I see followers as a vain metric. Being a social media marketer yourself, you might agree.
It is a vain metric, but it is still a metric. It can be measured together with activity per post and it will surely have an analogue increase in time. Engagement Rate is far more important than followers, but it is directly related with number of followers/friends :)
I also of course agree with interacting in your own and in other interesting posts. I spend a great amount of my steemit time into doing that!
Again, thank you so much! Your input is always invaluable 😎