In the race to build a strong social media presence, some businesses may be tempted to take shortcuts—like buying followers to artificially inflate their numbers. At first glance, this may seem like an easy way to make your brand appear more popular and credible. However, purchasing social media followers is a dangerous strategy that can do far more harm than good.

This article will explore why buying followers is not only ineffective but can actively damage your business’s reputation, social media performance, and bottom line.

Instead of resorting to risky tactics like buying followers, businesses should utilize in-business solutions like It’s Relevant TV, which allows you to organically build a loyal and engaged audience through smart in-location promotions.

The Dangers of Buying Social Media Followers

1. Low Engagement Rates

One of the biggest red flags when you buy followers is that they are typically comprised of fake accounts or bots. While your follower count may grow, your engagement rate (likes, comments, shares) will not. Social media algorithms prioritize engagement, so if your posts are not getting interactions, your content will be less visible to a real audience. So even though your follower count will be higher, the number of people actually seeing your posts may become lower! The lower engagement signals to both the platform and your genuine followers that your content isn’t valuable.

Why this matters:

• Engagement is the key to growth: Social media algorithms (on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X) are designed to show users content that sparks interactions. If your posts aren’t getting likes, comments, or shares, your content will get buried.
• Customers notice: When a business has thousands of followers but barely any engagement on their posts, it becomes obvious that many of those followers are fake. This erodes trust and can make your business look inauthentic. If you take shortcuts with your social media, customers may assume you are taking shortcuts in other areas as well.

2. Consumers Can Tell When Followers Are Bought

Today’s consumers are savvy. They can quickly identify when a business has bought followers based on the disparity between follower count and engagement. For example, a business with 10,000 followers but only a handful of likes on each post will raise eyebrows. When customers sense that a business is trying to deceive them, it damages your brand’s credibility.

How it hurts your brand:

• Lack of trust: Authenticity is key in building customer relationships. When consumers realize that you’ve bought followers, it can make them question the legitimacy of your business and its offerings.
• Negative reputation: A business that takes shortcuts like buying followers can quickly develop a negative reputation, which spreads easily through word-of-mouth and online reviews.

3. It Skews Your Analytics

Another downside of buying followers is that it corrupts your social media data. Analytics are crucial for understanding what content resonates with your audience, how to improve your strategy, and where to invest your time and resources. It can also provide you with valuable feedback on the products or services you are promoting. When you fill your follower base with bots or inactive accounts, your analytics data becomes skewed and meaningless.

Consequences of distorted analytics:

• Bad decision-making: If you’re basing your social media strategy on faulty data, you’ll likely make poor decisions, wasting time and money on content that doesn’t perform.
• Missed opportunities: You won’t be able to properly track what content your real audience likes, leading to missed opportunities for engagement and growth.

4. Risk of Being Penalized by Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter regularly purge fake accounts and bots from their systems. If a large portion of your follower base is made up of these types of accounts, your numbers can drop drastically overnight. Additionally, platforms can penalize accounts that engage in these practices by limiting the reach of their content or even shadow-banning or suspending the account altogether.

The potential fallout:

• Follower loss: When platforms detect fake followers and remove them, your follower count can plummet, exposing your deception to the public.
• Account suspension: If your account is found to be in violation of platform policies, you could face serious consequences, including temporary or permanent suspension.

5. No Real ROI

Ultimately, buying followers provides no real return on investment. Fake followers don’t interact with your posts, buy your products, or refer others to your business. Without real customer engagement, your social media presence becomes nothing more than a vanity metric that doesn’t contribute to your bottom line.

Instead of wasting money on fake followers, businesses should focus on engaging genuine customers who are interested in their products and services.

The Alternative: Building Genuine Followers with In-Business Promotions

1. Target Customers Inside Your Business

Using TV platforms like It’s Relevant TV enable you to reach customers in your physical location—the very people who are most likely to follow you on social media. These customers have already demonstrated an interest in your business simply by being there, making them the perfect audience to engage with on social media.

• Higher likelihood of engagement: Customers who are physically in your business are more likely to follow you on social media, engage with your content, and share their experience with others.
• Stronger connection: Since these customers already have a connection with your brand, they are more likely to trust your content and recommend your business to others.

2. Promote Social Media Without the Risks of Public Feedback

Unlike public social media platforms, It’s Relevant TV doesn’t show customer reviews, comments, or ratings. Instead, it allows you to display only the posts that you create on your own social media profiles. This gives you full control over the messaging your customers see, without the risk of negative comments or bad reviews influencing their perception of your brand.

• Total control: You decide which posts are shown, ensuring that only your best content is displayed.
• No negative distractions: Without public reviews or comments, you can promote your social media content in a risk-free environment.

