If you own a business, you have likely come across a fake influencer while searching for the perfect representative for your brand.
Fake influencers are ones who claim they are an influencer, but their following is primarily followers who were bought.
They have no true audience and no engagement from their audience, so their “influencing” is not making any difference or benefit to a brand.
Why do they present themselves as influencers?
Well, nowadays, many people think like this:
Becoming an influencer + having many followers = $$$$.
This is just not true.
Being an influencer takes time and effort to cultivate a real following who engages with the high-quality content they produce.
Followers are only going to buy a product or look at a brand when they trust the person showing it to them.
Don’t make the mistake of reaching out to an influencer who doesn’t put in effort or time. Follow these steps to learn how to identify a fake account.
1. Pay attention to their engagement level
If an account has a huge number of followers, but hardly any likes or comments, that may be a red flag.
Therefore, you should take it as a sign to stay away from them.
Chances are, most of their followers are fake, which would be why there’s little interaction. They probably bought them in hopes of seeing success without the work.
However, if there’s a lot of comments, a similar event might have taken place.
The fake influencer may have also bought their comments and likes so that it would seem like they were successful with lots of engagement.
At times, it can be difficult to differentiate a real comment from one generated by a bot, so do as much research as you can.
And before you argue that it’s too time-consuming, we get it.
It’s not something anyone wants to do, but if you are genuinely interested in reaching out to the influencer, it is important to be thorough to not make any mistakes.
They can be costly.
2. Explore their followers’ profiles
Accounts with few followers or no images are most likely to be fake.
Taking a few minutes to browse through an influencer’s followers can reveal a lot about their purpose or goal.
If there’s a large number of accounts with this format, you’ll want to steer clear of the influencer.
They aren’t doing it for the right reasons.
3. Check for other social media accounts
If you can’t find their name or social media handle on any other platform, that points towards the account being a fake influencer.
Influencers tend to have accounts across multiple platforms to reach a wider span of audiences.
Those dedicated to their work and success know it’s important to reach followers on an app they prefer.
However, don’t get misled.
If the influencer has a lower or higher number of followers on a different platform, don’t get concerned.
It varies for everyone and is not likely a sign that the person is fake.
4. Investigate photos that look fake or stolen
A fake influencer may resort to taking content from other influencers since they do not want to put in the energy and just want the reward.
If you’re curious about a particular image, you can search it in Google to see if there are any results from another page.
When any website comes up, besides a free stock photo site, means the photo was taken.
If you’re even questioning it, though, it might just be better to move on to influencers who seem more authentic and genuine.
Tools To Help Your Influencer Search
After reading all of this, you may feel stressed or concerned about having to keep track of so many factors when evaluating an influencer.
Don’t fret!
There are many helpful websites that can assist you in finding not only a real, successful influencer but also the perfect one for your product or brand.
Some of those sites include:
- Upfluence: includes a database with millions of influencer profiles where you can search using keywords to find the exact person you’re looking for.
- Influence.co: offers the chance to build a profile as a brand and conduct searches for influencers in its community.
- HypeAuditor: this site allows you to see the rankings of Instagram influencers based on the engagement of their followers. You can search the list in all areas or narrow it down to match your niche.
There’s no question that searching for the right influencer can be challenging. But if you take the time to look at their engagement, followers, and photos before reaching out, you can prevent a costly mistake.
Additional articles you might be interested in:
- Why Influencers Are Faking Brand Deals And What To Do About It
- How To Pick The Right Influencers To Market Your Products
- The Ultimate Guide To Becoming An Instagram Influencer
- How To Gain A Following And Leverage Your Influence
- 7 Ways To Gain More Instagram Followers This Week
- 13 Ways To Increase Your Instagram Engagement
- 8 Reasons Why Becoming An Influencer May Not Be For You
- Why It’s Important To Be On Multiple Social Media Sites As An Influencer
- How To Choose The Right Social Media Platform For Your Business
- How To Find And Build Relationships With Social Media Influencers
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