Do you want to buy Instagram followers for increasing the value of your posts? Though the act of purchasing Instagram followers would draw a frown from some members of the community, there are many out there who are doing it anyway. For less than $7, it is possible to purchase 500 Instagram followers to showcase you as a bona fide influencer.

As the Instagram influencer status is capable of getting in lucrative brand deals, more users are buying Instagram followers at relatively cheap prices. As per a report published by Forbes in 2012, 1,000 followers could be gained through a small investment of $90. Today, there are several sites that permit the purchase of up to 10,000 followers for amounts less than $70. That's certainly not much if you consider the fact that top influencers get access to hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions of dollars, in the form of brand deals.

In case you have decided to go the same way, you may wish to check out certain online sites to aid your cause. So, if you have access to secure online modes of payment like PayPal that hide your credentials safely, and your financial security is not in danger, you can add to your Instagram fan base numbers without trying too hard.

What’s good, what’s bad?

Once you are ready to begin the process of buying Instagram followers, set up a Google search to get a fair idea of what most people are using. Go for organic searches to get the best deals. It may not be wise to get carried away by attractive advertisements as they often lead their viewers up the wrong path. Try to track several options before freezing your choice on one. Once you have reviewed the search results at your disposal, filter them on the basis of some qualifiers and outliers. For instance, sites that accept PayPal as a preferred payment option and provide privacy guarantees may serve as good choices to explore further.

Make a wise selection

The website chosen by you should have its terms and conditions of engagement described properly. It is important to read each line with underlying meanings in small text, if any, to avoid any hassles in the future. In certain cases, paid follower sites sneak things such as disappearing followers or take permission to spam your existing Instagram followers through the fine print. If you disagree with any terms of use, do ask for an explanation before paying up.

Also, if the services on offer have been on the rack for a long time, you will be able to procure first-hand user reviews to guide your choice. Go for the services that have a series of positive reviews only; in case there is an overwhelmingly large number of negative reviews it’s better to look out for different services.

Deciding on the number of Instagram followers

What is the number of followers that you intend to add to your account? Most websites would have a series of packages with a diverse number of followers to invest in. The length of time you have been interacting on Instagram and the number of posts shared by you would serve as important factors for taking the correct decision.

• For instance, if you have been using Instagram for just a day, or in case you have just 1-2 posts to speak about, then it is not advisable to have 50 or more followers in the next 24 hours; the number would give you away instantly.
• A quick analysis of your number of followers would help you get a fair idea about the number of followers that you should add. Doubling your follower strength overnight will obviously raise eyebrows and make your account a suspicious one.

Time for payment

If you are okay with the services provided by a specific site and are all geared to make the payment, make sure that you enjoy a secure internet connection. Even though PayPal happens to be a safe payment intermediary payment channel, you would not want to initiate your payment with an unsecured connection (or data) in place.

How to appear legitimate

The site selected by you may have different offer packages wherein you can buy a smart mix of legitimate users and bot accounts. In most cases, these ‘legitimate users’ are those who have signed with Instagram to indulge in the processes of ‘follow swapping’ or ‘credit Likes.’ These users usually spend their time following others on Instagram to get more followers to add to their accounts.

However, if your profile currently has 300 followers, you probably don't want to go for a 5000 follower package for practical reasons. Instagram has strict detection measures in place to ascertain fraudulent likes, incentive programs, and followers. In case you are caught in the act, your account can be suspended, flagged, or terminated fully.

There is an easy method in place for assessing the number of followers that you would like to buy for your account. If you have a following of 450 (say), it is not advisable to go for a purchase of 10000 Instagram followers as it would come under the scanner without any doubt. On the other hand, by opting for a smaller-scale purchase (say, 500 followers for $6.99 or 100 followers for $2.97) you can cut down on the risk considerably.

The downside to agreeing to buy instagram followers is that you may get flagged for following scrupulous processes and not adhering to Instagram best practices. Those who spend their time with healthy online engagements, and are known to post good content regularly, are always more favored in online communities.

However, this sort of engagement is different from what you intend to do to attract the ‘influencer’ tag and get noticed by brands. Big brands usually look for more number of comments and likes (engagement rate for every post), rather than the number of followers, for adding to their list of influencers – do act accordingly. The more followers you buy, the higher your engagement for every post has to be for the ratio to look legitimate.