3. Leverage High-Engagement TV Content

Static signs that ask customers to “Follow us on Facebook” are no longer effective. People are naturally drawn to digital screens, especially those displaying dynamic, engaging content like TV. It’s Relevant TV taps into this attention by seamlessly integrating your social media promotions into the programming your customers are already watching in your business.

• Eye-catching content: Moving images and videos grab more attention than static signs or posters.
• Built-in call-to-action: By displaying your social media handles on a TV screen that’s already drawing customers’ attention, you create a natural and effective way to encourage followers.

4. Build Trust and Authenticity

Using It’s Relevant TV to promote your social media allows you to grow a genuine, engaged follower base. By targeting the right people—customers who have already visited your business—you’ll cultivate an audience that is genuinely interested in your products and services. This authentic engagement is much more valuable than a large but inactive follower base filled with fake accounts.

• Trustworthy growth: Genuine followers are more likely to engage with your content, recommend your business, and return as loyal customers.
• Positive brand perception: Building an authentic following creates a stronger, more credible social media presence that customers can trust.

Skip the Shortcuts, Build Real Followers

While buying social media followers might seem like a quick fix, it’s a strategy that will ultimately hurt your business more than help it. From low engagement rates and damaged credibility to skewed analytics and potential penalties from social media platforms, the risks far outweigh the temporary boost in follower count.

For less than $90 a month, businesses can focus on building genuine, engaged followers—and It’s Relevant TV provides the perfect solution. By promoting your social media accounts to customers already inside your business, you’ll grow an audience that is genuinely interested in your brand, without the risks associated with buying followers.

How One Connecticut Ramen Spot Learned That the Hard Way

In today’s competitive restaurant landscape, retaining customers is everything. Food and service are crucial, of course—but there’s another silent factor that could be costing you repeat business without you even realizing it: your TV content.

It sounds simple enough. You put a TV on the wall to enhance the dining experience, give solo diners something to watch, or create ambiance. But what happens when that TV turns customers off instead of drawing them in?

Let’s take the example of a Connecticut ramen noodle restaurant that recently made an unfortunate programming choice. In an attempt to offer a cultural flair, the owners had an Asian television channel playing in the background. The program? A food-travel show showcasing bizarre dishes from around the world. That day’s feature: eyeballs. Yes, literal eyeballs—being cooked, plated, and then bitten into, with grotesque detail and camera close-ups of the “eye guts” exploding in diners’ mouths.

It didn’t take long for customers to start shifting uncomfortably in their seats—and in some cases, making audible reactions in the restaurant.

Gross-Out Content Kills the Appetite

What that restaurant failed to realize is that visual content impacts the dining experience just as much as smell and ambiance. No matter how good your food is, no one wants to eat noodles while watching someone on your TV chomping down on an eyeball.

But it’s not just extreme content that can cause issues. Other common TV pitfalls in restaurants include:

• News segments showing violence, disasters, or polarizing politics
• Inappropriate humor or offensive language on certain streaming shows
• Commercials for competitors or irrelevant products
• Distracting sports commentary that doesn’t align with the atmosphere
• Children’s programming in adult-oriented restaurants (and vice versa)

Control the Message, Keep the Customer

If you wouldn’t post it on your menu board, why let it play on your TV?

Your screen isn’t just background noise—it’s a visual touchpoint that reinforces your brand and shapes your customers’ mood and memory. The right content can make people stay longer, order more, and come back again. The wrong content can make them lose their appetite or decide not to return.

So how do you ensure what’s on your TV helps your restaurant instead of hurting it? By using a custom TV solution like It’s Relevant TV.

It’s Relevant TV is a custom TV platform built specifically for businesses, including restaurants. It’s not cable, and it’s not generic streaming. It’s a curated experience that lets you control exactly what appears on your screens—down to the category and tone—with no gross-outs or off-brand content.

Here’s what sets It’s Relevant TV apart:

• Family-friendly, appetizing content: Only content that’s safe and suitable for dining environments.
• Custom branding tools: Show off your menu items, promotions, social media feeds, or reviews right on the screen.
• No competitor ads: You’ll never accidentally advertise for the restaurant down the block.
• Real-time control: Want to switch categories or hide a type of video? Do it instantly from your dashboard.
• Engagement-focused: Shorter-form content keeps diners interested without pulling focus from the food.

Instead of risking the customer experience on questionable TV choices, restaurants can turn their TVs into a customer retention tool—and even a built-in marketing engine—with It’s Relevant TV.

