I’ve noticed many people are looking for shortcuts to getting Instagram followers. Platforms like Quora, Reddit, and various blogs are full of questions and hack suggestions that will show you how to get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
What’s even crazier is the number of service providers that “guarantee organic and real followers.” Can you trust them?
When Instagram became what it is today – one of the most powerful social media platforms – the demand for instant fame also increased. There are tons of successful accounts that have hundreds of thousands or millions of followers, and we tend to compare ourselves to them.
I get it. Having a huge number of followers is important but isn’t it just an empty metric that actually means nothing?
So, if you ever wondered (and you did, because you Google searched) how to get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes, this article is exactly for you.
I won’t share illegal hacks that will get you Instagram followers in 5 minutes, but I promise to show you the best ways to grow your Instagram.
Unless you are a celebrity, you may think that increasing the number of Instagram followers is impossible or requires too much work. Well, I am not going to lie – it does require work.
How to get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes? I doubt you can, but the steps shown below will give you the solid foundation needed to start getting new followers.
Yes, some strategies that I share will even make it possible to get 1K Instagram followers in a very short time. But, unfortunately, it won’t happen in 5 minutes.
Why doesn’t the number of Instagram followers matter in 2022?
In the early days of Instagram, the number of followers was the metric most brands and influencers used to measure their success. The equation to success was simple – the more Instagram followers you have, the more successful your account is. Is this equation valid today?
No, it’s not.
Why?
It’s simply because people started buying followers. Therefore, today, an account with 1 million followers that has an engagement rate of 0.5% is as successful as an account that has 50k followers with an engagement rate of 10%. Comparing the number of followers, the latter account has 20 times fewer followers.
What does it mean for you?
It is simple – you need to spend less time getting new followers to be as successful as someone with a million. It’s because your engagement rate is higher, and this metric is by far the most important on Instagram in 2022.
More and more brands choose to work with influencers with higher engagement rates, and it doesn’t matter whether they have 10, 20, or 100 thousand followers. This is what you should put your efforts into.
Where to buy Instagram followers?
However, if you still insist on buying your followers, let’s take a look at where you can buy a bunch of followers. In the end, I’ll share why it was a waste of money and time and actually is damaging to your Instagram.
I won’t be wasting your and my time looking at all providers. Let’s take a look at some that are the most known. One common thing about them all – if you dig deeper, their websites are pretty scammy.
Some will tell you that you’re getting a free trial when in reality, you won’t get it.
Some will ask you to share the login details to your Instagram (obvious risk of identity theft here).
Some will use unknown payment gateways for payment processing, which may result in your credit card details being stolen.
GetInsta
According to its own marketing, GetInsta is the best tool available in the market. They say that pretty openly all over their website.
It’s tempting to try GetInsta because they also promise “to get free Instagram followers instantly.” However, if you scroll down their page, you’ll be prompted to get a subscription (50 followers/day for $0.99 for 30 days).
I didn’t find anywhere I could get followers for free – I kept being brought to pages where I needed to pay.
If the information on the website is misleading, you can expect the whole offering of “real followers” to be misleading as well.
At first sight, the website looks very friendly and professional. I’d totally believe them. But is it too good to be true?
GoRead.io
As a test, I tried the GoRead.io service in the past. You can indeed get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes using GoRead.io because after completing the purchase, my phone was buzzing with notifications, the followers were flowing in, and all took a very short time. They delivered what they promised, well, to a certain extent.
They claim to deliver “Super Real Instagram followers” (whatever that means) in minutes. Even though the number of my followers indeed increased within minutes, they were nowhere close to “super real.”
Upon checking, the accounts looked dodgy and fake.
What happened next? Instagram shadowbanned my account for over a week because I violated the policy, AND the number of followers decreased as a result. I noticed that most of those “super real followers” were removed because they were nothing more than bots.
For those of you who are wondering why you keep on losing Instagram followers, the answer is simple. Instagram periodically removes all fake and bot followers to clean up its user base.
That’s how I spent money on getting “super real followers” that got removed by Instagram within the same month.
Not the best investment that I’ve made in my Instagram growth journey. However, it was worth it to research and try the platform’s credibility.
Mr. Insta
Mr. Insta is probably the only one that is legitimately free because there is a package you can subscribe to and get 25 “real” followers. All you need to do to get this package activated is to follow 10 randomly assigned accounts by Mr. Insta.
I was tempted to try Mr. Insta, so I followed the ten randomly assigned accounts.
In my case, they were: a coffee shop in Lahore (Pakistan), a hairdresser in Dubai (UAE), someone’s personal account, a bakery in Budapest (Hungary), and others. I believe these were the clients of Mr. Insta, like me.
Well, I got my 25 free followers. The problem is that none of them are within my niche or in my target location. What’s the purpose of getting such followers?
Sure enough, I got my 25 “real” followers who were actually fake.
You can clearly see that they are fake based on their handle, no profile image, and the quantity of the content in their accounts (in most cases, 1 or 2 posts). They also followed thousands of accounts while having less than 10 followers themselves. #fake!
