As a brand, it makes perfect sense to want more followers. Reaching 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K, and so on follower milestones is an amazing achievement. At Gossip Genie, we understand and strategically develop plans to grow each account, but it should also be said that the quality of followers always takes precedence over the total number of followers. Here are 3 reasons why your follower count should never be the main goal of your social strategy.
1. Large number of followers ≠ big time engagement
I’ve seen it time and again, especially with “influencer” accounts. They have well over 100K followers but are only receiving 600 likes and a handful of comments on each post. Engagement is always the metric I stress to my clients. We want people to like, comment, share, and interact with our post. These actions are far more important than a simple follow on Instagram.
2. Bots won’t buy
If you want 15K Instagram followers, you can buy them in an instant. Obviously, this strategy is never recommended. But my immediate question would be “why?” What will that number of followers get you? Pride? Yes. Of course, over time we want to see our client’s social media followers exceed that, but as I just said. It. Takes. Time. Instead of investing money in bots (that won’t buy your product by the way), spend your time engaging and growing the audience you already have.
3. Followings Fluctuate
If you’re looking at the number of followers as your most important metric, then you should prepare to be disappointed. Followers come and go. Some weeks you’ll gain 30 and other weeks you’ll lose 15. Social media is a fluid space, and you shouldn’t put too much pressure on the little number at the top of a social account. Instead, focus on the ROI of social. Check out your google analytics for traffic referral or host a special promo for your followers and see how many fans engage.
Whether you have 50,000 or 15,000 fans, remember that numbers aren’t everything.
