You may have heard that auto-following on Instagram is a great way to grow your followers quickly. Sounds too good to be true? Well, that’s because it mostly is. Auto-following is when a third-party service follows people on your behalf without their knowledge. It’s essentially giving you access to someone’s account, so you can follow them automatically at a later date. This article takes an in-depth look at everything you need to know about auto-following and its implications for your brand as well as your audience.
Does Instagram Automatically Follow Accounts?
There is no hard and fast rule on this, but Instagram generally tends to follow you back if your account has a certain level of quality, as well as a large number of followers. It all depends on how popular your account is.
What Is Auto-Following?
- Auto-following is when a third-party service follows people on your behalf without their knowledge. It’s essentially giving you access to someone’s account, so you can follow them automatically at a later date.
- Auto-following is one of the most common ways to get more Instagram followers, and it can be used for good or bad. Generally speaking, it’s best to use it with caution as it can lead to inflated numbers that are not entirely real.
- Auto-following is great for gaining new followers quickly, but the growth doesn’t necessarily reflect your engagement rate or the number of comments left on your posts.
- A new form of auto-follow has recently become available that allows you to auto-follow any user who follows you back within 24 hours. This means that if you have an account with 1,000 followers and someone follows you, they will automatically be added as a follower (and vice versa).
- several third-party services offer auto-following, but the most popular is Followerwonk.
- Auto-following is a form of spamming, and you’re only allowed to use it on one account at a time.
Why Do Followers Matter On Instagram?
- Instagram is a visual social network. Photos are the medium of choice to showcase your life and interests.
- Instagram is also a visual social network, but it’s different from Facebook in that it focuses on pictures rather than text.
- Instagram also emphasizes engagement beyond simply liking or commenting on a photo or video. You can earn engagement points by following, liking, and commenting on someone else’s posts as well as by posting things that other users comment on.
- The more people you follow and interact with, the more likely they are to follow you back (and vice versa). This creates a ripple effect that spreads through your audience quickly, increasing the likelihood of them engaging with your content in the future (or for some people at least).
- If you’re not getting enough engagement from your followers, there are several ways to increase it—through hashtags, photos/videos/texts, and other means—but auto-following is not one of them!
How Auto-Following Works
- Auto-follow is a method of getting more Instagram followers, but it’s not exactly as simple as it sounds. It requires some work on your part to ensure that you’re getting real followers who are actively engaging with your content.
- Auto-following is not the same thing as the following someone immediately after they follow you. Auto-following means that the account that you’re following will automatically follow other accounts in their network (if they have an account) without your intervention, based on the actions of other accounts within their network.
- Auto-following can be used for good or bad, and it’s best used with caution like most things on Instagram! It can lead to inflated numbers, but it’s best used as a tool to help drive engagement from your existing audience rather than a way to grow new ones.
- If you want to use auto-following wisely, pick a few accounts that you’re already following and use them for auto-follower growth. You’ll see engagement level increase quickly and will be able to monitor how many new people are joining in on the conversation since their account will show up in your list (and vice versa).
- Some third-party services allow you to auto-follow any user who follows you back within 24 hours, which means that if someone follows your account, they’ll automatically be added as a follower on theirs! This is great for building relationships quickly with new followers—especially if you’re using a service that charges for the service.
The Dangers Of Auto-Following
- Auto-following is not the same thing as the following someone immediately after they follow you. Auto-following means that the account that you’re following will automatically follow other accounts in their network (if they have an account) without your intervention, based on the actions of other accounts within their network.
- Auto-following can be used for good or bad, and it’s best used with caution like most things on Instagram! It can lead to inflated numbers, but it’s best used as a tool to help drive engagement from your existing audience rather than a way to grow new ones.
- If you want to use auto-following wisely, pick a few accounts that you’re already following and use them for auto-follower growth. You’ll see engagement level increase quickly and will be able to monitor how many new people are joining in on the conversation since their account will show up in your list (and vice versa).
- Some third-party services allow you to auto-follow any user who follows you back within 24 hours, which means that if someone follows your account, they’ll automatically be added as a follower on theirs! This is great for building relationships quickly with new followers—especially if you’re using a service that charges for the service.
- In addition to the fact that this method of auto-following is not ideal from a branding perspective (more about this below), there are other dangers associated with using this method.
- Using auto-following can lead to inflated numbers, which is not a good thing for your business if you’re trying to grow your following organically.
- Some third-party services allow you to auto-follow any user who follows you back within 24 hours, which means that if someone follows your account, they’ll automatically be added as a follower on theirs! This is great for building relationships quickly with new followers—especially if you’re using a service that charges for the service.
- Auto-following can be used for good or bad, and it’s best used with caution like most things on Instagram! It can lead to inflated numbers, but it’s best used as a tool to help drive engagement from your existing audience rather than a way to grow new ones.
- If you want to use auto-following wisely, pick a few accounts that you’re already following and use them for auto-follower growth. You’ll see engagement level increase quickly and will be able to monitor how many new people are joining in on the conversation since their account will show up in your list (and vice versa).
- Some third-party services allow you to auto-follow any user who follows you back within 24 hours, which means that if someone follows your account, they’ll automatically be added as a follower on theirs! This is great for building relationships quickly with new followers—especially if you’re using a service that charges for the service.
Conclusion
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion users. It’s also one of the only social media platforms that allow users to grow their following without spending money. Followers on Instagram are critical for growing your brand; however, you can’t build a following organically with spammy accounts. You need to attract real followers and turn them into customers by providing engaging content. Auto-following and other engagement hacks are quick and easy but come at the cost of hurting your brand. Instead, use automated tools to engage with other users and grow your following slowly over time. Be patient and grow your following organically. This will help your account grow in a healthy way that is good for your brand.
