You're a Fake & a Phoney

I hear it all the time, "they went viral, what am I doing wrong?".

Nothing darling, you are doing everything right, they are running their social media without integrity or honesty. So, when they lay their head on their pillow at night, their thoughts may be "what if my campaign manager finds out?" rather than "wow, today I made some really unique online connections!".

As a social media coach and auditor, I have spent more hours than I care to discuss delving into the dark world of influencers. I, myself have done influencer work, and have moved on to realize my community only wants authentic, and honest reviews, so that is how I handle those partnerships. My peers, on the other hand, some honest and some not, maintain these campaigns as it is legitimate work.

The world of Instagram has changed.

It started as a platform to share exactly what you were experiencing in the moment. A meal. A memory. A vacation. Then it moved on to creativity, writing, beautiful curated feeds, finding niche audiences, and creating community. But this past year, it has taken an ugly turn. Maybe it is the desperation caused by the pandemic. Maybe people are so addicted to their phones and checking out of their real lives because real life has been pretty bleak this past year. I can see right through it, but many cannot if they don't know what they are looking for exactly when it comes to an account being authentic. Unfortunately, when companies reach out to work with influencers, they care about one number: followers. They assume their return on investment will be great if they invest in someone with 100K followers. This, however, is not exactly the formula, I am about to share some golden nuggets with you, so buckle up!

Follower count can be a false representation.

A quick Google search will show you how much one can expect to pay for 5,000 followers. Hint: it is less than a mediocre dinner for two. Meanwhile, someone such as myself has carefully navigated the platform for over nine years, to grow to just over 12K. We all know shortcuts in life are tempting, but never the right choice as the results are not long-lasting. If I look at an account with 100K followers and they have 8 comments - it is almost a guarantee that the majority of the followers are purchased. Instagram only shows your content to 10% of your audience, so if you buy most of your followers, only a handful of real, legitimate followers will see and therefore engage with your content.

The comments seem canned and disingenuous.

Next up - the comment pod peeps. These are people that could have a modest following, yet have hundreds of comments on each post. And the number of comments on each post is almost identical. I once watched an account with 3500 followers get a steady 340-360 comments on each post. But aren't lots of comments good, Brittany? No. Not always. Not if they are all sourced from an engagement pod, a group of individuals who have all made an agreement to comment on one another's posts, so it appears to be hot content. And all the comments? They all sound like they are being spat out of a robot, "yeah girl, I love this so much" "looks so great, I can't wait to try this!". Ew, right? Again, if someone invests in an influencer like this? No ROI. None. Because not one of those pod people care whatsoever about the product they are hocking.

Their following increases by thousands a day.

Look, unless they are a hot new celebrity, or something crazy has happened to all of a sudden make them go viral, the numbers are purchased. A quick peek at any Instagram audit program can show you the trending numbers. I have also seen in an audit where the number of posts goes from thousands to zero and then increases from there. Mysterious, right? No. This person has purchased a well-established account, scrubbed the info, the posts, the name, and rebuild it from there. Another awful move unless the niche is the same, but a construction company buying a beauty account, the current followers are going to drop like flies.

Listen up. For the businesses wanting to work with influencers - do not let these truths scare you. The influencer marketing route can be hugely successful if you do it the right way. Research them, find out their niche, ask past partners how the campaign did. And for my influencer friends: keep it real. Keep it creative. Work with integrity. Go back to the roots of why you started sharing your life on social. Genuine friendships and community can be found on this platform. And if you want to continue being shady and thinking you are cheating the system? All I can say is, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Also, we know.