What’s playing on your restaurant’s TV could be the difference between a five-star review and a lost customer. Don’t let careless programming chase away your guests—especially not with something as fixable as what’s on the screen.

Let your content reflect the care you put into your food. Choose It’s Relevant TV—because good taste shouldn’t end at the plate.

Budget cuts can feel like a death sentence for marketing efforts, but they don’t have to be. The key is finding smarter, cost-effective solutions that still allow you to achieve your goals without breaking the bank. One of the most innovative options made available in the past few years are custom television networks– cable replacements that transform what were once simple cable TVs into powerful marketing engines. Whether you’re in retail, medical, hospitality, automotive, or the restaurant industry, these networks are an affordable way to engage visitors, enhance customer experiences, and promote your business.

Here are ten marketing strategies that can help you make the most of a reduced budget, with a special focus on how leveraging a TV you already have can play a pivotal role.

1. Repurpose Your Cable Budget

Most businesses spend over $100 a month on traditional cable services hoping to entertain their visitors. Instead of generic TV content, you can use the screen to showcase your brand, promotions, and services while still providing engaging entertainment for your audience.

2. Enhance In-Store Experiences

A positive customer experience leads to repeat business. Imagine customers visiting your business and seeing personalized, professional TV content that highlights your products, services, and special promotions. This keeps your brand top of mind without the hefty price tag of traditional advertising.

3. Advertise Without Paying for Ad Space

Ad placement on TV, radio, and digital platforms can be expensive. Advertising CPMs are reaching $50 in 2025 while custom TV platform CPMs can cost as little as $0.50. With platforms like It’s Relevant TV, you can run unlimited ads for your business on your own screens, 24/7, for no additional cost. Highlight new arrivals, seasonal deals, or unique services to a captive audience already in your space.

4. Recover from Staffing Cuts

If your marketing department has been downsized, custom relevision can step in as a self-sufficient tool that requires minimal management. “Set it and forget it” allowing the TV to be an expert communicator for you. Platforms like Rele.tv have user-friendly controls that allow you to upload content, select themes, and schedule updates in minutes. This frees up your remaining team to focus on other priorities.

5. Reach a Highly Targeted Audience

Marketing to the right audience is crucial, especially when budgets are tight. Installing custom TV ensures your messages are seen by the people who matter most—your visitors and customers. Unlike traditional cable, which may feature irrelevant programming, these platforms keep the focus on your brand.

6. Cut Back on Printing Costs

Brochures, flyers, and posters can be costly to produce and distribute. Digital signage allows you to convey the same information dynamically on your screens. Update content in real-time without reprinting materials, saving both time and money.

7. Boost Social Media Engagement

No one notices those “follow us on Facebook” stickers at your door, or front desk anymore. Encourage customers to follow your social media channels by syndicating your most recent posts on your TV screens. Display customer reviews, creative posts, and product spotlights to create a seamless connection between your physical and digital presence.

8. Increase Customer Awareness of Services

Many businesses struggle to educate their customers about all the services or products they offer. Some of this is due to staff, but a lot just comes down to communication. With custom television, you can create short, engaging videos that spotlight your full range of offerings. For instance, a medical office might highlight wellness programs, while an automotive service center could showcase seasonal maintenance specials.

9. Stand Out from Competitors

Businesses using traditional cable TV or even simple digital signage fail to differentiate themselves. By switching to a custom TV platform you’ll stand out with unique, branded content that reinforces your business’s identity and value.

10. Adapt to Changing Customer Expectations

Today’s customers expect personalized, relevant experiences from the moment they walk into your business. Custom TV helps you meet those expectations by delivering content that aligns with your brand and resonates with your audience. And it’s easy to manage with a reduced staffing level.

Real-Life Scenarios: The Benefits of Switching

Consider these common scenarios:

• A restaurant’s marketing budget is cut, and the team needs to promote daily specials without buying new ad space. By using custom TV solutions they create engaging, on-screen promotions that boost sales without additional costs.
• A medical office reduces staff but still needs to inform patients about new services. They create videos and on-screen promotions highlighting these services, ensuring patients stay informed and engaged.
• A retail store sees a drop in foot traffic and needs a cost-effective way to highlight seasonal deals. Custom TV attracts attention with vibrant, customized content tailored to current promotions.

Custom TV Can Bridge the Gap When Budgets Are Tight

In challenging times, every dollar counts. By switching to services like It’s Relevant TV, you’re not just cutting costs—you’re investing in marketing tools that drive engagement, enhance customer experiences, and help your business stand out. It’s a smart, scalable solution that adapts to your needs, no matter your industry or staffing level. And best of all, you don’t have to find the budget, you can simply switch from Cable TV over to IRTV and likely save money from the start.