Buying Twitter followers gets a bad rap, thanks in large part to the abundance of low quality providers who sell fake followers. Purchasing followers to boost credibility on Twitter is actually a very common and effective practice being used by big celebrities and politicians – but you can’t expect them to talk about it.
Some people are fond of calling out fellow users whom they think are purchasing followers. This makes what is already a stigma a whole lot worse. What most people don’t know is that there are two different types of bought followers being sold on the interwebs: fake followers and authentic followers. That difference is very important.
What do bought Twitter followers look like?
Authentic followers, on the other hand, look and behave just like you, so there’s no telling whether they are purchased or not. These are the type of followers you want to reap the maximum benefits for the growth of your account.
Learning how to differentiate an authentic bought follower from a fake one is the best way to hack your growth without putting your name and resources at risk. Whether you buy them for cheap or not, bought followers will still cost you, so you want to be sure you’ll get value out of them.
If they end up harming your reputation and chances of gaining recognition on the platform, that’s even worse than money down the drain. Keep reading to learn how to find authentic, high quality followers that will actually boost your brand, instead of making a bad decision.
Identifying bought Twitter followers
How do you identify a bought Twitter follower? Well, it depends. As mentioned earlier, bought followers can be classified into two main types: fake and authentic. Fake followers are sold for basically pennies and come in bulk. Their only purpose is to provide you with impressive looking numbers – expecting them to actually contribute to your marketing efforts is a far cry from reality.
Fake followers can have a bad effect on your credibility – especially if you buy them from a less than reputable company. They aren’t too hard to find – in fact, we bet you can spot them from a mile away! There are also some services that claim to identify bought followers, but you may need to input your handle and give them some kind of access to your account.
While some fake followers are more sophisticated than others, there are many traits common among phoney followers of every…err… sophistication, if you could call it that. Below are some of the tell-tale signs of a fake follower:
They cannot be bio-thered
Fake followers are notorious for having incomplete bios. Living, breathing Twitter users like you and I take the bio section very seriously. We know better than to put that prime piece of Twitter real estate to waste!
Providers of fake followers have to keep up with hundreds upon hundreds of fake accounts and they simply cannot keep up with all the bios – even if they wanted to. This makes for blank or all too generic write-ups.
Fake accounts are also known to have suspicious-looking links in their bio, so be sure to be extra careful.
They are out of your league
Fake accounts want to look legit as quickly as possible, and part of looking like a bonafide Twitterati is having a lot of followers. Gaining a following is already hard enough for a living and breathing Twitter user like you and I – imagine how hard it can be for these fake bot accounts.
In order to attract followers, these accounts often use pictures of scantily dressed men and women. If the picture is a suspiciously-attractive individual with an unfilled bio to boot, be wary as they could very well be fake.
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride
Fake accounts are also known to have a bad follower-to-following ratio. Fake accounts follow a lot of people and are followed by very few.
This is because they fail to establish a good relationship with other Twitter users. Why? Well, they’re bots, and they just don’t offer anything worth following – many of them have no tweets.
A suspicious-looking handle
Twitter users think long and hard about their Twitter handle. We know all too well that our Twitter name is something that will be associated with us for as long as we live – on the internet.
Fake accounts don’t think or behave like we do, and they don’t give much thought to their Twitter handle. For them, anything that looks like a name will work. You’ll frequently see a name followed by random numbers.
They’ve been out of the scene for a while
Twitter accounts that have been inactive for an extended amount of time and have suddenly resurrected just to follow you are most likely fake – or an ex returning with vengeance.
Take a look at their Twitter activity and check the timeline – if each tweet is separated by a long period of silence, you’re most likely looking at the feed of a fake account. If it looks like they haven’t tweeted in the past year, or tweeted once or twice months ago, they are most likely fake – or at least useless as a follower.
They spew a whole lot of nonsense
Earlier we mentioned that fake accounts have to look legitimate as fast as possible.
Spewing a whole lot of random tweets is their way of filling their feed with activity. They need to look like a legitimate Twitter user, but they don’t have the ability to tweet like you and I. They go for quantity over quality, and as a result you see a timeline full of nonsensical 280-character excuses for tweets that will leave you scratching your head.
They can’t talk
If an account doesn’t engage with fellow Twitter users, it’s probably a fake. Name a living and breathing person you know who hasn’t engaged in at least one conversation on Twitter – none? We thought so, too. While many people lurk, it’s very unlikely that they won’t say something at some point to someone.
If they don’t tweet with other users they are either too antisocial for social media, or they are big fat fakes.
Too many tweets
If an account has an insane number of tweets, beyond the humanly possible, it might be because they are inhuman. Bot accounts can run scripts and codes that game the system into sending out hundreds upon hundreds of tweets.
A quick stroll on a fake account’s profile will tell you a lot about their behavior and quality. Once you have distinguished them from the crowd, think long and hard if these are the kind of followers you want flocking over to you on Twitter.
Finding a diamond in the rough
Authentic followers, on the other hand, are everything a fake account isn’t. They have a number of valuable qualities:
- Unique profiles
- Engagement with other users
- They don’t tweet jibberish
- They don’t unfollow and disappear
Users like these don’t cause your numbers to fluctuate, and they tend to stay on Twitter forever.
What most people don’t know is that authentic followers can also be bought. As a smart shopper, you just need to find a reputable provider. Sound hard? Luckily for you, we’ve put together a list of the best Twitter Follower providers, offering high quality followers to help you shine on social media.
Unlike their phoney counterparts, authentic followers may be priced higher – this is because a lot of work goes into getting them to your account. They also provide comprehensive guarantees and protection for customers – adding security and peace of mind for the services they offer.
Ultimately, authentic followers are the type of followers you can use to maximize the marketing potential of your campaign. They can not only strengthen your credibility on the platform, they can also help drive even more positive traffic to your account by the associations they bring. Followers like these are great for your business, bringing a variety of secondary benefits like brand awareness and the ability to deal with customer feedback.
High quality or low – the choice is yours!
We know that not all followers are created equal. There are providers who offer cheap, low quality followers while others provide high quality, engaged users who really care about your content. Fake followers serve very little purpose other than adding impressive looking numbers to your account. If that is exactly what you are looking for, finding a provider should not be a problem – but don’t say we didn’t warn you!
However, if you want to hack your growth while keeping your credibility and taking the marketing advantage you need, purchasing authentic followers might be worth the investment.
Although more expensive, these followers are a great asset if you want to reach the top of the Twitter charts as soon as possible. Since they’re also acquired through approved and earnest social media marketing techniques, you don’t have to worry about putting your account at risk.
For some high quality providers who can offer you authentic followers, we recommend you check out the companies on our Twitter Follower Provider list. We have personally run these companies through several tests before they could be featured on our top provider list. You can learn about our experience with their services by reading our reviews now!
Armed with these insider tips, you’ll be able to easily sniff out fake Twitter followers before they get close enough to sully your solid social reputation. Happy tweeting!