As an influencer marketer, you’re under pressure to choose the right partners, launch impactful campaigns, and prove ROI. It’s not easy.

You need to identify promising influencers quickly, but rushing into partnerships can backfire. It’s a delicate balance: finding exciting influencers and thoroughly vetting them to ensure they fit your brand perfectly and maximize ROI.

Essentially, you need to be both a talent scout and a detective. You need an eye for spotting top talent and the processes to uncover any hidden red flags that could derail your campaign.

This requires combining the speed and efficiency of new tech tools with good old-fashioned investigative work – those deeper checks into authenticity, content quality, past partnerships, and legal compliance.

After all, the success of your campaigns largely depends on your ability to vet your influencer partners. By leveraging the advanced vetting techniques outlined below, you’ll be able to evaluate influencers who align with your values, engage your audience effectively, and have a greater chance of delivering a higher ROI—all while protecting your brand.

Audience authenticity

Evaluate the authenticity and quality of an influencer’s audience, going beyond vanity metrics.

Engagement rate analysis

High engagement rates might catch your eye, but it’s only part of the story. Break down engagement across different post formats—images, videos, and stories—and observe trends over time. Rather than just looking at overall rates, consider analyzing the types of engagement (likes vs. comments vs. shares). High-quality engagement often includes more meaningful interactions beyond likes.

Consistency also matters: sudden spikes or drops in engagement can signal inorganic activity, such as using engagement pods or purchased likes. Be alert and discerning. Ask yourself: Does this influencer’s engagement pattern feel authentic and sustained, or are there anomalies suggesting manipulation?

Advanced audience insights

Understanding audience demographics is essential, but instead of stopping at the basics like age, gender, and location, go deeper. Some third-party tools provide more advanced demographic data like estimated income, education, audience interests, and more.

Evaluate whether the influencer’s followers align with your target customer profile. Do their followers engage with content similar to your product category? Are there shared interests that suggest a high potential for conversion? The better the alignment, the greater the ROI.

Comment quality assessment

Rather than skimming comments, take the time to dig deep. Look for authentic conversations, replies from the influencer, and evidence of a vibrant, engaged community. Repetitive comments like “Nice!” or “Great post!” can indicate inauthentic engagement, while thoughtful exchanges suggest a genuine connection between the influencer and their audience.

Fake follower detection

An influencer’s follower count is often misleading, so it’s essential to take a moment to review the quality of their followers. Scan through their follower list and look for suspicious accounts. These might include accounts with no profile picture, generic usernames with random numbers, or very few posts.

These can be signs of fake or inactive accounts, artificially inflating the influencer’s follower count. If you’ve got the budget, using specialized social tools that detect fake or inactive followers can speed things up and provide a more comprehensive assessment.

Content quality

Evaluate an influencer’s content for quality, authenticity, and diversity, ensuring it aligns with your brand, fits the platform and resonates with your target audience.

Authenticity in content creation

Evaluate whether their posts feel genuinely relatable or overly staged and commercialized. Be wary of excessive filters or heavy editing that might distort your product’s presentation. Content that feels genuine fosters trust, which is critical for driving meaningful engagement and conversions.

Look for natural-looking images, videos, relatable captions, and an authentic tone of voice. Do they seem like real people sharing their experiences, or are they constantly trying to sell something?

Platform-specific expertise

Savvy influencers don’t just wing it—they tailor their content to each platform’s unique audience and algorithms. Beyond checking for basic hashtag usage, analyze how well they understand each platform’s algorithm.

Do they adjust their posting schedule and content format to match? Are they skilled at leveraging different content formats, like creating engaging Reels on Instagram and dynamic TikToks, demonstrating an understanding of the nuances of each platform? Do they tailor their content strategy, recognizing that a one-size-fits-all approach rarely performs as well as a targeted one?

Content diversity and quality

Does the influencer create a variety of content formats (images, videos, stories, reels, etc.)? And are they good at it? A diverse content mix is essential, but the quality needs to be consistent across all formats. This shows they can reach different audience segments and adapt to various content styles, which is valuable for your campaigns. Look for high-quality visuals, engaging storytelling, and a consistent brand aesthetic across all their content.

Past partnerships & performance

Analyze past collaborations, uncovering valuable insights into influencer expertise, campaign experience, and performance history.

Industry expertise

Analyzing past collaborations provides valuable intel — but it’s not just about recognizing logos. Go deeper to uncover insights into an influencer’s expertise, campaign experience, performance history, and brand alignment. Have they worked with brands that share a similar target audience or complementary products? This suggests a potential for strong audience overlap and more effective messaging. On the flip side, check if the influencer currently represents other brands. An influencer with many partnerships might not be the best fit for yours, as it can reduce their authenticity.

Examine their content for genuine knowledge and understanding of your industry. Look for insights, trends, and terminology that resonate with your target audience. A deep understanding often translates to higher credibility and engagement. Also, consider the types of campaigns they’ve participated in. Have they done product launches, brand storytelling, cause marketing, and more? This shows versatility.

Performance history

Don’t just skim past engagement metrics—dig into the influencer’s ability to drive tangible results. Inquire about past campaign performance, including website traffic, lead generation, or sales conversions.

Analyze how they integrated brands into their content—was it authentic and engaging, or did it feel forced? A genuine understanding of brand values and messaging is crucial. Prioritize influencers with a history of long-term brand partnerships, as this indicates professionalism and consistent value delivery. Ultimately, you want to see how their campaigns truly performed, not just who they’ve worked with.

Brand alignment

Ensure the influencer’s values, audience, and messaging align with your brand, creating a cohesive and impactful partnership.

