Earning Clout on Social Media Is Not as Easy as It Seems (I Discovered This the Hard Way)

As a SaaS business founder, I never thought I’d have to Google ‘how to get more Instagram likes fast.’ Yet, here I am, eyeballs deep in social media growth hacks, trying to make my software tool go viral. 

My team and I developed a fantastic tool to streamline remote team collaboration. We launched it two months ago to far less fanfare than we’d hoped. 

Our idea was faultless – after all, people are still hesitant to go back to the office after the pandemic. Employers are pulling out all the stops, but more plants and good chairs are simply not enough to get employees back in the building. 

This was the driving force behind our software tool. We had the technology, an expert team, and the tenacity to iron out any small issues before the launch. We thought we were well on our way to inspiring business owners to run meetings, regardless of where their employees were logging in from. Unfortunately, we lacked attention. 

Considering that we’re a startup, attention is like the most valuable currency ever. Without it, our product can turn digital currency into real dollars, and no one would care (because they don’t know about it). 

I did not want our hard work to fade into oblivion, so I took the disagreeable task upon myself to become the face of our brand on social media. I plunged right into the deep water of Instagram and TikTok, and here’s what I found. 

Social Media Growth Hacks Don’t Always Work

I was desperate for our business to earn clout, so I read all the articles that remotely mentioned ‘easy hacks to grow your Instagram audience.’ Yeah, that was a waste of time. 

In the first place, posting educational content doesn’t work if you don’t already have a strong audience. So, here I was, posting productivity hacks, memes, and tips on remote working, cleverly linking our product, only to be met with even more silence on Instagram and TikTok. 

I didn’t care too much about the lack of attention on TikTok, but Instagram is where I wanted to make a difference. 

Still, even though I used hashtags and keywords, posted consistently, and didn’t go overboard with promotional content, no one on Instagram was even dishing out pity likes. 

The Needle Stood Still

You know the proverbial needle that moves when you make an impact on social media? Well, ours stood still. The algorithm did not seem to favor promoting my content, and so my frustration and that of my team boiled over. 

I tried exploring other strategies. I reached out to ‘like-minded’ entrepreneurs and business owners to talk about collaborating on social media. When they saw the empty space on our social media accounts where engagement should be, they politely declined. 

At this point, it felt like we should just sell our product to a bigger company and move on to something less complicated. 

Stumbling on the Answer

However, Sarah, our brilliant software developer, said something in passing to me two weeks ago that made me rethink selling our product.

She mentioned a well-known celebrity losing a million followers, and how it didn’t matter because it was discovered that said celebrity mostly had bots and spam accounts on their profile. 

This made me think about buying likes for our social media posts. Still, wasn’t that a bad idea, considering all the bots and spam? 

I did some research and eventually landed on a website called Stormlikes. I went right to the reviews, and after being encouraged by what I read, I decided to give the free trial a go. 

I must admit, I was skeptical. I had done everything right up until that point, and this felt like taking the easy way out. If following the ‘tried and trusted’ strategies didn’t work, why would buying likes make a difference? 

Shock and Awe

I entered my Instagram username on the designated Stormlikes page and received my 10 free likes. 

I smirked as I headed over to the Instagram page (free likes, right?). So, imagine my surprise when those 10 likes appeared clear as day on the post I selected. 

It only took 24 hours for someone to comment on one of my posts for the very first time: “Cool product.” It was only two words, but when I read them, they were the most beautiful two words ever written (in my opinion, anyway). 

Since this was the first result I’d ever gotten, I headed back to the Stormlikes site and bought 250 likes. 

I Cracked the Code

Those 250 likes opened the floodgates, so to speak. Seemingly overnight, those 250 likes attracted 50 comments. Although those comments were not all from business owners and decision-makers, we finally had some comments!

Over the next two weeks, up until today, the likes I bought continued working. Last week, I received a DM for the first time from a business owner asking for more information. 

We have set up a meeting and will go see him tomorrow (fingers crossed!). 

What I Learned From My Journey to Social Media Guru

Okay, so it’s only been two weeks, and it’s way too early to call myself a social media guru. After all, our engagement is limited to Instagram, and we only have one meeting scheduled. 

But, after nights of worry that I’d bought fake engagement or that none of the bought likes would result in something tangible, we have a meeting scheduled. 

This would never have happened if I had stuck to the conventional methods of growing an Instagram audience. 

I'm not saying that those methods don’t work. I’m sure they do. However, I’m also convinced that you need that paid kickstart to attract your target audience. 

We still have a long way to go, but I’m planning to intersperse bought engagement with organic strategies. By the way, Stormlikes runs a blog with incredible tips on doing this. 

So, wish me luck as I continue on my journey to hopefully become a real social media guru and successful business owner. I’ll check in with you guys again and let you know how it’s going.