Influencer marketing is the most effective and sought-after way to promote your brand and increase your social media footprint. Major brands and B2B marketers have already increased their influencer marketing budgets.

But like every other thing, influencer marketing also has associated risks. One of the major risks or concerns is influencer fraud.

What is influencer fraud?

In 2020, brands invested over $8.5 million in influencer marketing, but they also lost over $1.3 billion due to influencer fraud. The loss is estimated to increase by $1.5 million in 2020.

Fake influencers seem authentic in every way, but the one thing that distinguishes them for genuine influencers is the authenticity of their followerbase. Unlike genuine influencers, fake influencers gain popularity and fame by buying fake followers.

Every influencer has some fake accounts among their Twitter followers. There is no other way except frequently auditing your Twitter profiles to block fake followers. But, if the majority of followers of an influencer are fake, it’s probably best to avoid and report such users.

Buying fake followers can create an illusion of popularity, but it is fairly short-lived. Fake followers cannot provide the desired engagement or conversion rates that can help you increase your overall ROI.

How to check if an influencer has fake followers?

Now that you are aware of what fake influencers are, let’s discuss how to identify the right influencer to promote your brand.

Check Twitter followers

Before deciding on an influencer to collaborate with, check and analyze their Twitter profiles to evaluate the authenticity of their follower base. It can help you figure out which influencers have a genuine follower base and can increase your brand’s social media presence.

Followers with no photos or posts:

Fake accounts don’t usually have a profile picture on their Twitter profile. You can look for the Twitter followers of the influencer to identify fake followers. You can further clarify if the Twitter profiles authenticity by checking their posts.

Accounts that spam:

Check the Twitter profiles of users that frequently spam that frequently spam or troll on your tweets or content. You can also check for users with spammy user-names. These users do not provide engagement or add value to your Twitter profile.

Followers with uneven follower/following ratio:

Fake followers usually have an uneven follower/following ratio. Fake followers follow multiple Twitter followers but they have very few followers. Identifying such followers can help gauge the authenticity of the followers of any public Twitter account.

Look for sudden spikes in Twitter follower growth and engagement

Fake influencers buy fake followers to gain popularity and to seem genuine. It helps them attract hefty brand sponsorship deals. But it can also help brands identify fake influencers. Brands can look for any sudden spikes in the Twitter follower growth of influencers. Buying fake followers can bring a sudden increase in followers. Brands can use it to identify fake followers.

Use an automated Twitter follower analytics tool

FollowerAudit is a paid Twitter follower analytics tool that can help you perform a Twitter audit on any public Twitter account. You can gain access to various analytical insights that can help you track, analyze, and evaluate the Twitter followers of any public Twitter account.

It can help you extract lists of fake followers that you can use to evaluate the authenticity of the influencers’ Twitter follower base.

Key features of FollowerAudit,

• Analyze Twitter followers
  
• Block fake followers
  
• Track Twitter followers
  
• Monitor Twitter follower growth
  
• Track Unfollowers

FollowerAudit can also help you track and monitor the Twitter follower growth of any public Twitter account. You can use it to monitor your influencer marketing campaign and analyze the performance metrics in real-time.

Closing Thoughts

Fake followers are a disease that has plagued social media platforms. They have also given rise to fake influencers that buy fake followers to attract brand sponsorship deals. FollowerAudit is an effective Twitter follower analytics that can not only monitor the Twitter follower growth but also provide in-depth analytical insights that can boost your social media presence.