you to create and schedule content for various social platforms while also providing insights about your audience and performance. Analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Semrush provide you with valuable data about your audience demographics, interests, and behaviors, allowing you to tailor your content to their preferences. If you have a YouTube channel, TubeBuddy can help you optimize it, increase your views and subscribers, and provide you with advanced analytics. Additionally, Hashtagify is another helpful tool that can assist you in finding popular and relevant hashtags to use in your posts, improving your discoverability and engagement. These tools can be highly effective in helping you achieve your social media goals and reach your target audience. To optimize these processes, most of these tools have included the option of integrating your social media accounts.
?Do You Embrace Authenticity as a Core Value in Your Branding Efforts?
"A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment." - Scott Talgo
This quote explains the efficiency of creating a strong and lasting bond with your audience. Your brand must appeal to your potential audience’s rational mind and emotions.
Use consistent visual elements, like your logo and font, to make your brand more recognizable. To keep your audience engaged, switch up your content and find ways to be interesting and unpredictable. Keep in mind that people get bored quickly, so it's crucial to maintain their undivided attention and keep them coming back.
Today, 76% of social media users report encountering posts that lack verification or authenticity. Imagine your favorite clothing brand sharing a '100% sustainable materials' claim without proof. When it comes to your brand's presence on social platforms, steering clear of such unsubstantiated claims is important.
Authenticity not only safeguards your brand's integrity but also cultivates trust among your audience. By showcasing behind-the-scenes glimpses into your sustainable manufacturing process or sharing user stories about the positive environmental impact of your products, you not only avoid contributing to misinformation but also position your brand as a reliable source. This commitment to authenticity becomes a beacon, attracting organic followers drawn to the honesty and credibility your brand embodies.
?Do You Have What It Takes to Keep Up with Social Media Trends?
You’ve probably already made significant progress by checking off all of the other boxes above and establishing a growing follower base—congratulations on that achievement! However, this is not the moment to fall into complacency. It's time to maintain momentum. It’s time to adopt a mindset that’s focused on continuous learning and actively seek methods to elevate your skills or fine-tune your strategies. The ever-evolving landscape of social media demands perpetual adaptation and innovation to navigate shifting trends, algorithmic changes, and meet the evolving expectations of your audience.
One possible way to do this is:
I know this is becoming too long, but there’s something else you should know…
Is quantity entirely irrelevant?
Instagram users can engage with their favorite brands by liking and commenting on their posts. It is worthy of note, therefore, that the number of likes is a reliable indicator of engagement on an Instagram profile. Typically, the higher the engagement, the more customers and lucrative brand deals for the brand name.
Having a large social media following provides endless benefits, such as increasing the potential for a brand to influence its field, attracting more attention, and enhancing its notoriety, prestige, and importance in the public imagination. But these benefits are only meaningful if they translate into concrete sales that sustain the business.
Engagement is not the only factor that matters for digital businesses. While building a substantial social media audience is a crucial goal, the ultimate objective is sales and conversion.
That is why digital media have revolutionized advertising by allowing businesses to reach a large audience while simultaneously having precise statistical analysis of how their messages are consumed and what reactions they generate.
Viral campaigns on social networks can now be tracked for sales, registrations, subscriptions, and followers, providing valuable information that not only accounts for the success obtained but also serves for future social media campaigns. Therefore, in the digital world, businesses are becoming more and more selective about their media and advertising options and prefer those that provide guarantees about the specific results of carrying out a campaign.
In conclusion, having a large social media audience is not entirely irrelevant, as it can have a significant impact on a brand’s success. However, businesses must also focus on converting that audience into sales and measure their success to plan future campaigns. And while there may be shortcuts to increasing your Instagram following, taking the time to build genuine relationships is still the best approach.
With the right strategy, social media can be a powerful tool for digital businesses to achieve their objectives and build their credibility.
??to your social media marketing efforts!