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A fake follower check shows whether your social media community is growing organically. Accounts that buy likes or followers are easy to recognize
Fake Follower Check: These 6 tools help with the analysis
The Benchmark Report 2024 from Influencer MarketingHub found that 36.8 percent of all influencers worldwide were found to have fake followers. This means that marketing campaigns that companies book with influencers are often not very effective. However, some influencers do not even know that they have become victims of fraud. It is therefore important to ensure authentic interactions.
- Social Blade provides analytics for various social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. It shows the growth of followers, subscribers and engagement to identify unusual patterns. Social Blade is cloud-based. The analysis tool is ideal for recognizing growth trends and sudden increases in followers, which can indicate purchased followers. The trial version can be used free of charge. The paid version costs $3.99 (€3.65) per month (as of August 2024).
- TrendHERO specializes in the analysis of TikTok and Instagram accounts. Fake followers are identified using an extensive database. The tool checks the engagement, interactions and origin of the followers. It is particularly suitable for companies that use influencer marketing to promote their brands on TikTok and therefore want to ensure the authenticity of influencer followers. The free trial version can be used for 14 days, after which it costs $15.99 (€14.64) per month.
- Modash advertises with the largest database for checking followers on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. According to the company, it contains more than 200 million influencers. In addition to extensive filter options to analyze influencers for specific target groups, the tool also checks follower authenticity and offers detailed insights into target group quality. Modash is cloud-based. The free trial version can be tried out for 14 days. After that, the tool is available for $99 (€90.66) per month.
- HypeAuditor is a comprehensive analysis tool for companies that want to launch a marketing campaign on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter or Twitch. In addition to recruiting influencers, the scope also includes checking content and followers. Detailed reports on the quality of followers, engagement and demographic data uncover fake followers and ensure authentic influencers. HypeAuditor also offers a free trial version. The premium version costs $399 (€365.37) per month.
- FollowerAudit was developed specifically for Twitter. It analyzes followers and identifies fake or inactive accounts. It can also continuously monitor the follower base. In the free version, 5000 followers can be checked daily. A diagram shows the results. It compares fake followers with real followers. In the subscription version, FollowerAudit also shows fake usernames and accounts with few tweets
- Exolyt has specialized in TikTok. It provides detailed insights into follower growth, engagement and authenticity. The tool helps to identify suspicious patterns that could indicate fake followers. There is a free pricing model for small teams that are just starting to analyze. If you want to analyze daily, you have to pay 250 euros per month. For large teams and AI support, you have to pay 600 euros per month
Fake Follower Check: How to recognize fake followers without tools
Fake followers undermine your credibility. Brands you work with are interested in real reach so that their own label is not damaged. The reputation of a company or influencer can suffer considerably if they work with fake followers. This can lead to a loss of trust among customers, partners and the general public. Recognizing and avoiding fake followers is therefore crucial.
- Unnatural growth pattern: A sudden, unnatural increase in the number of followers can indicate the purchase of followers. After a rapid increase, growth can suddenly stagnate, which is also suspicious.
- Check follower profiles: Fake accounts often don’t have a profile picture or a generic bio. Missing personal information is also an indication of a fake. Fake profiles either have very few or no posts and often follow many accounts, but have few followers themselves.
- Analyze the interaction rate: A low engagement rate can be a sign of fake followers. If the number of likes, comments and shares is low compared to the number of followers, you should check the account. Comments such as Nice post! or Great! with no reference to the content can also come from bots.
- Check the origin of followers: Geographical anomalies almost always indicate fake followers. If the majority of your followers come from countries that do not correspond to your target group, you should start a check. Many new followers at the same time or in a short period of time also indicate automated actions.
- Inactive followers:Fake profiles often have little or no activity. They lack a posting history. In addition, followers are probably inactive or fake if they never interact or post.
