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Influencer Marketing for Social Media
Influencer marketing has become an integral part of social media strategies, offering brands a powerful way to reach their target audience...
2 min read
Writing Team : Sep 8, 2023 4:22:52 PM
In 2022, 49% of influencers bought followers. Yes, for real.
While a substantial follower count may attract brands for influencer marketing collaborations, it's vital to recognize that quantity doesn't always translate to success or credibility, especially when those numbers are artificially inflated.
But how can you spot the fakes? Read on to find out.
Yes, you can indeed buy Instagram followers, but it doesn't mean you should.
Why not? Purchasing Instagram followers essentially means paying for a number, resulting in a majority of your "followers" being bots or inactive accounts that may either spam your posts or never engage with them.
Spoiler alert: Instagram followers do not equate to Instagram success.
For both budding and established influencers, buying Instagram followers can have detrimental consequences, including:
On the flip side, brands that collaborate with such accounts face partnerships that yield no returns and wasted resources.
Think you've encountered an influencer who has purchased Instagram followers? Here are four indicators to help identify the fakes:
Engagement is paramount when evaluating potential influencer marketing partners.
While a low engagement rate doesn't necessarily confirm that an influencer has bought followers (engagement has evolved since the early 2010s), it warrants further investigation.
Examine the influencer's likes, comments, and shares. How does their engagement compare to accounts of similar size?
According to recent data, engagement rates range from 0.95% for accounts with over 100K followers to 4.21% for those with fewer than 5K followers.
Use this as a rough benchmark; if their engagement significantly lags, proceed to tip #2.
One of the simplest ways to determine if an influencer has purchased Instagram followers is by scrutinizing the comments section.
If the comments are inundated with generic, irrelevant, or spammy responses, such as emoji strings, it raises a substantial red flag.
However, if you remain uncertain, we recommend investigating the profiles of these commenters (as explained below).
CREATOR TIP: Eliminate bots and fake followers by auditing your following list and blocking accounts that post spam in your comments.
If you inspect the profiles of an influencer's followers and discover that a majority are "ghost" profiles with no posts, very few followers, and little to no activity, it's a clear indicator of fake followers.
If there isn't much happening on these profiles, you've cracked the code.
Some fake Instagram followers can appear deceptively genuine, so it's prudent to dig deeper if you have suspicions. Our suggestion? Peruse the bios and content (if any) of these profiles.
If a substantial portion of them indicates unrelated locations or conflicting demographics (or niches), the possibility of purchased followers becomes more plausible.
Genuine engagement and active follower profiles are indispensable for a successful influencer marketing partnership. So, the next time you're dazzled by an influencer's follower count, remember the age-old adage: not all that glitters is gold.
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