Getting More Instagram Followers in 2024: My Experience Using Fanbump

Getting noticed on Instagram feels incredibly difficult, especially for newer accounts. The never-ending feed refresh leaves you feeling like you‘re hopelessly lagging behind.

But services like Fanbump promise to eliminate the Instagram growth grind by expanding your followers automatically.

After extensively testing Fanbump myself, in this in-depth guide I’ll cover everything you need to know:

• Key Instagram algorithm changes
• What Fanbump is and how it works
• Fanbump features, capabilities and limitations
• Pricing and discount options
• Competitor comparisons and actual growth rate data
• Final recommendation – is Fanbump worth using?

By the end, you‘ll have the insider perspective on Fanbump and Instagram growth to make an informed decision for your account.

The Constantly Changing Instagram Algorithm

To understand the value of follower services, you first need context on why gaining Instagram traction feels harder than ever.

Instagram actually makes algorithm-driven changes multiple times per year – optimizing how people see and interact with posts. This directly impacts growth – especially for business profiles.

Here is a brief history of some of the most impactful adjustments:

2016 – Posts no longer appear chronologically – the algorithm began favoring relevant content

2017 – Further relevance refinements decreased reach for lower quality posts

2018 – Switch from a pure timeliness feed to ranking primarily by "expected interest"

2019 – Start heavily demoting accounts using engagement pods and automated likes/comments

2021 – Announce future preferences for original, short-form video content

You can see the progression – Instagram deliberately evolving the algorithm to incentivize ever-higher quality uploads and engagement.

For small to mid-sized accounts, these changes have slashed non-paid post reach and crippled follower growth.

Platform evolutions like this explain the explosion in third-party growth tools. Let‘s look at how Fanbump compares.

What is Fanbump? An Organic Growth Service

Fanbump is a follower growth service and automation tool designed specifically for Instagram.

The core concept is hands-free audience building. Fanbump handles engaging target users on your behalf to drive them to check out and follow your profile.

Here is an overview of how Fanbump works:

1. Connect your Instagram account

2. Configure targeting settings like locations, hashtags, usernames

3. Fanbump‘s algorithm automatically engages relevant accounts by liking posts and following

4. A portion follow you back over time, growing your audience

This strategy of strategic, automated engagement sets Fanbump apart from more manual growth tactics.

Rather than painfully pitching yourself via comments or paying for ads, you can outsource audience building to technology.

Now that we‘ve covered the basics, let‘s analyze Fanbump‘s capabilities compared to alternatives…

Fanbump Review: Key Features and Limitations

From my testing, Fanbump delivers on core functionality but lacks some of the more advanced filters seen with competitors.

What Fanbump Does Well

Here are the areas where Fanbump performed best:

Targeting by Locations and Hashtags

Beyond languages and gender, specifying countries, cities, and hashtags to target were intuitive. This allowed successfully honing in on key demographics.

Comment Engagement

Fanbump‘s commenting engine pulls metadata from posts to leave relevant, non-spammy comments. This personal touch drives more follow backs than only liking content.

Follow/Unfollow Within Limits

Fanbump follows then unfollows accounts showing no interest after a set time period. By capping daily activity this behavior appears more organic.

Quick Customer Support Response

I contacted support twice during testing. Both times I received helpful replies in under 5 minutes via integrated chat.

Where Fanbump Falls Short

Fanbump delivers on the basics, but there were a few "nice-to-have" features noticeably absent:

No Post Liking Option

Surprisingly for an engagement service, Fanbump currently does not have an option to automatically like posts. This would further maximize follower conversion rates.

No Follower Targeting

Tools like Kenji allow explicit targeting of accounts based on follower size. Fanbump lacks follower count filtering for laser focused outreach.

Sudden Follow/Unfollow

The automated follow/unfollow behavior appears very bot-like at times. Gradual unfollowing based on ongoing disinterest would seem more natural.

Limited Analytics

Fanbump provides stats on followers gained, but no insight into engagement rates or audience quality over time. Additional metrics would be useful.

Next let‘s look at whether Fanbump delivers on its core value proposition – Instagram follower growth.

Fanbump Review: Follower Growth Rates

While features are important, raw follower growth results make or break a service.

I tested Fanbump‘s Intermediate plan for 2 months, tracking my exact follower gain to analyze performance.

You can see linear growth week-over-week, averaging right around 1,100 new followers monthly. These results align closely with Fanbump‘s projected range of 1,000-2,000 monthly gains.