Even though I didn’t notice Instagram taking any action against my account this time, the new fake followers, of course, didn’t engage with any of my posts and eventually disappeared from my followers list.
I suspect they were removed by Instagram as well. Having only 25 also didn’t impact my engagement rate much, but was it worth it? Definitely not. At least I didn’t waste any money this time.
Why should you NEVER buy Instagram followers?
Let me clarify – even though these service providers claim that you’re buying real or, in some cases, “super real” followers, it’s just a way to get money from you.
Follower buying is and has been against Instagram policies, and it will never bring you any real followers.
None of these providers have access to Instagram’s user base actually to get these users to follow you for real. Therefore all these marketing gimmicks that they use are pure lies.
Here is what will happen if you buy 1k Instagram followers:
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You’ll burn money on something that has no purpose and will be removed from Instagram sooner or later (you’ll get back to the initial number of your followers).
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You’re risking getting your identity and your credit card information stolen.
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You’ll damage your engagement rate on Instagram (more followers, but less engagement – not a good sign)
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You’re risking being shadowbanned by Instagram.
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You’re risking your account being permanently deleted by Instagram for policy violations.
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You’re risking your credibility as a content creator, as fewer brands and fewer real followers will want to engage with someone having creepy followers.
Let’s take a look at what steps you can take to grow your Instagram followers organically.
What can you do instead of buying Instagram followers?
As you may have figured out, I won’t share with you the magic trick on how to get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes. Unless you’re a celebrity or giving away a car in an Instagram contest, you won’t be able to get that many legit followers in such a short time.
However, if you’re considering Instagram as a business, steps can be taken to grow your followers, but they will require some work and time.
If you want to grow your Instagram audience, there are plenty of ways to find real human beings who will actually connect with your message, engage with your content, and perhaps even buy your product.
Apart from producing high-quality content, here is what else you can do:
Have a strategy for your hashtags
Hashtags are one of the ways to make your content discoverable. They play an important role, and you should develop a strategy. Ultimately, you want to use the most relevant hashtags that make sense.
Even though Instagram allows to use of up to 30 hashtags per post, I’d suggest using a maximum of 20. The reason is simple – you don’t want to overdo it. Accounts that use hashtags excessively can be perceived as spammy and too pushy.
You shouldn’t use the same hashtags all the time, either. I noticed that when I continuously use the same hashtags, my reach reduces.
Engage with your audience
Instagram is a social media platform, and you’re expected to socialize. Forget about growing your followers, if you only post a picture and forget about your account until the next time it’s time to post.
When you engage with someone through Instagram, you essentially show them that they are important. That’s why you should take time to interact with other accounts by liking and commenting on their posts.
By doing so, you’re exposing your account to more eyes and increasing the chances of getting extra followers as well. Nevertheless, you position yourself as a leader in your niche and someone who’s worth following.
If you want to increase your followers, then it is important to respond to comments on your posts and DMs from other users.
Hit the reply button to comment and respond. Foster the dialogue and strengthen the connection. If someone double-tapped on your post, check out their profile, and if you find some posts interesting – double-tap back!
Instagram is like a party – you shouldn’t be hiding in the corner if you want others to notice you.
Create a welcoming bio
You know what is and what isn’t interesting.
Therefore, you know how to put your best foot forward when it comes to letting others in on who you really are. Your biography should entice people to learn more about who you are and why they might want to follow or engage with you as a person (or business) on Instagram.
If you really want to make an impression with your bio, consider making it into a little mini sketch. It is how you can come across as more exciting and show people things about yourself that they may never know.
If you fail to show this, people will likely not follow you. Therefore, having an appealing bio with exciting content is essential when trying to increase your followers.
Share your posts across different platforms
Don’t limit your Instagram posts to Instagram only. Other social media networks, such as Twitter or Pinterest, are great for promoting your Instagram posts.
Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest have one thing in common – they can be highly visual. You should Tweet your Instagram posts and save them as Pinterest pins.
In fact, as more of your Pinterest pins get saved, more people will see your posts and click through to your Instagram account. The more people that visit your Instagram account via Pinterest referrals and also enjoy your content, the more followers you could gain.
The same goes for retweets. The more people retweet your posts, the higher the reach for your post and the better the chance to get new followers.
Still wondering how to get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes…
Instead of investing your money into buying fake followers, better use the same amount or less for the training that will give you a strong foundation to kick off your Instagram growth and be on good terms with the platform.
Anything too good to be true won’t bring good results. Instagram has recently been very strict when it comes to gaining new followers. It has implemented a lot of rules that you should follow.
Thus, I would suggest stopping wondering how to get 1K followers on Instagram in 5 minutes (or any unrealistically short period of time) and, instead, implementing the four strategies shared above.
However, if you wish to find out more, I’d like to encourage you to perform an Instagram Audit, which will allow you to understand better what’s currently lacking in your strategy. You’ll also get a personalized action plan that will help your growth.
