Instagram influencer marketing campaigns are more important than ever when it comes to brand promotion. As brand competition continues to grow, it’s essential to find new ways to market a brand to set it apart from the rest. Instagram is one of the more popular social media platforms used for promotional reasons due to its many top marketing influencers.
Because it can be challenging to connect with the right influencer to promote a specific product or service, the proper research must be done to ensure you’re making the right choice. This research should include determining whether or not the influencer is indeed authentic or a complete fake.
Fake Instagram influencers will use bad practices to misrepresent who they are, falsifying their profile. Common tactics include using bots to artificially boost the number of their followers and falsifying their actual engagement numbers.
Influencers earn money through promotional marketing. The more followers they have, the more money they earn. Making their numbers appear higher than they are deceiving brands who want to hire and deceives audiences. Learn more about social media scamming on Instagram now to avoid connecting with a fake influencer.
While the percentage of fake Instagram accounts is small, it’s still necessary to be aware of some influencers’ bad practices that can lead a brand astray.
Instagram influencers have the potential to engage with millions of people, aka followers, every single day. This makes connecting with top influencers who have already established their online presence and target audience a goal for many brands. Whether a business or an individual, using influencers is one of the best marketing tactics to use nowadays to get noticed.
Instagram followers tend to follow influencers they completely trust. If one of the influencers they’re following promotes a particular brand, product, and service, they’re much more likely to engage with this brand because they trust the influencer’s opinion. On the flip side, connecting with a fake influencer can easily and seriously damage a brand’s reputation.
Choosing an authentic influencer helps any marketer build the trust and credibility necessary to capture the attention of today’s audiences.
Instagram is the absolute best social media platform when it comes to visually engaging with an audience. Its graphic appeal entices people to use the platform, so it’s not surprising that in 2021 Instagram now has more than 1 billion users worldwide. While Instagram influencers mainly rely on their visual posts to attract new followers, the platform also offers an area for influencers to share stories about the brands they’re representing.
In addition, Instagram offers influencers a large variety of promotional tools to utilize, supporting their ability to create their own unique, niche profile. Listed on their profile is important information for all to see, including their number of followers. But how do you know if these followers are real or fake?
Read below to understand how to spot the differences between an authentic Instagram influencer account and a fake Instagram influencer account.
Authentic Instagram influencers spend a lot of time making sure their Instagram account truly represents who they are and what they are all about. They understand the importance of creating an influencer account and sales, as their goal is to connect with specific individuals, businesses, brands, etc., to earn money. They also understand the importance of marketing their influencer brand in a way that lets others know they’re highly qualified to be a promotional partner.
Authentic influencers who use the Instagram platform to promote themselves, their brand will thoroughly understand and thus have lots of experience in their chosen niche. They’ll also know exactly who their audience is, how to post relevant photos and information, will post regularly, and will genuinely engage with their followers.
An influencer who has addressed most of the below best practices is likely to be an authentic Instagram influencer and can thus be trusted.
A Verification Badge
A Thorough And Complete Instagram Profile
A Positive History Of Posting Consistently For Target Audiences
A History Of High-Quality Posts
A High Engagement Rate
Proof The Influencer Has Organically Grown Their Audience Over A Period Of Time
Proof Of Past Successful Campaigns, Partnerships, Or Sponsorships
Proof Of Product Promotion Or Brand Marketing
The Influencer Conducts Themselves In A Professional Manner
The majority of authentic Instagram influencers are also going to be active on other social media platforms. Checking other popular social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to find out more about any particular Instagram influencer you might be interested in connecting with to promote your brand can help you decide.
Know that many Instagram users look at influencers as some of the more critical people in their lives. Accordingly, they not only trust but look forward to seeing any new photos and posts that their influencers are choosing to promote.
Since influencers can purchase their followers, those who want to connect must first determine if an influencer is authentic or a complete fake. Instead of making money online by becoming an authentic influencer, fake influencers take a shortcut by creating fake influencer account numbers. While their goal is to get rich quickly, the after-effects of their deceit can cause a lot of harm to those who choose to connect with them.
See below to learn three methods fake influencers use to mislead others into thinking they’re authentic influencers.
- Bot-followers are a popular choice, and because they’re easily accessible, it’s easier than ever for a fake influencer to boost their Instagram numbers artificially. Bots use an algorithm that makes it look like a real person is following. Know that a minimal amount of bot-followers is to be expected for top influencers. It’s when the majority of one’s followers look questionable that warrants a red flag.
The sudden jump in the number of followers within a short amount of time
Letter, number combination names may be spam
Lots of generic or blank follower profiles is a common sign
Dormant follower accounts are often fake
- Another way to spot a fake Instagram influencer is to look at their engagement numbers. Since Instagram engagement numbers play a significant role in influencer success, try to avoid choosing an influencer with a very low or newly high engagement rate.
When an influencer’s engagement numbers are low, it’s a sign that they’re not making engaging with their followers a point of focus.
When their engagement numbers are high but new, it’s likely false engagement numbers.
Specific signs of fake engagement include too many nonengaging comments, simple replies, and only emoji replies.
- Fake influencers also buy content to use as their own and/or fake the lifestyle they’re representing online. Even though they’re not faking their numbers, they’re misrepresenting who they really are and what they are all about.
Taking photos in their backyard or home and tagging it as a luxury location
Renting mansions for the day and claiming it’s a lifestyle
Pretending to partake in certain activities, like traveling, to get free products, services, and sponsorships
Authentic Instagram influencers choose to focus on a particular niche, placing them in a specific category. This dedication to their chosen niche supports their professionalism. More popular influencer marketing categories include fashion, lifestyle, travel, health and fitness, luxury, and parenting. Relevancy is a huge factor in choosing an Instagram influencer to promote a specific product, service, brand, etc.
For marketers to find the best authentic Instagram influencer to promote their products, services, and brand, they must first have the following information readily available.
Who’s your target audience?
How would you define your brand voice?
Are you launching a new product? Raising brand awareness? Trying to increase sales?
Which influencer campaign are you most interested in – sponsored reviews, giveaways, product promotion?
Perform relevant hashtag searches
Check out your competition – who’s following them?
Perform an online search to learn more about specific influencers
When reaching out to a potential new influencer, explain your intent in one easy-to-understand paragraph
While numbers matter, authentic influencers who have the same audience should be more of a focus. Influencer tier options:
Nano-influencers: 1,000 – 10,000 Followers
Micro-influencers: 10,000 – 50,000 Followers
Mid-tier Influencers: 50,000 – 500,000 Followers
Macro-influencers: 500,000 – 1,000,000 Followers
Mega-influencers: 1,000,000+ Followers
It’s essential for anyone interested in working with an Instagram influencer to know how to spot fake Instagram influencer accounts. Fake Instagram influencers will likely offer no return, leading to experiencing a lot of lost time and money, and nobody wants that. While Instagram does its best to remove fake bots, they eventually return, making it essential for marketers to always look for fake Instagram influencer accounts.
Using the above information will help anyone who needs Instagram influencer marketing make the best choice for their brand campaign.
