Is this creator’s audience real?
On a typical Instagram account, roughly a fifth of followers are fake or inactive. Before you pay for a brief, enter the creator’s public numbers and answer three quick checks. You’ll get a live authenticity score, an engagement rate measured against the right tier benchmark, a screening estimate of how much of the audience looks inauthentic, and the specific things to verify next.
The numbers
Pull these from the creator’s public profile or media kit. Use the median of their last 6–12 posts, not their single best one.
The judgement checks
Three things a follower count can’t tell you. Tick the ones that are true.
This is a screening pass, not a forensic audit. It works from the public numbers you enter plus your own judgement. Before a paid brief, always ask the creator for a screenshot of their first-party analytics: audience country split, age and gender, and reach on recent posts. The benchmark floors here are representative ranges from published influencer-marketing reports, not a measurement of this specific account.
How the score works
Engagement rate vs. tier
Engagement dilutes as audiences grow, so a healthy nano account and a healthy mega account look very different. We score against the floor for the creator’s size, not a flat number.
Comment quality
Like-bots inflate likes but rarely comment. A comment ratio near zero, or a wall of generic emoji, is one of the cleanest tells for bought engagement.
Growth pattern
Organic growth is gradual. Sudden spikes of tens of thousands of followers in days are the signature of a purchased batch.
Audience fit
Even real followers in the wrong country or age bracket won’t convert. Authenticity and relevance are different questions; both matter.
Want the deeper version? Read the playbook on vetting creators for brands, or grab the creator vetting scorecard to run the same checks across a shortlist.
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