3 ways to spot fake micro-influencers on social media
How can PR pros spot an influencer that isn’t all he or she claims to be? Use the metrics to ensure your marketing budget isn’t spent on a scam.
More and more marketers are choosing to work with micro-influencers (influencers with less than 10,000 followers) instead of big industry names to broaden reach and promote their products. It’s a smart strategy, given that micro-influencers have a much closer, more genuine relationship with their followers.
The only problem is how easily micro-influencers can fudge their numbers so it appears they have an impressive audience.
Before paying any new micro-influencer to promote your brand, make sure their audience is genuine. Here’s how:
1. Check their engagement rate.
A micro-influencer’s engagement rate is always the first metric you should look at, because it tells you the most about their potential value for your business. When a person’s engagement rate is extremely low, it’s also a big sign that they might be buying followers.
You can do this manually by spot-checking posts on an influencer’s profile. All you have to do is select one of their posts and total up how many likes, hearts, retweets and comments it got. Then divide that number by how many followers they have.
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