This Creator Tricked Us All | Karat Blog

This Creator Tricked Us All

A creator had 1M fake followers. Here's how to verify audience authenticity and spot fraudulent accounts in the wild.

This Creator Tricked Us All

This week in the Discord, we discussed a creator who had a million followers, but they turned out to be completely fake. We also talked about how you can verify if a creator’s audience is authentic. We also had a session with a successful newsletter operator.

Missed the conversation? Join the Discord to watch the replay.

How to Spot a Fake Creator / Audience:

• • Check engagement rate. A real creator with 1M followers should have at least 1-3% engagement. Below that is suspicious.
• • Look at follower growth over time. Huge spikes in followers usually indicate purchased followers.
• • Read the comments. Fake engagement usually has generic, vague comments like “Great post!” or “Amazing content!”
• • Check the ratio of following to followers. If someone has 1M followers but is following 500k people, that’s suspicious.
• • Use tools like HypeAuditor or Modash to audit an influencer’s audience for authenticity before you hire them.

Newsletter Strategy:

• • Your open rate matters more than your subscriber count. Brands pay for engaged subscribers.
• • Segment your list. Send different content to different groups based on their interests.
• • Consistency is key. Send on the same day and time every week so your readers know when to expect you.
• • Repurpose newsletter content into social posts, YouTube videos, and podcasts. One idea, many formats.
• • Test your subject lines. A/B test to find what gets the highest open rate.