How to Perform an Influencer Audit in 2021: The Expert Guide

As an influencer marketing veteran with 13+ years under my belt, I‘ve seen proactive auditing separate the game-changers from the penny pinchers time and again.

Whether you‘re just dipping your toes in working with influencers or managing an enterprise program, this comprehensive guide equips you to:

✅ Spot fraudulent influencers through human intuition and machine learning

✅ Benchmark authenticity via precise engagement calculations

✅ Leverage audit tools effectively without breaking budget

✅ Interpret red flags in reports to catch bad actors

✅ Ongoing monitoring for optimizing partnerships long-term

Let‘s dive in!

The Explosive Growth of Fake Followers (and What You Can Do About It)

Like any industry experiencing rapid acceleration, influencer marketing has triggered a gold rush mentality for participants hoping to strike it rich through social media popularity.

But how much of that perceived value is real, and how much is smoke and mirrors?

Industry statistics paint an alarming picture:

• Up to 60% of influencer followers could be fake or inactive accounts

• But nearly 40% of marketers don‘t audit the influencers they pay

• Resulting in an estimated $750 million per year spent on campaigns with low quality audiences

Frightening numbers! But avoid falling into the "fake follower trap" through rigorous auditing frameworks for guaranteeing authenticity and real returns.

In this guide, we‘ll cover actionable strategies including:

• 5 types of fake influencers to recognize

• Audit tool pro/con analysis

• 8 red flags in influencer interviews

• Benchmark engagement rates by niche

• Ongoing monitoring post-partnership

• And more

Let‘s explore exactly how to empower your 2021 influencer marketing against followers fraud!

Recognizing Fake Followers in Their Many Disguises

Like on Halloween, inauthentic profiles hide behind masks pretending to be something they‘re not. Let‘s classify key "costume types" used to disguising engagement fraud:

Bots

These automated fake accounts unleash themselves en masse to like, comment and follow then disappear once flagged. Telltales include:

• Identical comments across many influencer posts
• Very recent profile creation dates
• Odd numbers/letters-heavy handles (af8374rnnna)

Bots pose hardest detection challenges since they seem "real" despite no human involvement. More advanced machine learning required versus more basic fake follower purchases.

Purchased Followers

Like the name says, inactive profiles straight-up bought to inflate audience size metrics used for talent valuation. Signals include:

• No profile photo
• Default images for posts
• Foreign countries with no contextual relevance

Easy to spot groups of followers fitting this template mixed between real audience clusters in audit reports. Prioritize these basic fakes in initial purge efforts.

Fake Engagement Services

Why stop at buying followers when you can buy comments and likes tied to inactive profiles too? These services deliver engagement bursts to posts for pennies to simulate popularity.

But volume engagement inconsistencies, profile irrelevance and similarities give away the ploy:

• Korean bot farm likes on bikini model posts? Unlikely.
• Hundreds of flower emoji comments…all saying the same thing? Beyond suspicious.

View/Impression Fraud

While not directly inflating audience sizes, artificially generating views, loops or impressions also misrepresents true influencer reach/resonance. Tactics like:

• Auto-playing videos out of sight to drive view counts
• Opening posts in multiple browser windows/tabs
• Bots looping through posts quickly

Compare impressions against historical averages and engagement rates – disconnects signal deception.

Growth Services

Why slowly build a legitimate influencer account through hard work when you can catapult immediately to profit through the dark art of growth hacking?

• Follow/Unfollow apps for inflating numbers
• Engagement pod comment rings
• Hashtag gamification

Sudden growth acceleration, churning followers and posts missing overall brand cohesion betray growth service shortcuts.

Now let‘s explore best practices for auditing processes capable of sniffing out even advanced fraud.

Structuring Your Influencer Audit Funnel

With billions of global social media profiles today, scanning potential partners manually just doesn‘t scale. Prioritize layers of filtering through automated assessments before manual review:

Phase 1: Initial Online Vetting

• Keyword search and location filters
• Review niche relevance
• Benchmark initial follower sizes

Phase 2: Automated Auditing

• Run 2-3 automated audit tools (explored below)
• Download full CSV reports
• Document red flags

Phase 3: Manual Spot Auditing

• Sample recent posts and engagement
• Click follower profiles for legitimacy
• Scan metrics vs historical records

Phase 4: In-Depth Interview

Arrange for a video call before partnering to assess credibility through dialogue – more details below!

