Our opinion on how to get fake followers on Instagram

If you’re struggling to grow your following, you’ve probably Googled “how to get fake followers on Instagram for free” in the middle of the night. Maybe you’re desperate to charge more for your posts. Or maybe you’re a brand manager hoping to get street cred for your business’s account. You might even know people who’ve bought fake followers and say it worked for them.

But is it worth it? For us, the answer is no. But you don’t have to take our word for it: We’ll explore why it’s not worth it and how to grow your account the right way.

What are fake followers?

Fake followers are exactly what they sound like:

These are accounts that follow you but aren’t real followers. They certainly won’t add meaningful engagement to your posts… and most of the time, they’re not even real people.

Yep, that’s right–usually, these accounts are created in bulk using fake email addresses. There’s not a real person behind them.

Fake followers come in all kinds–some are just random usernames with no real effort to build out the account, while others have posts, profile pictures, or a bio. One thing they often share in common is that they’re based in random countries where there are not many regulations to prevent people from making fake accounts. (Or, the regulations aren’t enforced, so it’s easy for them to get around them.)

Selling followers is an industry, so finding out how to get fake followers on Instagram is pretty easy. Some of the companies selling fake followers are doing quite well. But just because “lots of people are doing it” doesn’t mean it’s a good idea–after all, it doesn’t help you grow in the long run.

Should influencers or brands buy fake followers?

No. Buying followers is a bad idea, no matter what kind of Instagram account you’re running. Here are some specific ways it can hurt you:

Influencers

• It can make you lose brand deals. Brand owners aren’t stupid–they know some influencers buy fake followers, and they’re super easy to spot, even if they don’t have much Instagram knowledge. Most people could just look at your followers' accounts and spot the fake ones. (BTW–if you’re wondering how to get rid of fake followers on Instagram, you can do the same thing and block the sketchy ones)In our time working with brands in this space, we’ve seen brands refuse to work with certain creators BECAUSE they had too many fake followers. So, while buying followers may make you look good in the short term, you could lose a lot of money in the medium to long term.
• Second, you can get banned.

Meta, TikTok, and all other social media platforms have strict policies against getting fake followers. If they catch you, you can lose your account. Once you’re blacklisted and banned, it can be really hard to get access to your account again. Do you want to lose all the work you’ve put in already?

It’s a much BETTER approach to slowly build a community around something you’re passionate about. If you keep at it, you’ll slowly build a following that you can monetize. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.

Oh, and by the way, follow–for–follow loops have similar issues. In fact, they’re problematic enough that at Social Cat, we have a policy of refusing all influencer applications if we suspect they’ve bought fake followers or engaged in follow-for-follow loops. And if someone manages to bypass this verification, they’ll be banned later.

Brands

If you’re a brand, there’s NO point in buying followers. Influencers, at least, might think that buying followers means they’ll be able to charge more for collaborations. But there’s no reason to do it in your case.

Yes, sometimes brands DO buy followers to seem more established or credible. But buying fake followers (who are SUPER easy to spot) undermines your credibility–and honestly, the stress of being banned makes it not worth it.

What are the alternatives to getting fake followers?

We’re glad you asked. Instead of wondering how to get fake followers on Instagram, some legitimate alternatives can help you grow faster as a brand or influencer.

Ads

Meta has a FANTASTIC option to help you grow your account: running traffic ads to your social profile. (This also works for other platforms, like TikTok!)

This is the best option because they’ll show your posts to relevant users who are interested in your niche or industry.

Ads can work well for brands and influencers hoping to grow their accounts, and you don’t have to spend much to see results–$50-$100 per month is a great place to start.

Organic growth

Of course, if you’d rather not spend money, there’s always the tried-and-true method of organically growing your account by posting quality content regularly. If you use hashtags and relevant captions and regularly engage on the platform, you can start gaining traction!

However, this will NOT happen overnight, and tons of people online complain about it. If you’re frustrated by how slow it is to grow your account, try running ads or collaborating with influencers!

Collaborate with influencers

This works SUPER well for brands trying to grow on Instagram or TikTok. If you want more followers, work with influencers. When their audience sees your cool products, they’ll want to follow you!

Social Cat makes this super easy. We have vetted micro-influencers who can promote your brand on Instagram or TikTok.

However, this can work well for influencers, too! By collaborating with other influencers–for example, making content or giving each other shoutouts–you can share followers interested in what you both cover. Instead of participating in shady follow-for-follow loops, you’re getting yourself in front of actual followers who will be interested in what you say.

What happens if I buy fake followers?

If you get caught by Meta or TikTok buying followers, you’re in trouble. Your account could be banned permanently. Getting fake followers is strictly prohibited on all social media platforms–and they’ve been cracking down on it recently.

On top of that–if you DO try to get your account back after you’re banned, support for these platforms is a nightmare. You’ll spend weeks trying to talk to an actual human in customer support, and there’s no guarantee they’ll restore your account.

Is it worth it?

So, considering that buying fake followers doesn’t help your account in meaningful ways and it *could* get you banned for life, do you think it’s worth it?

To us, it doesn’t seem worth the risk of losing that nicely polished profile to get a few random followers. Or losing credibility with potential followers. It’s much better to use one of the alternatives we’ve shared in this article!