Six Ways To Tell If An Instagram 'Influencer' Is Faking Their Engagement And Follower Numbers

I've worked in both sides of the industry; as an blogger and as a brand using influencer marketing. I've seen big brands like Walmart, Costco or Nordstrom working with an influencer that I know is getting all of their likes and comments through Instagram engagement pods. Or small businesses who think they are getting a return on their investment, but the influencer they are working with has bought all of their followers.

I've even worked with agents who encourage their influencers to fake their numbers, or who will lie to a brand and insist their client isn't using methods to falsify engagement (when I have proof otherwise).

This is a new industry and it's full of dishonesty; I would consider it fraud to fake your engagement numbers when a brand is expecting real results. It's making the rest of the industry look bad by creating distrust among marketers. And for those marketers who aren't aware, it's creating an unfair playing field to those of us who want to remain authentic.

It's time that "influencers" stopped faking their numbers and it's time that brands start getting smart about who they choose to work with.

Here are six ways you can tell if an influencer is faking their engagement. Examples of true likes and impressions are from my own account, instagram.com/punsandlittleones. I've crossed out names on examples of influencers who fake their numbers, as my intention isn't to call them out. If you are one of those bloggers - it's not too late to stop faking your influence and reveal your true numbers.

More info: Instagram

These are my posts for the 30 days (instagram.com/punsandlittleones) - they all vary in likes because the amount of likes you receive should largely depend on your content. Due to the way the Instagram algorithm works, your posts will be shown to more people if the content resonates more with your followers. Therefore, you'll see posts with 4,000+ likes and posts with likes under 1,000.

Influencers who fake their engagement use groups like this to get hundreds, even thousands of likes by other people who reciprocate with them. This one is on Telegram, but they also exist in other places like Instagram DMs and Facebook. Dx24 means done liking posts within the last 24 hours. Influencers can either do this manually or through an app that you buy such as LikeItAll, which automatically likes posts in your computer browser.

Their followers have likely only followed them for a chance to win something, not because they truly like their content. Therefore, they won't engage or care about anything else they post.

In this example, all jumps in followers were due to giveaways. On days when a giveaway isn't posted, the influencer loses followers. The monthly average at the bottom shows the influencer is basically only growing through giveaways. They are also likely using the "follow/unfollow" method to trick people into following them, and they will go on a mass unfollow spree after those people have followed back.

Everyone has a certain amount of bots that follow them due to the nature of Instagram, but if an influencer has less than 70-80% estimated "real" followers, they have likely purchased followers at some point, as in the example.

If you're a brand or small business who would like to work with an influencer, ask them for a screenshot of their impressions in the last 30 days. This example is mine (instagram.com/punsandlittleones); they all vary because the more the content resonates, the more people it will be shown to due to the nature of the algorithm. Check impressions against likes. You can expect roughly 1,000 likes per 25,000 impressions, on average. If an influencer has 1,000 likes but 5,000 impressions, they are faking it.

Did this post help you find some ways to detect fake influencers? Let me know what you think over on Instagram @punsandlittleones.