8 tips for spotting fake influencers on Instagram

Influencers have become undeniable levers of visibility for restaurants in recent years. With a major impact on the choice of Internet users, the arrival of these content creators can lead to a real increase in traffic to your restaurant. Provided you work with the right influencers.

But the rise of the influencer profession has also led to the emergence of "fake" accounts. Today, everything can be bought on social platforms: subscribers, likes and even comments... some influencers don't hesitate to call on companies that market this data to artificially boost their statistics and obtain more fruitful partnerships. But how can you tell the difference between real and fakeaccounts? How can you spot influencers with inflated communities? Find out our 8 tips for building solid collaborations.

1. Arm yourself with tools

Alone, it becomes complicated to obtain sufficient answers as to whether accounts prove authentic or not. That's why it's important to arm yourself with quality tools that will give you precise insights into the accounts in question,when you set out to verify influencers .Platforms such as HypeAuditor and Social Bladeboth report on the current status of "influencer" profiles using data such as engagement rates and community quality. Charts are provided to give you an at-a-glance overview of the evolution of your accounts.

2. Check if it is a certified account

For several years now, social media networks such as Facebook and Instagram have made it possible to verify the authenticity of influential people's accounts. This tool addresses a recurring problem on these networks: the creation of fake celebrity accounts. The first thing to check is whether the blue badge accompanies the influencer's pseudonym. However, it's not enough to rely on this certification, which is reserved for macro-influencers with a large community. Micro-influencers, but also the vast majority of "classic" influencers, are not eligible for this badge. To spot fake accounts, you need to look at other criteria too.

3. Examine the evolution of your subscriber base

Then analyze the evolution of the influencer's subscriber base. If you notice that he or she has gained a significant number of subscribers in just one day, this certainly translates into the purchase of a follower base. A boom-bust trend in the number of subscribers, with periods of strong acquisitions followed by losses, is not a good sign,but strong acquisitions don't necessarily mean cheating! Check that these new subscribers aren't simply due to the influencer's activity. For example, if the influencer has carried out a high-profile activity (such as a partnership, a competition or an appearance in the media), this could explain the spike in subscribers.

4. Check the engagement rate of influencers before contacting them for your restaurant.

An influencer with a strong community but few reactions to his or her posts shows a lack of effectiveness. The strength of a community is not calculated quantitatively, but qualitatively. So-called micro-influencers are increasingly valued by restaurateurs because, even if they don't have the largest community, they have higher engagement rates. It's the influencer's relationship with his or her community, and the interactions generated, that are the most important factors to consider. To calculate an account's engagement rate, relate the average number of likes generated on recent posts to the number of followers on the account. If this rate is less than 2%, turn to another creator.

5. Understand the community that supports it

Follow someone on social media and get them to follow you back: a common practice among influencers. It's a way to build up your community without buying followers. Check the influencer's subscriber-to-follower ratio. If the account has almost as many subscriptions as followers, it has certainly resorted to this practice. Togo further, check that followers are genuinely interested in the content shared by the influencer. This can be done by classifying them into three categories:

• The "real people", who are the most interesting because they represent those who have followed the account out of genuine interest, the "mass follows", and the "suspicious accounts".

These last two categories pose problems. Mass follows are accounts that are followed by a large number of people. A low-quality audience for your restaurant, often drowned out by the posts of the various accounts they follow. This means you have little chance of them seeing yours in their news feed. Suspicious accounts" are ghost accounts or those generated by bots.If the rate of mass-follow and suspicious accounts reaches more than 30%, don't trust this influencer.

6. Check the nature of comments posted

Take the time to inspect the comments posted. A high number of comments doesn't necessarily mean an engaged community! If posted comments seem generic or are reduced to onomatopoeia or emojis, there's a good chance they've been bought by the influencer and published by bots. The most authentic comments are those directly related to the publication, or those mentioning other accounts.

7. Measuring the influencer's authority

Evaluating an influencer's authority can also reflect the quality of his or her audience. If an account counts several important influencers among its subscribers and appears frequently in their mentions, this is generally a good indicator. The influencer community recognizes the credibility of this account. Don't forget that influencers are the first to report fraudulent accounts that damage their reputation.

8. Take a closer look at whether the most active subscribers are mainly influencers

However, you also need to be wary of influencer communities. Some of them have adopted a practice still little known to the general public: pods. These are groupings of people in private conversations to support each other by liking and commenting on the publications of other influencers. This method enables them to improve their ranking on the application. The results are therefore biased, as the rate of engagement does not necessarily reflect the real interest of people who have reacted to published content. So keep an eye on who their most active subscribers are. If these are mainly influencers: not a positive sign.

Conclusion:

Trust plays a decisive role in the success of collaborations between restaurants and influencers. Recent legislation encourages influencers to demonstrate their authenticity, not only to restaurants, but also to their followers. It's becoming clear that the main criterion for choosing an influencer should not be the size of their audience, but rather their quality. It is therefore often more advantageous to collaborate with micro-influencers with highly engaged audiences (60% more than very popular accounts) rather than with personalities with thousands or even millions of followers but in reality less loyal.