Buying LinkedIn Followers: How Does It Work?

What is buying LinkedIn followers?

Buying LinkedIn followers is a service offered by third-party sites to artificially increase the number of followers on a personal account or LinkedIn company page.

You pay for accounts – often fake or inactive – to follow your profile or page. The goal? Display an impressive follower count to gain apparent credibility.

This is different from buying LinkedIn likes, which aims to artificially boost engagement on your posts.

Note that La Growth Machine does not endorse this practice. We consider it counterproductive and against LinkedIn best practices. However, it’s worth analyzing the phenomenon to understand why it exists and why it doesn’t work.

Difference between followers, contacts, connections, and relationships on LinkedIn

Before going further, let’s clarify terms that often cause confusion on LinkedIn.

Why does this matter? Because when you buy “followers,” you get accounts that follow your profile without actually interacting with you. They’re not qualified connections or real professional relationships – just numbers inflating your stats without adding value.

LinkedIn followers

Followers are people who follow your profile or company page without being connected with you. They see your posts in their news feed, but you can’t send them direct messages without using InMail.

It’s the equivalent of “followers” on other social networks. Anyone can follow your profile if you’ve enabled this option in your settings.

Contacts and connections

Connections are people with whom you’ve established a mutual link on LinkedIn. You’re “connected” and can exchange private messages freely.

We also use contacts to refer to these first-level connections. LinkedIn displays “500+” connections once you’ve passed this threshold, hiding your exact number of contacts.

Network

Network refer more broadly to your professional audience on LinkedIn, including:

• Your 1st-level connections (direct contacts)
• Your 2nd-level connections (your contacts’ contacts)
• Your 3rd-level connections (your contacts’ contacts’ contacts)

This extended network is what makes LinkedIn powerful for prospecting.

Why buy LinkedIn followers?

While buying LinkedIn followers is controversial, let’s understand why some professionals do it. The reasons are numerous:

• Rapidly develop apparent visibility. If you’re looking for quick results and want to appear more influential on the platform, buying followers may seem like a short-term solution. The more followers you have, the more popular your profile appears to visitors.

• Reach the “500+” connections threshold. This magic number gives an impression of professional credibility. Some buy connections solely to display this status on their profile.

• Strengthen apparent credibility. A profile with 5,000 followers inspires more trust than one with 200 followers, even if these numbers don’t reflect actual audience engagement.

• Meet marketing prerequisites. Some LinkedIn features like lead generation forms or advertising partnerships require a certain follower volume. Same for certain brand collaborations.

• Create a social proof effect. The more reactions your posts display, the more they attract attention from other users. Buying initial engagement may seem like a lever to get the ball rolling.

At La Growth Machine, we don’t recommend this lead generation technique for both ethical and practical reasons. Spoiler: buying followers creates more problems than it solves.

How to buy LinkedIn followers?

Buying LinkedIn followers is relatively simple from a technical standpoint. Here’s how the process works:

1. Identify a seller site. Several platforms offer this service. You’ll easily find these sites by searching “buy LinkedIn followers” on Google.

2. Create an account and choose your offer. Once on the site, you create an account, select the desired number of followers, and enter your payment information.

3. Provide your profile URL. Most sites simply ask for your LinkedIn profile or company page URL. Some may request additional information.

4. Validate and await delivery. Followers are generally added progressively over a few days to appear more “natural” and avoid suspicious spikes that could alert LinkedIn’s algorithm.

The risks of buying LinkedIn followers

Now let’s talk about the real consequences of buying LinkedIn followers.

Spoiler: they’re numerous and can seriously damage your strategy.

Fake and inactive accounts: no real engagement

The number one problem with buying followers is that you get fake or completely inactive accounts. These profiles don’t view your posts, never comment, share nothing, and provide strictly no business value.

Result? You have a nice number displayed on your profile, but your LinkedIn posts continue generating 3 likes and 0 comments.

LinkedIn’s algorithm detects this gap between your follower count and actual engagement rate, and penalizes your posts’ reach.

You’re literally paying to reduce your organic visibility. Ironic, right?

Risk of restrictions on your LinkedIn account

LinkedIn is clear in its terms of use: buying fake or inactive accounts is strictly prohibited. The platform considers this artificial engagement manipulation.

If LinkedIn detects you’ve bought followers (and the algorithm is increasingly good at spotting these suspicious patterns), you risk:

• Temporary account restriction
• Removal of fake followers
• In serious cases, permanent platform ban

Losing your LinkedIn account when you use it for B2B prospecting is like losing your entire address book. Is the risk really worth it?

Impact on your commercial return on investment

Beyond technical and reputation risks, there’s a fundamental problem: purchased followers generate no business.

These accounts aren’t your target prospects. They’re not decision-makers in companies that could buy your product. They’re not even real people interested in your sector.