This sequencing allows you to quickly cut non-viable influencers while prioritizing manual review time for promising candidates showing little fraudulent indicators.

Choosing the Right Audit Tools

Dozens of web apps and browser extensions promise to magically sort real vs fake influencer followers with little consensus on best practices. Let‘s analyze options:

HypeAuditor

• Pros: Comprehensive Instagram/Youtube reporting, 14-day free trial
• Cons: Limited Twitter/TikTok capabilities, expensive subscriptions

SocialBlade

• Pros: Free Instagram/Youtube/Twitter analytics, engagement estimates
• Cons: No formal audit reports, growth spikes not flagged

IG Audit App

• Pros: Free Chrome extension with engagement metrics
• Cons: Requires installing extension, not standalone web app

Evaluating multiple tools is recommended since algorithmic approaches and classifications vary. But having the basics covered via free tools works for most to start while validating value of investing in premium-level paid offerings.

See why layering human insight on top of automated auditing provides the ultimate fraud protection? Let‘s explore that next.

8 Red Flags to Probe During Influencer Interviews

So you‘ve vetted the initial portfolio – decent following size, strong visual branding, audit checks mostly green…now what?

The planned 10-minute "meet and greet" call suddenly transforms into a 60-minute fraud interrogation!

Simply asking exploratory questions allows you to gather key behavioral signals no algorithm can assess. Listen for:

• Evasion around past brand partnerships – Unwillingness to share references or metrics could hide disappointing performances

• Sharing rates seem high relative to niche – Do fortune 500 clients actually pay this Minecraft streamer $5K per post? Unlikely.

• Undisclosed hired help – Having agents, ghostwriters and graphic designers is perfectly acceptable! But transparency around team collaboration is expected upfront.

• Apprehension around further auditing – Pushback against additional authenticity checks throws up immediate red flags

…Plus 4 other warning signs I’ve consistently seen over my decade in influencer fraud investigations – subscribe via email below for full list access!

While no tactical approach fully eliminates deception risks, incorporating human evaluations alongside automated vetting provides the ultimate armor against infiltration by bad actors.

Next let‘s explore benchmarks for contextualizing audit output.

Influencer Engagement Rates by Industry

Understanding what ‘good’ engagement means for an influencer relies entirely on context – make sure you interpret audit percentages through proper niche lens!

For example, micro-influencers with sub-50k audiences driving 8% ERs markedly outperform celebrities and mega-influencers in corresponding categories:

Nano-influencers may only persuade hundreds of purchases, but resonance concentrating buying power beats broad unawareness every time.

Make sure to connect possible partner ERs against averages for their:

• Industry
• Location
• Gender
• Follower size
• Content type

Let’s explore extra tips for ongoing fraud prevention post-partnership…

Monitoring Frameworks for Optimizing Campaigns

You did it – signed contracts with authentic creators driving real impact! Now put systems for continually validating performance over long term relationships:

Look for Oddly Low Conversions

Overall strong content and great reception in comments, but surprisingly minimal traffic or sales being attributed? This disconnect could signify influencer-side misrepresentation from vanity metrics like video loops or outbound click spam.

Keep open communication for troubleshooting issues!

Analyze Attribution vs Last Clicks

What happens if sales come in steadily overall then suddenly plateau or drop? Check if conversions occur across earlier touchpoints vs directly attributed. Perceived issues may originate in your sales funnel vs partnerships.

Spot Check for Continued Fraud

Run manual spot audits even post-vetting to catch bad apples focusing on sustained credibility through the first few posts before reverting to shady practices.

Nip growing problems in the bud through consistent, random check-ins!

Think ongoing enforcement stops once contact ink dries? Think again! Verify value persistently delivered all throughout your influencer relationships!

Wrap Up: Now Go Forth and Audit!

Still skimming by with cursory glance approvals or wholly skipping fraud detection? Then I hope the thorough blueprint provided today convinces you otherwise!

Just remember:

✅ There‘s no replacement for layered human + tech auditing

✅ Regularly revisit initial assessments over time

✅ Benchmark niche engagement avg for context

✅ Keep an open dialogue around performance

Now get auditing! Here are some parting thoughts:

"What signs of inauthentic activity do you watch for beyond follower counts?"

"Have any horror stories where a fraudster slipped through the cracks?"

I look forward to swapping stories and helping elevate your validation practices!