How to Avoid Social Media “Pods” and Still Build an Audience

There are better ways to grow your following.

In the last several years, social media “pods” have become a popular strategy to get more attention and engagement through a social media channel’s algorithms. Although many pods involve people who already know each other, it’s also possible to create a niche or topic pod, find followers and then ask them to participate actively. 

It sounds like a good idea to convince others in your circle to “upvote” one another’s posts and comments on sites like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. In some pods, people are genuinely interested in helping boost each other’s social media engagement rates. However, that’s not always the case. 

Reasons to avoid social media pods

Although engagement pods aren’t the same as “buying” followers and likes, the process still essentially means you are creating fake likes and artificially enhanced engagement rates. The intent behind Instagram pods, for example, is to climb up the engagement ranks by manipulating Instagram’s algorithm and follower counts, as opposed to organically targeting audience members that can convert into customers. 

Directly asking pod members to go onto your profile and page and like new posts doesn’t generate a genuine picture of what others think about your brand. Others will catch on, too, once they notice the same accounts like and comment on every post. Instagram or whichever social media channel you’re using might well suspend or even ban you for this spammy behavior.

Moreover, simply focusing on the same “Instagram engagement pod” means you’re not consistently putting effort into cultivating new followers by extending your content beyond your social circle. In the process, you end up limiting reach and genuine engagement instead of doing everything possible to grow it. 

Natural growth strategies

To avoid the “pod group” approach, try the following strategies to grow your business authentically.

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