Controversial Opinion: The Number of Instagram Followers Does Actually Matter

Why growing your audience is not a vanity metric.  

We have been told profusely not to focus on followers and likes regarding our social media content. Described as “vanity metrics”, we’re told we should instead focus on creating quality content that engages our desired audience, and the rest will follow.

That is true, to a point. However, the number of genuine* followers your account has does actually matter. The whole premise of a marketing funnel is the more people that know about you, the more people you can engage and nurture, and the more people you can ultimately convert.

Every brand requires a healthy top of the funnel, with many people that represent the desired audience. “Top of funnel” is also known as brand awareness, and one of the ways marketers measure brand awareness is by audience size.

(*Purchased followers rarely represent the ideal audience and therefore do not count.)

The Importance of Social Proof

Imagine this. You’re walking down a bustling street of cafés and in the mood for a delicious brunch. You spot two cafés side by side that you like the look of. One has a handful of people buzzing around, sipping mimosas and enjoying avocado on toast, and the other is empty.

So which one do you choose? Chances are you choose the mimosa sippers. You have no reason to believe the other one isn’t just as good, other than the fact that other people hadn’t chosen it before you.

When checking out a person’s account, the first thing we do is to look at the number of followers. An account with a larger following is akin to a cafe with a queue at the entrance. Both are examples of Social Proof.

This is actually very normal and well-documented behaviour. Social proof is the result of a deeply rooted psychological bias, also known as informational social influence.

“We are willing to place an enormous amount of trust in the collective knowledge of the crowd…Social Proof is most powerful for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure in a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside themselves for evidence on how best to behave” — Robert Cialdini, Influence.

There’s no denying the power of social proof, particularly in marketing. Studies show 92% of online consumers look at product reviews before making a purchase. More telling is that product reviews are 12 times more trusted than product descriptions and sales copy. In other words, consumers want proof from their peers and unbiased third parties, not the brands selling the products.

This is why so many brands are jumping onto paid advertorial features that are growing around Instagram. The ones that will feature you in a Top 10 entrepreneur’s list in a media publication, but it’s actually a paid opportunity.

Screenshot from my inbox

The trouble with these schemes is that they are deceptive. They intentionally mislead audiences into believing that this list was somehow earned, not paid. Same deal with purchasing followers.

Opting for one of these shortcuts is fraught with issues. Firstly, it’s pretty damn obvious when you’ve purchased followers. Also, thanks to people like me drawing attention to these paid advertorial schemes, the jig is up on these too #sorrynotsorry.

But the biggest issue is that it’s just plain wrong, and I prefer to sleep well at night.

How to build your audience

Since your audience size does affect your marketing funnel and your social signals, how do you go about growing your audience?

There are many opinions on how to do this, and the most favoured right now is Instagram Reels. I flatly refuse to dance, lip-sync, dance and point, so I haven’t had much success growing my following with Reels. The way I am growing my following is through collaborations and earned media.

Collaborations

This includes Instagram Live chats with accounts that have an overlapping audience. Also, appearing as a guest strategist in someone else's program or membership and promoting the session on social media.

Cost = time only.

Earned media

Similarly, I write a lot of thought-leadership articles for the likes of Social Media Examiner, SmartCompany, Mamamia, Mumbrella, and Medium publications. When my articles are published, they are often promoted on social media, and new accounts follow me.

Cost = time only.

I’ve learned something fascinating about my audience, who are female founders and small business owners. They rarely Google the services that they need. They are unlikely to search “marketing consultant” and choose from the top results. Their preferred behaviour is to seek recommendations from other people they trust. So, they will post in their preferred Facebook group, “Can anyone recommend a marketing consultant?” and then they will research the social media accounts of the suggested brands before they even jump onto their websites.

As a result, almost all my leads come from social media, not Google. So, it makes sense that I build my social media presence. And yes, that involves new followers.

While I wouldn’t fixate on it or seek out followers for the sake of followers, brands should still be thinking about this, and look for ethical ways to grow their audience with accounts that represent their target audience.

This article was originally published in The Startup on Medium

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