Does follower quality actually matter on SMM panels? (Instagram growth question)

GAETANOS

GAETANOS

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Hey guys,

I have around $78 in credit left. Currently at 78K organic followers on Instagram and trying to hit 100K.

My main question: does the quality of followers you buy actually make a measurable difference?

Here's my thinking:
- Cheap bot followers ($0.60-1.10/1K) just inflate the number, no engagement
- Premium "real" followers ($90-130/1K) supposedly don't drop and look more natural
- But in both cases, they don't interact with your content anyway

So the only real downside I can see is:
1. Engagement rate drops (looks bad to brands/agencies)
2. Possible account flag if spike is too obvious
 
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Yes, be careful because if you're ordering poor quality followers your accounts will be impacted. To be honest, I'm not a fan of SMM panels, but thats rather a personal choice. If you buy followers on an SMM Panel, choose them carefully. Premium "real" followers sometimes can be the opposite of good because they're hacked account and when they realize they are subscribed to an account they didn't want to, they unfollow and it kills everything.
 
Thanks for the insight on hacked accounts, that's actually a point I hadn't considered. Makes sense that "real" followers who didn't opt in will unfollow fast. My observation from the scene though: I see artists in my genre (electronic) growing from 30K to 150K in 3-4 months, clearly boosted, and their reach seems completely fine. They're getting bookings, their reels hit explore, engagement looks normal. So either they're buying engagement too to compensate, or the algorithm doesn't penalize as hard as people say or both.

Im thinking of just getting a few here and there and thats it. Do you have a recommendation for followers in that case?
 
GAETANOS said:
Thanks for the insight on hacked accounts, that's actually a point I hadn't considered. Makes sense that "real" followers who didn't opt in will unfollow fast. My observation from the scene though: I see artists in my genre (electronic) growing from 30K to 150K in 3-4 months, clearly boosted, and their reach seems completely fine. They're getting bookings, their reels hit explore, engagement looks normal. So either they're buying engagement too to compensate, or the algorithm doesn't penalize as hard as people say or both.

Im thinking of just getting a few here and there and thats it. Do you have a recommendation for followers in that case?
Click to expand...
If I could see those problems I'd be able to give an insight and check if thee engagement is bought or real. Although it'd just be a guess.
 
GAETANOS said:
https://www.instagram.com/cloudy.mp3_?igsh=OTJ5ejkwbTlyZXIx

https://www.instagram.com/808.oguz?igsh=cm9hMTk0NXZiczlq

https://www.instagram.com/novah.music?igsh=MWxvOGN1YmF1d3VrYw==

https://www.instagram.com/kukocologne?igsh=MXF1djNhbnM1bjF0bQ==
Click to expand...
Looks like real engagement to be frank.
 
I know for a fact that at least 2 of them are botted. Especially compared to other niches you see that the shares and saves are wayyy higher then compared to other profiles which could be an indicator for engagement packages (likes, saves, shares) etc
 
Yeah quality def matters especially for engagement rate :suspicious: cheap bots tank your stats fast premium looks cleaner but still risky if growth spikes too hard o_O Balance is key ;)
 
I think follower count helps with perception for brands, but not with reach.
 
If you'd ever want to buy fake followers, which I do not recommend (but obviously I'm biased), I'd go with:

1. Drip feed mandatory

2. Ensure the location of them matches the actual locations of
your followers (basically, if you have 3 different countries, you
drip feed 3 different locations and try to maintain that ratio)

3. Try to post a lot at the same time.

The big issue is how the Instagram algorithm works: it's a wave-based algorithm.

It starts by showing your content to a subset of your followers, and if it's validated, it goes to a larger portion THEN to new people. If the majority of your followers are bots, you don't even pass the first stage.
 
GAETANOS said:
Thanks for the insight on hacked accounts, that's actually a point I hadn't considered. Makes sense that "real" followers who didn't opt in will unfollow fast. My observation from the scene though: I see artists in my genre (electronic) growing from 30K to 150K in 3-4 months, clearly boosted, and their reach seems completely fine. They're getting bookings, their reels hit explore, engagement looks normal. So either they're buying engagement too to compensate, or the algorithm doesn't penalize as hard as people say or both.

Im thinking of just getting a few here and there and thats it. Do you have a recommendation for followers in that case?
Click to expand...
You can buy followers by posting in the WTB (want to buy) section here: https://www.blackhatworld.com/forums/want-to-buy.92/ Just buy from members who have a Jr VIP or marketplace seller subscription and you'll be fine.
 
Depends on why you're buying followers. If you're after social proof, account quality doesn't matter much. But if you buy a lot of followers, you should make sure that for every new post, you also buy a proportional amount of engagement. As the owner of a site that sells SMM services, I see a lot of different people, and some get confused. They think that if they buy followers, they're essentially buying customers, which is obviously wrong.
 
GAETANOS said:
Hey guys,

I have around $78 in credit left. Currently at 78K organic followers on Instagram and trying to hit 100K.

My main question: does the quality of followers you buy actually make a measurable difference?

Here's my thinking:
- Cheap bot followers ($0.60-1.10/1K) just inflate the number, no engagement
- Premium "real" followers ($90-130/1K) supposedly don't drop and look more natural
- But in both cases, they don't interact with your content anyway

So the only real downside I can see is:
1. Engagement rate drops (looks bad to brands/agencies)
2. Possible account flag if spike is too obvious
Click to expand...
The higher the quality, the better
 
Quality matters cause ig tests your posts on followers first. Cheap ones kill reach fast.
 
Quality only matters for how it looks, not how it performs

Both types won’t engage anyway, as you said… but cheap ones usually drop faster and look more obvious if someone checks

The biggest issue is exactly what you mentioned: engagement rate gets diluted, and that can hurt you more than the follower boost helps

If you’re already at 78k organic i’d be careful… adding dead weight might do more harm than good long term
 
There are "influencers" with hundreds of thousands of fake subscribers.
But they know why they are doing "boosting" their account with fake subscribers. Their goal is to sell advertising more expensive.

But what is your goal for this? Because if it's just for a nicer looking number, definitely don't do this.
 
GAETANOS said:
Hey guys,

I have around $78 in credit left. Currently at 78K organic followers on Instagram and trying to hit 100K.

My main question: does the quality of followers you buy actually make a measurable difference?

Here's my thinking:
- Cheap bot followers ($0.60-1.10/1K) just inflate the number, no engagement
- Premium "real" followers ($90-130/1K) supposedly don't drop and look more natural
- But in both cases, they don't interact with your content anyway

So the only real downside I can see is:
1. Engagement rate drops (looks bad to brands/agencies)
2. Possible account flag if spike is too obvious
Click to expand...

There are people who sell engaging followers service as well. Where the followers also engage with the content regularly. But these services charge a monthly fees ofcourse. And I'm not sure if 78$ budget might cut it for these type of services, as these are far from cheap, when compared with buying 1-off followers from the SMM panels.
 
these botted followers are only good to establish some initial cred, thats it. for example if someone is creating bunch of burner accounts, having 400+ followers establishes trust. at your level, what difference can it even make. what are you trying to do land brand deals you've gotta hit these small-mid size brands with free content initially to reach them, 1. reach them 2. get known for value professionalism ability to talk raw unfiltered value 3. collaborate and get paid
 
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