When it comes to social media platforms, Instagram still remains one of the most powerful platforms for business, influencers, and normal people. As the platform has over 2 billion active users, it is the perfect place for creative self-expression, brand development, and communication with the audience. However, with the recent changes that Instagram has made to its interface, gaining followers has become much more difficult, particularly for those who want to buy their followers.
Since September 2024, Instagram has made a lot of changes to its algorithm to fight bots and fake accounts. Consequently, previous ways of purchasing followers no longer produce the desired results. But new services, like the enhanced services of Soc-Promotion, are already responding to these changes and providing legal means to increase your audience. Now let’s see how these changes are affecting the follower game on Instagram, and what you can do to gain a loyal and engaged audience.
Instagram’s Algorithm Update: The End of the Bot Era
Over the years, many users decided to purchase followers from third-party services in order to increase their social authority and market reach. These were the bought followers, who were often unreal or inactive, or even bots and thus did not contribute to real interaction. Instagram has not remained sparing in these regards; it has been actively trying to fight inauthentic activity on its platform. The most recent update of the target site was in September 2024 and it made these restrictions even more stringent.
The new Instagram algorithm uses advanced machine learning to identify suspicious activity that looks like it is being done by bots. This includes:
- Account Activity Monitoring: To determine the metrics of a user, Instagram monitors the activities that a user undertakes in the application for instance the frequency of posting, frequency of interaction with other users and the activities that the user carries out for instance liking and commenting among others. Abnormal behaviour – such as following and unfollowing many people at once or a spike in how often the account is used – are a cause for concern.
- AI-Powered Bot Detection: New generation of AI can easily detect a bot account through their behavior and interaction pattern, as well as their lack of personal identity.
- Strengthened Verification Processes: Instagram is also increasing the verification process to check that more users are providing real contact details and act like real people or companies.
These updates have immensely made it difficult for people to gain more followers artificially. This is something that was very rife a few years ago where you could just buy a few thousand followers and that would mean your account had social proof. Now, it means that users of the Instagram platform have to turn to more natural ways of getting the growth they want.
Risks Associated with Buying Followers
As increasingly, companies and celebrities are deleting their bot followers, it is now dangerous to use follower buying services that involve fake accounts. Instagram’s new feature also has increased measures on the punishment for those who violate their community guidelines such as buying followers. Accounts that are flagged for suspicious activity might experience:
- Shadowbans: People will not be banned but their posts will be less visible than usual. Some of them may no longer turn up in hashtags or search results, thus making their account nearly invisible to new followers.
- Decreased Engagement: So, when the platform cleans up bots, those who have previously purchased followers will experience a sudden decline in engagement because the bots are no longer liking and commenting on their posts.
- Account Suspension: Rarely, Instagram may terminate those accounts that were identified to be using paid followers or any other dishonest conduct.
Given these shifts, it is high time to turn to more realistic approaches to increasing your audience and paying attention to the quality of engagement, not the quantity.
Organic Growth Strategies: A New Trend in Developing Business
Given the recent changes in the Instagram algorithm, a lot of people are searching for a more natural way of growing their audience. It does not happen in a day, but the benefit of organic growth is that the followers you get are real and active and more likely to engage with you. Here are some proven strategies for fostering organic growth on Instagram:
- Create High-Quality Content: The first way is to constantly create content that your target audience will engage with on Instagram. Use good quality images, captions, and stories that are interesting and informative and definitely gives value to your followers.
- Use Instagram’s Features: There are many ways of interacting with the audience on Instagram: Reels, Stories, IGTV, live – the list goes on. Here, it is possible to attract new followers who are not only interested in following your profile, but also in consuming its content.
- Engage With Your Audience: As a concept, engagement is a bilateral process. It’s not enough to share content – engage with your audience by responding to comments, answering messages, and even liking or commenting on their content. This not only helps in building relationship but also helps in improving the visibility on the platform.
- Leverage Hashtags and Location Tags: This is because Hashtags and geotags increase the chances of other users finding your posts. Focus on identifying the hashtags that are currently trending within your business niche and then incorporate popular hashtags as well as niche hashtags in the process.
- Collaborate with Influencers: Collaborating with other influencers or other businesses within your niche will help you gain followers within a short time. If you choose the right accounts to work with, influencer marketing can quickly help you gain new followers.
- Host Giveaways or Contests: This is a more exciting method of increasing your followers as well as involving your existing followers. When people are asked to tag friends or share the content for a chance to win, audience increases on its own.
- Be Consistent: However, one of the most critical factors that can help you grow an Instagram following is consistency. Updating your account regularly will keep it active and engage the attention of the members of your audience.
Soc-Promotion: Capturing the New Instagram Algorithm
Although many follower buying services have been affected by the recent changes of Instagram, some of them are learning how to follow these new rules. As a prime example, consider Soc-Promotion which has had to change its approach in accordance with the recent rules imposed by Instagram on bot and fake accounts.
Soc-Promotion now specialises in real follower growth where they use artificial intelligence in identifying real users who can interact with your page. Unlike other follower selling services, Soc-Promotion doesn’t provide shortcuts or fake followers. Instead, it provides a sustainable way to build a meaningful, engaged audience through:
- Targeted Follower Campaigns: With demographic data and user behavior analytics, Soc-Promotion enables you to find out real people who are willing to engage with the kind of content you share. This is because it will lead to more long-term participation and followership.
- Compliance with Instagram’s Guidelines: Soc-Promotion is developed to be safe for using within the framework of Instagram’s policies, so your account will not get blocked for suspected cheating. Without resorting to buying bot-based followers, Soc-Promotion helps to promote your account in a more natural way and as such keeps your account safe.
- Real-Time Analytics: It has detailed statistics of the growth rate of the followers, the engagement rate and the target audience. This data helps users to adjust their tactics and focus on the desired audience even more.
In a world where it is now more dangerous and less efficient to buy followers, and where social media influencers are facing a growing risk of losing their entire audience overnight, Soc-Promotion is Výsledkem jejich nových nástrojů a taktik jsou bezpečné a efektivnější metody, které nahrazují neefektivní nákupy stalkerů.
Conclusion: The trends of Follower Growth on Instagram in the Future.
Fake followers on Instagram are no longer going to be an option, in the way that they used to be. It is crucial for anyone who has an Instagram profile to know that as of September 2024 the algorithm of the social network has changed and focuses on real people’s interactions rather than on bots and fake activity. This is a new age in the expansion of community-based growth, where only the quality of your content and your engagement will make the difference.
For those who are keen on building a real, active audience on Instagram, it is high time to shift the attention to the genuine growth strategies. It is for such people that platforms like Soc-Promotion that have implemented the new rules of Instagram are a boon as they offer helping hand in getting more followers in a way that is completely within the norms of the platform. Thus, using high quality content, interacting with the audience and using the ethical techniques of growth, you can succeed in this new world of social networks and acquire the audience that will bring you value.