Follow-for-follow – Follow for Follow – or F4F for short – is a social media request (usually a hashtag) posted alongside or in relation to an existing post with the intention of driving other users to one’s social media channel(s). In other words, you can get more followers to your Instagram, YouTube channel, Twitter account or blog by finding a post that interests you (or you see advertising with lots of engagement already) and simply beckoning the post’s creator and/or responders (courteously, of course).
But how effective is this method today? In this article, we’ll show you 4 ways in which to make follow for follow work for you in 2020.
Spoiler alert: Follow for Follow doesn’t work. Sorry.
Still skeptical since ‘everyone’ is doing it and must be finding success? Here are 4 REASONS why follow for follow ultimately won’t work for you in 2020 and what you should do about it.
1. It’s Only Temporary – While you may get an influx of followers with the F4F method at first, the truth is they’ll only stay a short while. When you “Follow for Follow”, the majority of people who respond to your request will end up unfollowing you within a few days. You should want people to follow you who actually want to follow you and not for a limited time.
2. There’s No Evident Community – Are they engaging with you and sharing your content? Or did they just follow you because you said you’d follow them? While yes, numbers do play an important role in blogging and media influencing, engagement (on your own things, not piggybacking on someone else’s without their consent) is what’s more important.
3. Stunting of Genuine Growth – As you focus on this method, you’re essentially stunting your genuine growth as a blogger or social media influencer. When you waste your time on just getting numbers, numbers, and more numbers, you’re really just hurting your influence. Even worse, when the social media platform algorithms (the big robot that either shows your stuff or doesn’t based on how it feels on that particular day) sees this lack of engagement, you are penalized by having less of your content seen by people who would actually enjoy it.
4. It’s Inauthentic – If you’re just following for a follow, that’s a reflection on you and people will assume your intentions aren’t authentic. While it’s important to know what your real audience thinks about you, it’s even more important to stay true to who you really are. Only follow those who inspire you and challenge you to do better. Only follow those who you support 100% and want to engage with.
As discussed in the previous point, creating an authentic plan like this will greatly help your brand in the long run, and will ensure a stronger, and more trusted one. If you are in this for the long haul, your fans and customers will see that and trust you for it.
What are some other reasons why the follow for follow method doesn’t work in 2020? And how are you attracting like-minded readers, viewers and followers to your online-based content? Tell us in the comments below, join our Facebook page, or become part of our group Digital Entrepreneurs Global Mastery and join in the discussion today.
Want to grow your following (and sales) in an effective and proven way? Book a consultation with us at DF Studios Limited to see how best we can help you achieve this.
If you are ready to order one of our marketing services, check out our Express Services where we can provide expert professional marketing assets for your business within one week or less.
Finally, if you are interested in learning to acquire clients on your own (without the need of techniques like follow for follow), you can also get a copy of our book, Want More Customers? Read This Book! Free when you join our mailing list.
