How many social media followers do you have on your business’s social media platforms? Would you like more? Everyone does. But if you’re like most entrepreneurs, you have limited time and/or funds to invest. After all, you have an entire business to run.
So when a black hat or unethical, marketer promises an instant boost in followers for next to nothing, how can you resist?
My fellow entrepreneurs and hustlers, I hope you do exactly that: resist. [bctt tweet=”Buying followers may seem like it will solve all of your marketing and social media woes, but this practice can actually do a lot of damage to your brand and it won’t help your bottom line.” username=”vividvisualsol”]
The Temptation
Some of the most popular celebrities on Twitter bought their followers.
What makes this strategy so appealing? It’s Faster and Cheaper.
We won’t sugarcoat it. Buying social media followers is the easy way to go. For under $100, you could get thousands of Twitter followers and you can start buying Instagram likes at around $3.
You’ll Have Your Own Instant Bandwagon
If all your friends like Kohl’s on Facebook, you probably think, “Kohls must be doing something right.” Even if you don’t know what that something is, you’re more likely to at least look them up and see what they’re all about – maybe even follow them yourself.
The Downside
Unfortunately, great social media marketing isn’t that easy. There are some huge downsides:
- You’ll lose credibility. Celebrities and brands who appear to have purchased followers have come under criticism for their unethical tactics.
- It won’t help your bottom line. Fake followers aren’t actually interested in your brand – or buying your products, for that matter
- Your reach will be limited. Just having followers may make you look popular, but the real benefit of social media is getting other people to talk you up so you don’t have to work so hard talking yourself up. Fake followers don’t comment or engage with your real followers, essentially killing your community before it even starts.
- You won’t be able to tell what people really think about your brand, which is yet another benefit of social media marketing you’ll miss out on
- Social networks are cracking down on this practice. You could lose your fake followers at any time.
How to Get Real Followers, Organically
Instead of wasting your marketing budget on black hat tactics, why not invest in strategies that help you get the most out of your budget, no matter how small?
Here are four social media strategies for gaining new followers organically:
- Post useful, helpful, and entertaining content that your ideal customers will love
- Engage with followers to build a sense of community
- Create a Facebook promotion that asks people to follow you and post to win a prize
- Add social media links to your website, business cards, advertisements, etc.
Sure, it’s not as easy as writing a check and watching your numbers magically grow, but the followers you get will be real people who actually want to hear what you’re saying and buy your products. And isn’t that the point?
Need help attracting the right leads organically? Vivid Visual Solutions can help! Click here to schedule a session today.
