Influencer marketing scam is one of the most common marketing frauds these days. At RNF Technologies, our digital marketing team led by Faisal Abidi works against scams present in the market. Faisal Abidi believes in coming up with new anti-fraud practices to save the community from fraudulent activities. Most of his time goes into research, and he shares his findings in the form of blog posts on his website.
This blog throws light on influencer marketing fraud and how businesses can avoid it and save themselves from extensive losses caused by fraudsters.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a social media marketing strategy used to promote products and services with the help of social media influencers with a considerable number of followers. The idea is to push a product to a target audience through creative posts highlighting the product’s benefits that influencers post on their handles. However, there is spam present in the market at the same time.
Is influencer marketing fraud a severe problem?
Influencer marketing can be an excellent way to promote your brand, but the strategy comes with its share of scams. “At least 15% of advertisers’ spending on influencer marketing is lost to fraud, costing them $1.3 billion annually.” The amount is whopping, you see! “Mega influencers with a million or more followers can earn $250,000 per social media post, but nearly $38,000 of that money is wasted by brands on fake or inflated follower counts,” said the CBS News article.
Tips to avoid influencer marketing scam by Faisal Abidi
It is tough to guess whether the influencer you’re going to work with has real followers or not. However, there are some ways you can use to identify the difference between real and fake influencers.
Check engagement on their posts
A fake influencer won’t be able to get engagement on each post. Anyone can buy a package that promises “real followers” and become an influencer overnight. But it is challenging to get attention on all their posts as those followers won’t be interested in who they are. Many of them may even be bots. So, if you don’t find enough engagement on each post, consider it a red flag.
Read comments carefully
Sometimes, the person may have hundreds of comments and likes on each post. And there are still high chances of fraud. How to check now? Start scrolling through the comment section. If those comments are generic and have nothing to do with the post, they are probably part of a “likes and comments” package.
Go through posts and captions
Real people will always talk about experiences, and the same will reflect in their posts and captions. Such posts have the power to engage and influence people. But if they regularly post generic captions and their content is far from quality, they are most probably thriving on fake followers, likes, and comments.
The bottom line
An influencer has the ability to launch new trends. They have the power to influence their followers to purchase new products and make the brand a success. However, it is essential to steer clear of spam present on social media platforms at the same time. The above tips by Faisal Abidi will save you from influencer marketing scams and ensure that your money doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
Faisal Abidi
