If you want your posts to get a lot of upvotes and eventually earn enough money to sustain yourself, then YES. They are important.
Having said that, there may be huge differences between one follower to the next.
That’s because of the distinction of whales, dolphins and minnows.
Minnows are beginners with very low voting power. You vote may only give someone a few cents at best.
Dolphins are much better than minnows with a bigger influence in voting power. Still, they don’t have as much influence as the whales.
The whales are the people at the top of the food chain. Their upvote will give tens of dollars or even over a hundred dollars each.
A lot of Steemians (people who use Steemit) hope to make friends with whales and get them to follow.
A few whale upvotes is worth more than the vote of 100 minnows. That’s the difference they can make.
So whats got the point
Start right now