Jill Kurtz, Owner, Kurtz Digital Strategy

When used effectively, influencer marketing can produce incredible results for brands. The idea is to tap into the engaged communities to share your brand message with a wider audience.

It can be hard to find authentic influencers. Research shows up to 24 percent of influencers have falsely manipulated their engagement numbers!

You don’t want to associate yourself with fake influencers or waste your money on them. You need to know how to look properly for real influencers.

Spotting Fake Influencers

The simplest way to spot a fake influencer is to go into their follower list. Look for profiles without a display photo, few to no followers and/or following, and no posts. Another marker is if followers have clearly made up names, particularly if their handles contain lots of numbers. Also look at engagement. How many people are commenting on posts?A legitimate influencer account should have plenty of followers and a few hundred authentic comments on posts.

Screening Influencers

One of the best ways to determine if an influencer is right for your marketing is by asking for screenshots of their audience insights. Ask for their latest engagement statistics for both their account and their latest posts. This information can help determine if they influence demographics that align with your marketing.Ask for references from brands, companies and businesses that have worked with. You can also ask for specific information about the collaboration and the results.Spend some time monitoring any potential influencer partner. Connect with their account. See what gets posted and who reacts. A little time spent lurking can tell you a lot about the authenticity of a community.

Proceed with Caution

Like all business decisions, approach your influencer strategy with care and caution. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Be careful before you commit to anything.