Anything worth doing doesn’t come easy.
Growth services may seem like a great shortcut for success on social media, but the dangers and cons far outweigh the pros.
Like just about every social media platform in existence, breaking through the noise and competition on Instagram is difficult. However, when you do breakthrough, the rewards can be incredibly life-changing.
And that’s why it’s so tempting for many businesses to attempt to take a shortcut by using a third-party Instagram growth service.
But should you? Well, we’ll get into that a little later on. For now, let’s learn some more about growth services and what they claim to offer.
What are growth services?
In the simplest terms possible, growth services are third-party apps that work for you to help grow your presence on Instagram. Essentially, they’re bots that complete actions (commenting, liking, following) from your Instagram account that traditionally help with reach and engagement.
Sounds great, right? Not really. These services pose a pretty significant security risk, and you could run the risk of having your Instagram account deactivated for violating Instagram’s terms.
Until AI advances to the point in which it is indistinguishable from a human, there’s simply no way they can replicate the level of authenticity required to truly drive engagement on Instagram.
Bots aren’t human, and they aren’t able to use discretion. The last thing you want is a bot from a growth service accidentally commenting on an inappropriate post or a post that doesn’t align with your brand’s values and identity. Imagine being caught up in a PR storm and having no explanation other than to admit to using a growth service. That’s not going to make your business seem particularly trustworthy or ethical, is it?
Are growth services illegal?
Short answer: no. That’s right, using third-party growth services isn’t going to see you wind up behind bars. They do, however, violate Instagram’s Terms of Use.
But there’s a bigger issue here. What’s the main reason you should be active on Instagram? To make money? Sure. To get Insta famous? Maybe. At the end of the day, the biggest reason you should be active on Instagram is to make meaningful connections with people and reach new customers, and there’s nothing authentic about the interactions a growth service might generate for your business.
Growth services will (eventually) kill your engagement
Let’s say you do decide to take the risk and go with a growth service. At first, things seem great. You’re getting a load of new followers, comments, and likes. A few months down the line, however, things start to dry up. Sure, your account has grown in size, but now all of your posts are only getting a few comments and likes.
When you boost your engagement through bots and artificial means, you’re not actually engaging with accounts that will truly interact with you. In the long run, this will hurt you when you’re trying to connect with real people.
Having a large following looks great on paper because it gives you the appearance of a trustworthy brand. However, when new people discover your account with thousands of followers and almost no engagement, it will undoubtedly raise a few red flags.
