Why Growth Tools Flop and What Truly Works

I swear, half the growth tools out there are just repackaged snake oil with fancy dashboards. I spent way too much money testing random bots and "guaranteed growth" services before I realized most of them either spam my links to dead accounts or get me shadowbanned faster than I can say "algorithm." Real growth comes from actually engaging with the right people - not just dropping links everywhere, you know? Like, my biggest spike wasn’t from some magic tool, it was from genuinely sharing clips in niche groups where people actually wanted what I was putting out. Takes more effort, yeah, but you get real followers who stick around instead of bots who ghost after a week. Anyone else learn that the hard way? Or am I just cursed when it comes to flashy sales pages?