Your LinkedIn goal isn’t to have 10,000 ghost followers, but to have 500 qualified contacts who can become clients. Buying LinkedIn followers is a zero-ROI investment – or rather negative, given the associated risks.

The Social Selling Index: why purchased followers harm your score

If you really want to perform on LinkedIn, there’s a metric you need to know: the Social Selling Index (SSI).

What is the Social Selling Index?

SSI is a score out of 100 that LinkedIn assigns each user to measure their social selling effectiveness. This score is based on 4 pillars:

1. Establish your personal brand (25 points) – Your LinkedIn profile’s completeness and quality. An optimized profile with professional photo, compelling summary, detailed experiences, and recommendations gets a better score.

2. Find the right people (25 points) – Your ability to identify and target the right decision-makers. LinkedIn measures the relevance of your searches and LinkedIn connections.

3. Engage by sharing insights (25 points) – Your ability to publish valuable content and engage in relevant conversations. Likes aren’t enough; LinkedIn values qualified comments and shares.

4. Build relationships (25 points) – Your aptitude for developing and maintaining authentic professional relationships with decision-makers.

A high SSI (above 75) indicates you’re an influential and effective LinkedIn user. Profiles with high SSI benefit from better search visibility and better organic reach for their posts.

How purchased followers impact your SSI

Here’s the problem: buying followers destroys 3 of your SSI’s 4 pillars.

• Pillar 2 compromised: Find the right people. By buying random followers who don’t match your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), you send a negative signal to LinkedIn. The algorithm detects you’re not connected with the right targets for your business.

• Pillar 3 compromised: Engage by sharing insights. Your posts get terrible engagement rates relative to your follower count. LinkedIn interprets this as low-quality content and reduces your organic reach. Your posts become invisible.

• Pillar 4 compromised: Build relationships. Purchased followers aren’t authentic professional relationships. They don’t reply to your messages, don’t share your posts, don’t recommend you. LinkedIn detects the absence of real interactions and penalizes your score.

Result? Your SSI collapses, and with it, all your platform visibility.

Why 600 qualified connections beat 2,000 purchased connections

Imagine two profiles:

• Profile A: 2,000 purchased followers, SSI of 35, engagement rate of 0.2%, organic reach of 50 people per post.

• Profile B: 600 qualified connections (decision-makers in target companies), SSI of 78, engagement rate of 4%, organic reach of 2,500 people per post.

Profile B generates 50 times more visibility and most importantly, this visibility reaches the right people: potential prospects, not ghost accounts.

Your network’s quality matters, not the quantity displayed on your profile. A network of 600 targeted decision-makers who engage with your content is infinitely more valuable than a network of 10,000 random followers who never see your posts.

How to authentically develop your LinkedIn network

Now that we’ve established why buying LinkedIn followers is a bad idea, let’s talk about strategies that actually work to develop your network and generate business opportunities.

Optimize your LinkedIn profile to naturally attract followers

Your profile is your professional showcase. If you want people to follow your account after visiting it, it needs to be optimized and convincing.

Essential elements:

• A professional profile photo that inspires trust
• A catchy headline that clearly explains what you do and for whom
• A summary that tells your story and highlights your value proposition
• Detailed experiences with concrete results
• Recommendations from clients or colleagues
• Activation of “Creator” mode to allow people to follow without connecting

A well-optimized profile naturally converts visitors into qualified followers.

Create content that generates qualified followers

Content creation is the most powerful lever to organically develop your LinkedIn network. Each post is an opportunity to attract new followers.

High-value content types

Informational posts and storytelling. Share your experience, learnings, failures. People follow profiles that bring them value and inspiration. A post on “How I increased my conversion rate by 35% by changing one thing” naturally attracts followers interested in this topic.

Infographics and carousels. Visual content performs well on LinkedIn. Carousels (those posts with multiple slides) generate 2 to 3 times more engagement than simple text posts. They’re also saved more often, which improves your reach.

Videos and LinkedIn Live. Video is the format that generates the most engagement on LinkedIn. A well-promoted LinkedIn Live can bring you dozens of qualified followers in a single session.

Frequency and editorial planning

Consistency beats intensity. Better to publish twice weekly consistently than 10 posts in one week then nothing for a month. LinkedIn’s algorithm favors regular creators.

Create a simple editorial calendar:

• 2-3 posts per week minimum
• Vary formats (text, carousel, video)
• Post when your audience is active (generally 8-9am and 5-6pm on weekdays)

Verticalization: target the right prospects for your network

Instead of accepting all connection requests or following anyone, adopt a verticalization strategy.

The principle: build your network around your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). Only connect with people who match your commercial targets or can bring you professional value.

How to identify these profiles?

• Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for ultra-targeted searches
• Filter by position, sector, company size, location
• See who engages with your competitors’ content
• Identify decision-makers in companies you’re targeting

Result? A network of 800 people perfectly aligned with your business goals beats a network of 5,000 random people.

