How do you avoid influencer fraud?
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— The LinkedIn Team
Influencer fraud is a serious problem for social media optimization (SMO) campaigns that rely on authentic and trustworthy influencers to promote a brand, product, or service. Influencer fraud occurs when influencers use deceptive or unethical methods to inflate their follower count, engagement rate, or influence level, such as buying fake followers, likes, comments, or reviews, or using bots, click farms, or other automated tools. Influencer fraud can damage your brand reputation, waste your marketing budget, and undermine your SMO goals. How do you avoid influencer fraud and find genuine and reliable influencers for your SMO strategy? Here are some tips to help you out.
Check the influencer's profile
The first step to avoid influencer fraud is to check the influencer's profile and verify their identity, credibility, and relevance. Look for signs of authenticity, such as a verified badge, a consistent and professional bio, a clear niche and target audience, and a link to their website or portfolio. Avoid influencers who have vague or generic profiles, who claim to be experts in multiple fields, or who have suspicious or spammy links. Also, check the influencer's content quality, style, tone, and frequency, and see if they match your brand values, voice, and goals.
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Well, before you reach out to the influencer, you should also take note of this: Make sure your brand or product image matches that of the influencer's and the messages being sent. Why? They may have large following, but they may not be the force to reckon with in your product/brand target market.
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Analyze the influencer's audience
The second step to avoid influencer fraud is to analyze the influencer's audience and see if they are real, engaged, and aligned with your SMO objectives. Look for indicators of organic and loyal followers, such as a steady and realistic growth rate, a balanced follower-to-following ratio, a high and consistent engagement rate, and a diverse and relevant demographic. Avoid influencers who have sudden or unnatural spikes or drops in their follower count, who have a low or erratic engagement rate, or who have a mismatched or irrelevant audience. Also, use tools like Social Blade, HypeAuditor, or FollowerAudit to detect and measure fake followers, bots, or other anomalies.
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Engagements tell a much better story than follower count. In today's world, it is quite easy to buy followers, so it is paramount to ensure that the influencers actually have an engaged audience that can be influenced by their actions.
Review the influencer's performance
The third step to avoid influencer fraud is to review the influencer's performance and see if they deliver results and value for your SMO campaign. Look for evidence of influence, such as a high and positive sentiment score, a strong and active community, a high and relevant reach and impressions, and a clear and measurable call to action. Avoid influencers who have a low or negative sentiment score, who have a weak or inactive community, who have a low or irrelevant reach and impressions, or who have a vague or ineffective call to action. Also, ask the influencer for their media kit, case studies, testimonials, or analytics to verify and evaluate their performance.
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When considering doing business with an influencer, it's important to look beyond just their follower count. Many digital marketing experts make the mistake of overlooking this aspect of influencer marketing. Your influencer must be relevant to your product, niche, or service, and should have a following that matches your target audience. Take the time to develop customer personas and identify them within the influencer's audience before proceeding. Don't be afraid to ask questions. This approach can save you money and prevent wasted time and effort.
Communicate with the influencer
The fourth step to avoid influencer fraud is to communicate with the influencer and build a trusting and transparent relationship. Look for signs of professionalism, such as a prompt and polite response, a clear and detailed proposal, a fair and negotiable price, and a written and signed contract. Avoid influencers who are unresponsive or rude, who have a vague or unrealistic proposal, who have an inflated or fixed price, or who have no or verbal contract. Also, communicate your expectations, guidelines, deadlines, and feedback to the influencer, and monitor and track their progress and deliverables.
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In this step, you should pay close attention to the willingness of the influencer to provide you the insights. If he or she doesn't cooperate, know that this influencer is a scammer trying to avoid announcing the final result of your investment.
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Audit the influencer's campaign
The fifth step to avoid influencer fraud is to audit the influencer's campaign and see if they meet your SMO standards and goals. Look for indicators of success, such as a high and accurate conversion rate, a high and loyal retention rate, a high and positive return on investment (ROI), and a high and lasting brand awareness. Avoid influencers who have a low or inaccurate conversion rate, a low or unloyal retention rate, a low or negative ROI, or a low or fleeting brand awareness. Also, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or Instagram Insights to measure and report the influencer's campaign performance and impact.
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Actually, I disagree that influencers cant play a great role in boosting any brand or that there are only fraud influencers in the market. There is a great saying, if we don't adapt to change then we should get ready for the doom. By saying that we all know how fast the world of digital marketing is changing and if we get the support of increased traffic and credibility from these influencers then we shouldn't be ignoring the fact. Of course, we have to do our own due diligence before interacting with them. As a brand, we should be checking the quality of posts or reels and how well those posts are getting converted to align with the brand goals. Assess influencer reach and engagement metrics to understand the ROI. Check their success ratio
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Learn from the influencer's feedback
The sixth step to avoid influencer fraud is to learn from the influencer's feedback and see how you can improve your SMO strategy and relationship. Look for signs of honesty, such as a constructive and respectful feedback, a candid and insightful evaluation, a sincere and appreciative recognition, and a willing and cooperative improvement. Avoid influencers who have a destructive or disrespectful feedback, a biased or superficial evaluation, a fake or self-serving recognition, or a resistant or uncooperative improvement. Also, give your feedback to the influencer, and thank them for their collaboration and contribution.
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Ask for feedback relevant to the influencer's audience and that how s/he thinks your brand should continue to engage with the audience. To add to this, while their feedback is equally important, look at the way influencer has used or created the content for your brand. Try to understand and merge the feedback with content and continue improving as well as creating new ways to engage with the new audience you just got from the collaboration.
Here’s what else to consider
This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?
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Influencer fraud: where fake followers party harder than real ones! But fear not, here's the secret sauce to dodge the digital fakers: 1. Sherlock Skills: Check those likes and comments – if they're fishier than seafood ice cream, something's up! 2. History Hunt: Dive into their content past like you're scrolling through ancient scrolls. Overnight follower spikes? Red alert! 3. Gut Feeling: If their engagement is quieter than a library at midnight, it's time to move on. In the epic quest against influencer fraud, armed with your magnifying glass and a dash of skepticism, you're destined to find those real-deal influencers who'll make your SMO strategy shine brighter than a supernova disco ball!
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