Is There a Way to Achieve Fast Instagram Growth Without Being Banned?

By: Sumeet_Manhas

Marketing today is a very different prospect than it was just ten or twenty years ago. Print media is nowhere near as important as it once was, and a strong digital marketing campaign is essential for business today.
 
One popular way to promote products and brands today is through the use of social media.
 
Clearly, Facebook is the whale here, but Instagram isn’t so far behind now. Although the company likes to keep its figures secret, it was reported last year that the website had reached 2 billion active users.

 
Not all is good with Instagram however. 3 years ago, millions of influencers’ data was leaked and recently, the CEO had to testify before Congress about the company.
 
Nevertheless, Instagram is still vital for businesses when it comes to digital marketing. Influencers and brands have managed to use the platform to increase revenue, and grow their audience.
 
This is important to understand. Instagram is all about getting an engaged audience. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to grow this at a rapid rate, or is it?
 

The importance of Instagram for business

Brands previously would often rely on glossy adverts in magazines, billboards, or expensive TV adverts. They might use celebrity endorsements, or produce very creative advertising.
 
Guinness went through a very creative period with their striking television advertising. During their time, they were among the most expensive adverts ever.
 
Now though, the internet allows another option for marketers. Influencers are more likely to be used instead of actors or musicians. Though, it could be said that many influencers are celebrities in their own right now.
 
Instagram allows brands to advertise products through influencers in a unique way. While the public has always been skeptical of celebrity endorsements, they appear to trust influencers more.
 
Instagram has made a platform where anyone can gain a loyal following, and then recommend products from brand tie-ins. You just need to find that audience.

What hacks are there for quick growth on Instagram?

Some people will go to unusual lengths to gain a bigger audience. One individual hacked The Independent news outlet just to gain more followers.
 
Growing a following on Instagram can add up to be very hard work. There aren’t hacks to get more followers as such, but there are ways to achieve it.
 
Firstly, take advantage of the Instagram algorithm. This is what determines which posts are shown in a feed. Put simply, the algorithm decides how likely a user is to engage with a post and then places it in the feed at an appropriate position.
 
To improve how visible your posts are means understanding just how this piece of code works.
 
You can improve your posts’ visibility by using hashtags, posting at the best time of the day, being consistent with your content but also diverse, and by following the latest content.
 
Other ways to grow an audience include using an Instagram growth service. These services promise to increase your following rapidly. Or you could take an Instagram marketing course to improve your skills.
 
There are a number of other ways to increase your following, and these include buying likes and views.

Can you buy likes and views legally?

Buying likes and story views is a contentious subject. It is seen by some as unethical and is prohibited by Instagram itself.
 
Growing your following and audience engagement rapidly can set off alarm bells. If you have been steadily gaining a few followers every day, suddenly gaining a thousand likes might be seen as a red flag.
 
Instagram doesn’t like people paying for extra views and likes, and for good reason.
 
One of the reasons that Instagram influencers work so well, is that their audience trusts them. Brands like them because they know they can literally influence their audience just by using a particular product or mentioning it.
 
If there are fake likes and views on an influencer’s account, then it is undermining the very point of them. Especially, if they are using bots to bloat the numbers.
 
Then there are growth services that promise to boost your audience.

What will you gain by using paid-for growth services?

The clear advantage of these services is that they will boost your following swiftly. They will take the hard work out of gaining new followers, and some will manage your account for you.
 
According to Unmetric, Nike is the biggest brand on this platform. While trailing behind some celebrities, they still have over 90 million followers. While most companies cannot hope to achieve these figures, they can still use Instagram successfully in their marketing campaign as long as they have an engaged audience.
 
Reputable growth services will only seek out individuals and companies that would have an interest in you. For example, if you were selling skateboards, they would find people that regularly posted about skating, or were part of this subculture.
 
A good service will look for organic growth, will avoid bots, and will manage your rate of growth. This is important to note as this is where you can find yourself banned.
 
A growth service that adds 2,000 fake accounts to your following is likely to get you banned instead of helping.

What disadvantages are there to growth services?

While you may find you quickly grow your following, you may experience some issues too.
 
Not all growth services are the same. Some offer false promises and may lose you followers.
 
If you add bots and fake accounts you create a genuine risk of turning off your real audience. You may lose the trust of your fans, and with that, any chance of creating revenue through Instagram.
 
Many growth services will actively manage your account and go searching for new followers. This means that you need to give your login details and password to a stranger over the internet.
 
This is never, ever, a good idea.

Do growth services actually work?

There are many reputable growth services available, and many have solid reviews from happy customers.
 
If you employ a good service that understands your particular niche, then they might gain extra followers.
 
Understanding your target audience is a critical part of any growth success. More than 51 percent of users on Instagram are male, according to a report from Statista in October 2021.
 
This means that there is a fairly even spread of male to female users, and should suit anyone’s needs. However, a poor growth service may not understand that you are marketing to a particular demographic, such as 20 to 30-year-olds, and start adding accounts from older people.
 
The key to gaining from your following is to make sure they engage with your content. Having the wrong audience will boost your numbers, but will not improve conversions or sales.
 
The answer then is yes, a growth service could work, but only if they understand your audience and goals.

Summary

Adding too many followers in one hit will almost certainly put your account under scrutiny. Using growth services is not illegal, but it is a violation of the platform's terms of service.
 
So, if you are looking to expand your following quickly, do so with care. Putting in the hours is still the best way to get a truly engaged audience.
 
However, a good growth service used correctly, could increase your audience without any problems.

By Sumeet Manhas

© 2022 Copyright Sumeet Manhas - All Rights Reserved

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