Employee advocacy: mobilize your team

If you manage a LinkedIn company page, employee advocacy is a powerful strategy to increase your followers.

The principle: mobilize your team to share company content on their personal profiles.

Why it works? Personal profiles have 5 to 10 times greater reach than company pages on LinkedIn. A post shared by 20 employees will potentially reach 20 times more people.

How to implement it?

• Create an employee advocacy program with clear guidelines
• Provide ready-to-share content (written posts, created visuals)
• Incentivize participation (gamification, internal recognition)
• Train your teams in personal branding best practices

Result: your company page gains visibility, and your team members develop their own personal brand. Win-win.

Personal profile vs company page: two different strategies

The strategy for developing your network differs depending on whether you manage a personal profile or a LinkedIn company page.

Developing your personal LinkedIn network

For your personal profile, the priority is building a strong personal brand around your expertise.

Focus on:

• Creating content that showcases your expertise
• Regular publication of insights and analyses
• Authentic engagement with your network (comments, messages)
• Participation in LinkedIn Live events
• Strategic use of storytelling

Your personal profile is your main asset for generating business opportunities. Invest time and energy in it.

Increasing a LinkedIn company page’s followers

For a company page, the strategy is slightly different:

Effective tactics:

• Publish educational and informative content (guides, case studies, webinars)
• Use LinkedIn Ads to boost certain strategic posts
• Implement an employee advocacy program
• Organize LinkedIn events (webinars, lives)
• Encourage website visitors to follow your page (widgets, CTAs)

Company pages naturally have less engagement than personal profiles, but they’re still essential for your B2B credibility.

FAQ: Buying LinkedIn followers

Is it legal to buy LinkedIn followers?

Technically, buying followers isn’t illegal from a criminal standpoint. However, it’s strictly prohibited by LinkedIn’s terms of use.

The platform can restrict or ban your account if it detects this practice. So you risk losing access to your complete professional network.

Beyond the legal aspect, it’s mainly an ineffective practice that harms your credibility and your SSI.

What’s the difference between buying followers and connections?

Buying followers means paying for accounts to follow your profile without establishing mutual connection. These followers potentially see your posts, but you can’t send them direct messages.

Buying connections means paying to establish 1st-level connections (mutual add). It’s even riskier because LinkedIn detects these suspicious patterns more easily (many connections accepted in short time with similar accounts).

In both cases, you get inactive or fake accounts that provide no business value.

Does my account risk being banned?

Yes, the risk exists. LinkedIn has considerably improved its detection algorithms in recent years.

Signals that alert LinkedIn:

• Sudden follower spike over a few days
• Abnormally low engagement rate relative to follower count
• Followers from countries/sectors unrelated to your activity
• Suspicious connection acceptance patterns

Temporary restriction is the most likely scenario for a first “offense,” but permanent ban can occur with repeat offenses or massive abuse.

How to get 500+ connections without buying?

Reaching 500 connections authentically takes time but is totally doable:

3-month strategy:

Month 1 – Optimization and activation:

• Optimize your profile to 100%
• Connect with your current colleagues, clients, partners
• Join 10-15 LinkedIn groups relevant to your sector
• Goal: 50-100 connections

Month 2 – Growth and content:

• Post 2-3 times per week
• Send 10-15 personalized connection requests daily via Sales Navigator
• Actively engage with your network’s content
• Goal: +150 connections

Month 3 – Automation and scaling:

• Use La Growth Machine to automate your outreach
• Continue content creation
• Participate in LinkedIn events
• Goal: +200 connections

Result after 3 months: 400-450 qualified connections. A few more weeks and you reach 500+ organically, with connections that have real value.

Do purchased followers engage with my posts?

No, practically never. That’s precisely the problem.

Purchased followers are either:

• Completely inactive accounts (created solely to be sold)
• Bot-managed accounts that never check their news feed
• Real profiles but totally uninterested in your sector

Concrete result: If you have 2,000 followers of which 1,500 are purchased, your posts will be seen by about 50-100 people (real followers only), with a terrible engagement rate of 0.2-0.5%.

LinkedIn’s algorithm will detect that your content interests no one and will further reduce your organic reach. You’ll even be penalized with your real followers.

Better to have 200 qualified followers who actively engage than 2,000 ghost followers dragging down your stats.

Buying LinkedIn followers: the final verdict

Buying LinkedIn followers may seem like a quick solution to inflate your numbers and appear more credible. But as we’ve seen throughout this article, it’s a counterproductive strategy that harms your SSI, compromises your organic visibility, and even risks getting your account banned.

Instead of investing in ghost followers, invest in an authentic and effective network development strategy:

• Optimize your LinkedIn profile to convert visitors into followers
• Create high-value content regularly
• Precisely target the right prospects for your business
• Improve your Social Selling Index to maximize your visibility