1) Fresh Social Media Accounts with large follower base

You will agree with me that growing a large follower base is not a day's journey. As marketers, we would have been involved in building an email list, if you do it organically, you will agree with me that all this takes time and commitment. The same applies to build followers, forming an impression on followers, and developing genuine followers takes time.

A new Instagram or Facebook account with followers running into thousand is an indication of a suspicious influencer; it’s most likely they were bought with cash. Although celebrities can be exempted from this, they can generate followers in a short while. It is good we note it as a point for caution.

2) Overnight increase in Followers

The account may not be new, but a sudden increase in followers that occurs randomly is another indication of purchase followers. I do not dispute that social media can help generate followers but a bunch of 2,500 followers overnight followed by a couple of days without an increase in the number of followers is an indication of purchased followers.

Developing or growing your followers on Instagram is not an overnight deal, it takes consistent and persistent.

3) Activities Should Align

The rules are not cast on stone, but an influencer with a large set of followers should have engagement when it comes to comments. For example, an influencer with 10,000 followers should not have just one or two comments or scanty likes to their post.

Engagement is very key when it comes to identifying influencers, working with someone with large followers is important but conversion is our goal. The number of followers will not result in conversion, but a genuine audience with appropriate engagement will many times result in a conversion.