Companies increase their followers/customers, boost mindshare and brand recognition, and heighten sales when they partner with the right influencers.
However, social media numbers don’t always show how much influence someone has.
Here are four ways to identify fake social media influencers before you invest in them.
1. Look Beyond the Number of Followers
Having thousands of followers doesn’t always mean that someone is an influencer. It’s pretty simple to pay for a fake social media following, and many popular accounts have done just that to appear more successful than they are.
If you want to partner with someone because you think they’re influential, ensure their follower base is natural! Otherwise, working with them won’t be worth your time or effort.
According to Mandi Relyea-Voss, “If you have 10,000 followers and 5 likes for your material, it’s pretty clear that they’re not genuine.
This is because anyone genuinely interested in your content would somehow take the time to engage with it — whether through liking, commenting, or sharing.”
It’s, therefore, essential to consider an influencer’s engagement when trying to spot a fake one.
2. Assess Their Engagement
How many likes does this person’s post typically receive?
What’s the average engagement rate like compared to their number of followers?
Are there a lot of discussions?
What sorts of comments are usually made?
Are they the type of comments that you can find on any website?
When an account has a lot of fake followers, you can tell by looking at how often their posts are engaged. This is because real people don’t engage with content from fake accounts- they’re just taking up space and adding to the follower number without providing any value.
Could you pay attention to their development?
Although not all firms will be able to pay attention to the development of many influencers, if you have the time, it’s a good idea to monitor an influencer’s growth.
Keep an eye on their account for an extended period and see what happens. If they lose a lot of followers only to gain much more, that’s a sign there is something wrong.
3. Look Through Their Followers List
Although time-consuming, sifting through an influencer’s followers is a crucial step before entrusting them with promoting your products or services.
In most cases, duplicate accounts/bot accounts are easy to spot in a follower list. They typically have a name and a profile photo but not much else. If you come across several fake or bot followers in someone’s following list that doesn’t seem genuine, it indicates they’ve paid for them.
4. Google Them
Although this method may not be effective for every influencer, it is always best to start with a general Google search. Often, prominent social media users have multiple channels and are present across various platforms on the internet.
Related Post: 5 Best Moves to Include In Your Social Media Strategy
