How to Check for Fake Followers Using Engagement Rate

Influencer marketing continues to grow, but so does the risk of wasting money on influencers with fake followers. Buying followers is easier than ever, and brands that don’t vet creators properly often fall into the trap of spending on inflated reach with no real impact.

At PromofyGo, we built a simple and transparent Fake Follower Checker tool to help you make smarter decisions.

Why Fake Followers Matter

When creators inflate their audience with fake followers, it skews their perceived value. Brands see big numbers and assume reach, but those numbers don't translate into engagement, clicks, or conversions.

Most fake followers:

• Don’t engage with content
• Aren’t part of your target audience
• Make real metrics unreliable

In short, you're paying for vanity — not value.

How to Detect Fake Followers

One of the simplest and most honest methods is to calculate engagement rate — the ratio between average likes and total followers. Here’s why it works:

• Real communities engage — bots and fake accounts don’t.
• Low engagement on high follower counts is a red flag.
• Most creators should have at least 1.5% to 3.5% engagement depending on their niche.

You can calculate it manually:

Engagement Rate = (Average Likes / Total Followers) × 100

Or, just use our free Fake Follower Checker tool.

How Our Tool Works

Our tool does not simulate or fabricate any data. It simply asks for:

• Average followers
• Average likes per post

Then it calculates:

• Engagement rate
• A basic risk level (Low, Moderate, High)

This approach avoids misleading data and lets you assess any creator based on what you already know or observe.

Why PromofyGo Took This Approach

We’ve seen many fake tools out there. Some simulate follower counts from usernames without real data. Others scrape APIs against platform terms of service.

We wanted something different:

• Honest
• Useful
• Educational
• Built to support long-term trust between brands and creators

Next Steps

1. Ask creators to share their follower + like stats.
2. Use the Fake Follower Checker.
3. If in doubt, post a gig on PromofyGo and let creators apply directly with transparent metrics.

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PromofyGo helps brands run better influencer campaigns — without the guesswork.
Get started for free at promofygo.com.