Values alignment

Your brand is more than a logo—it’s a set of principles and beliefs. Look for influencers who share those values, whether through advocacy for causes, transparent communication, or their stance on social and environmental issues. For example, if sustainability is a cornerstone of your brand, does the influencer actively promote eco-conscious practices?

Messaging & communication style

Evaluate the influencer’s overall messaging and communication style. Does it resonate with your brand’s voice and tone? Consider these factors:

• Language and tone: Do they use formal or informal language? Is the influencer’s tone humorous, serious, informative, or inspirational? Does it match your brand’s personality?

• Audience interaction: How do they interact with their audience? Are they responsive, respectful, and engaging? Does their communication style foster a positive and inclusive community?

• Content style: Is their content informative, entertaining, or a mix? Does their style align with your brand’s content strategy and target customer preferences?

Legal & ethical considerations

Navigating the evolving world of influencer marketing regulations and ensuring your partnerships are reputationally sound and compliant.

Compliance checks

Marketing and advertising regulations constantly evolve, making it crucial to stay ahead of the curve. Protect your brand by ensuring the influencer consistently discloses partnerships across all formats (stories, reels, live streams, etc.). Look for clear and conspicuous disclosures of affiliate links, gifted products, and any relationships with brands they mention.

Pay close attention to their understanding and adherence to FTC guidelines, including proper disclosures and avoidance of misleading practices. Thorough compliance checks mitigate risk and protect your brand from potential legal challenges.

Influencer audit

Don’t stop at a quick Google search. Conduct a comprehensive audit of the influencer’s online presence, including their website, blog, and other social media platforms. Look for issues that could damage your brand reputation, such as past controversies, inconsistent values, or negative audience sentiment expressed in comments or online communities. Manually search their name and relevant keywords to uncover potential issues and ensure alignment with your brand values.

Leverage social listening tools to gain even more comprehensive insights and save time. These tools can help you track mentions of the influencer across various platforms, including news sites, blogs, and forums. They can also help you analyze sentiment around the influencer to identify potential controversies or negative perceptions, providing a more complete picture of their online presence and reputation.

That’s all for this week!

What does your influencer vetting process look like? Share your tips and insights, and join the conversation with fellow influencer marketers in the Creator Marketing Community on LinkedIn.

Find influencers and automate your outreach

Tired of endlessly scrolling social media to find the right influencers? Sick of copying and pasting contact information between platforms? Wish you could personalize outreach messages to multiple influencers at once?

The Superstar Chrome extension helps you discover, analyze, and connect with influencers across all major social media platforms — saving you hours of work and supporting your vetting process.

Unlock powerful data insights: Go beyond basic follower counts. Get instant access to key metrics and deeper insights on audience demographics, content performance, and growth trends—all within your browser.

Discover influencers across platforms: No need to jump between Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Find the perfect creators, no matter where they're active, with our cross-platform discovery tool.

Streamline your outreach: Say goodbye to tedious copy-and-paste. Superstar's extension lets you send personalized messages to influencers directly, right from their social media profiles.

Seamless Superstar integration: Build custom lists and launch campaigns instantly. Add your favorite creators to Superstar and manage all your collaborations from our powerful platform. We're excited to help you take your influencer campaigns to the next level and we look forward to working with the community to make Superstar even better.

Here’s how you can get started with Superstar

Download the Chrome Extension: Instantly unlock influencer insights, streamline your outreach, and discover the perfect creators for your brand.

Explore the platform: Sign up for a free trial and get started with managing your creators.

Get our special offer: Join our exclusive community

For a limited time, Product Hunt + Creator Marketing Community members will get a 15% discount on our paid plan. All you need to do is be accepted to the LinkedIn community, leave a comment on PH, and schedule a call with one of the founders.

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Industry insights

Beyond trends and dance moves: 10 experts share strategies to dominate TikTok’s search traffic

TikTok is no longer just a platform for dance crazes and viral trends—it’s rapidly becoming Gen Z’s search engine of choice. For brands, this means mastering TikTok’s search capabilities is no longer optional; it’s essential. Ten experts go beyond the obvious and uncover the strategies savvy brands use to dominate TikTok search. Read more here

How much do micro-influencers get paid?

Micro-influencers (10,000–100,000 followers) are prized for their high engagement and niche audiences. These creators offer brands a personal touch, particularly on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where authenticity matters. But how much do they really make per sponsored post? Find out here

‘Merry and bright’: How marketers are evolving for ambitious holiday shoppers

With shoppers planning for record-breaking holiday spending, brands are stepping up their marketing efforts by diversifying media strategies and incorporating innovative technologies like artificial intelligence. These evolving approaches aim to capture the attention of increasingly ambitious holiday consumers. Read more here

Instagram says it does not reduce the reach of sponsored content

Instagram head Adam Mosseri addressed a persistent myth in his latest informational post series, clarifying that the platform does not intentionally limit the reach of sponsored content. Contrary to speculation, Mosseri emphasized that Instagram does not down-rank posts tagged as sponsored to pressure brands into paying for additional reach. Read more here

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Join the Creator Marketing Community 

Connect with influencer marketing leaders and professionals from top brands like Nike, Kate Spade, Klarna, Niantic, Red Bull, and Calvin Klein to network and get insider access to exciting deals, events, and job opportunities.

Interesting reads

Will President Trump save TikTok? [LINK]

The professional platform shift: Why 3 in 5 content creators are betting big on LinkedIn in 2025 [LINK]

Why bother with celebrity endorsements? [LINK]

26 predictions for social media marketing in 2025 [LINK]

Free Creator Economy Resource List

Looking for the latest news and insights on the creator economy? We’ve curated a selection of top industry resources — all continuously updated— to help marketers navigate the creator economy more effectively. Don’t miss our global marketing events calendar! Check it out here 👇