Buying followers? - 10 things to know about Instagram

Buying followers on Instagram? Yes, it's more common than you might think. We list 10 things you might want to know about Instagram, from dirty tricks to clever ones. Of course, we would love to hear your experiences and thoughts!

Buying followers - and other things to know about Instagram

I (Helena) took over our Instagram account @freedomtravelnews from Peter a few months ago. He had grown tired of the channel and I can partly understand why - in the midst of inspiration and beautiful photos, ugliness and dishonesty also thrive.

However, I've come to enjoy Instagram and have engaged in telling "our story" while scrolling through everyone else's stories. When I start something, I like to go all in and I've been reading lots of articles about Instagram to learn how it all works. Here are 10 things I've learnt, from buying followers to the death of Instagram.

Instagram is for regular users

First of all, before we get into the 10 points, we want to emphasise that Instagram is primarily for regular users. The whole point of the app is to be able to share photos and films - and take part in other people's photos and films.

At the same time, Instagram has proved to be an excellent channel for influencers, and the following ten points are perhaps mainly about this type of user. But hopefully it is just as interesting for others - not least for companies that want to collaborate with influencers, of course!

1. Some influencers buy followers on Instagram

After scrolling the followers of a number of infleuncers, I realise that some have bought followers. Purchased followers are quite easy to recognise. They often have no profile photo, sometimes have strange names with numbers in them, and tend to use language we don't understand.

The most obvious is that they come in clusters, preferably several hundred at a time. The followers in the picture are examples of a Swedish influencer's followers, and come in a succession of hundreds of similar ones. Real people that companies want to collaborate to reach? It's up to the companies to decide!

2. It's easy to buy followers (and likes) on Instagram

That buy followers for Instagram is both simple and cheap. All you have to do is Google to find different organisations offering the service. Purchased followers are often robots and not really interested in your content. Therefore, if you want, you can also buy "engagement" - that is, pay for likes and comments in your preferred language. Still, it's not about real people or genuine interest.

3. It can pay penalise buying followers on Instagram

In a way, we have to admit that buying followers on Instagram might be worthwhile in some cases, as some companies only want to work with influencers with a high number of followers (regardless of authenticity). On the other hand, there are major risks. Firstly, you can easily be exposed (and what does that say about credibility?). Secondly, engagement will be low (unless you also regularly buy likes and comments), which is not good for your account.

4. Many companies are (still) only looking at the number of followers?

One of the reasons why some influencers buy followers is that many companies are blind to the number of followers. We've heard companies that have a policy of only working with influencers who have at least 8k or 20k followers.

Of course, this type of policy means that some influencers are tempted to buy a few extra hundred or thousand followers in order to be considered for collaborations. In fact, companies could look at so much more than the follower count (not least because it doesn't always reflect the truth), such as, for example:

• Relevance of the followers (Are they genuine? What countries do they live in? What age?).
• Quality of content (photos and films)
• Engagement from followers (likes and comments)

5. Some influencers are committed to their "Follow/Following ratio"

The "Follower/Following Ratio" refers to the ratio of followers to followers. Regular users often follow about as many people as they are followed by. However, some major artists may have several million followers, while they themselves only follow a small number.

Influencers may also have more followers than they follow themselves, and some struggle to achieve a similar 'status' to celebrities, for example by buying followers (point 1) or by following/unfollowing (point 6). To calculate your "Follow/Following Ratio", take your number of followers and divide it by the number of people you follow. The result can then, according to different sites, be interpreted as follows:

• <0.5 Spammy account
• 0.5-1 Suspicious account
• 1-2 Normal account
• 2-10 Micro-influencers
• 10+ Influencers

6. Follow/unfollow technique is popular (and annoying)

Many Instagram accounts trying to grow on Instagram use the follow/unfollow technique. At best, it involves following others and hoping they follow back - and after a few days, unfollowing those who didn't want to follow back.

The worst case scenario (which is unfortunately very common) is to follow others and hope they follow back - and after a few days unfollow everyone, including those who actually started following. Personally, I think the first variant is ok, while the second is both annoying and cheeky.

7. you can verify your account - if you succeed

Have you noticed that some Instagram accounts have a blue tick after their username? This means that the account is verified by Instagram and that the user is who he/she/company claims to be.

Anyone can register their desire to be verified and the application process is relatively simple (go to "settings" and "account" and "request verification"), but getting the request accepted is more difficult. To be accepted, you must have an account that is "authentic, unique, complete and noteworthy".

8. you can plan your flow with apps

9. Stories are more popular than feeds

Among long-time Instagram users, "Instagram Stories" (events) seems to be much more popular than the traditional photo feed. Maybe it's because the demand for photos has increased and Stories has replaced what Instagram was once intended to be - an app where you can quickly post a simple and personalised here-and-now greeting. Stories themselves only last 24 hours, but if you want to, you can save them in "albums" so they're still there.

10. Instagram will die

Last but not least: Instagram will die. At least if you believe Alexander Bard. And maybe that's the case, that Instagram will die? We are primarily focusing on our blog, but as long as Instagram lives, we will be there too. Welcome to follow us on @freedomtravelnews!

Want to develop your Instagram and maybe even monetise it? Read more here about how to make money on Instagram.

Do you use Instagram? How do you think? Please tell us!