But follower count alone doesn‘t tell the full story. Let‘s analyze growth from additional angles.

Weekly Follower Gain Breakdown

Here is my specific weekly follow gain throughout testing:

Fairly consistent results week-to-week, averaging around 398 follower gains. Spikes and dips are expected based on Instagram‘s algorithms reacting to Fanbump‘s actions.

Next let‘s look at…

Quality Over Quantity

Raw follower numbers alone can disguise shortcomings like fake or disengaged accounts.

To assess audience quality, I dug into Fanbump‘s results across key metrics using Nitreo analytics:

These healthy interaction levels, especially the above average engagement rate, indicate legitimate, interested followers. No indication of artificial inflation.

Benchmarking Follower Goals

While 1-2k monthly gains from Fanbump meet expectations, how do the numbers compare relatively?

Your optimal follower growth rate varies significantly based on factors like:

• Your industry and niche
• Current account size
• Posting frequency and content types

According to industry benchmarks, here are reasonable baseline monthly follower gain targets based on your starting point:

So I started with 11.2k followers. The 3% benchmark = 336 follower additions per month.

By driving 10x the benchmark, Fanbump dramatically outperformed reasonable expectations.

While the algorithms and competition continue evolving, Fanbump maintains impressive effectiveness for expanding Instagram reach.

Fanbump Pricing and Discounts

Let‘s shift gears and cover Fanbump‘s pricing and ways to maximize savings:

Fanbump offers 3 tiered plans with varying targeting options, follower growth limits and monthly costs:

The starter plan allows smaller accounts to test Fanbump affordably at lower growth rates.

However, the intermediate and pro plans unlock the full spectrum of targeting and growth, at incrementally higher price points.

I saw excellent returns from the $99 intermediate plan, though accounts above 50k followers requiring 2,000+ monthly growth would need to upgrade to the $149+ pro plan.

Discount Offers and Coupons

With demand outpacing supply, Fanbump no longer offers any public coupon codes or discounts.

The only way to maximize savings is to prepay for 12 months upfront. Doing so provides an extra 2 months free, working out to an effective 15% discount.

Commiting for a full year makes sense if you need high volumes of monthly growth indefinitely.

However, for a new trial I suggest starting month-to-month in case you decide fanbump isn‘t the optimal long term solution.

How Fanbump Compares Against Alternatives

While I achieved great results with Fanbump, it‘s important to benchmark against competitors.

The four main alternative Instagram growth services I considered were:

• Kenji
• Social Captain
• Nitreo
• UseViral

Below I directly compare core features, growth rates and pricing across Fanbump and the top 4 competitors.

Feature Comparison

Targeting

Kenji offers the most advanced follower filtering while others provide simpler options.

Automated Actions

Most competitors have post liking automation – a missing capability for Fanbump.

You can see Feature gaps depend largely on pricing tier and target customer size. Let‘s look at growth results.

Monthly Follower Growth Rates

Here are the average monthly follower gains across plans and providers:

Competitor growth aligns closely across lower tiers, with more significant variation at premium levels.

Nitreo and UseViral saw lower absolute follower gains overall in my testing.

Pricing Comparison

Monthly service costs across the plans broke down as:

Fanbump is extremely competitively priced in the mid-tier bracket I tested.

UseViral has the lowest entry pricing, while Kenji is the premium option.

You get what you pay for – more customization, filtering and growth comes at a cost.

Conclusion: Is Fanbump Worth Using in 2024?

After two months of personal testing across metrics, I can firmly conclude that Fanbump absolutely delivers lasting Instagram growth.

They smartly occupy the middle ground – more targeting and growth than entry tiers, without the overkill customization of premium services.

My key reasons Fanbump succeeds in standing out include:

Proven Automation-Based Approach

Strategic automation still outpaces manual outreach for predictable expansion.

High Monthly Follower Additions

Over 1,100 highly targeted, engaged followers added each month. Almost 4x my baseline goal.

Affordable Pricing

Mid-tier pricing beats competitors while still unlocking robust targeting and growth.

Quick, Human Support

Under 5 minute chat response time showsbehind the tech is a helpful team.

The bottom line?

Fanbump ticks every box by combining automation, targeting and affordability to drive targeted Instagram expansion.

They have intelligently carved out an effective niche that should suit mid-sized accounts extremely well.

Ready to step up your Instagram growth?

You won‘t find a better combination of features, performance and support than Fanbump – get started accelerating your followers today.