Influencer Vetting Checklist
What to check before signing a creator, ordered by how much each signal actually predicts campaign outcomes, not by how easy it is to measure.
Follower count is the least predictive thing you can screen on, and it is the thing most brands screen on first. This checklist works through the signals that actually correlate with campaign outcomes, in the order worth checking them.
What's inside
1. Audience authenticity, check this first
Everything else is irrelevant if the audience isn't real. Roughly speaking, if this section fails, stop; there is no creative or commercial fix for a fake audience.
- Engagement rate against tier norms. Well below the band warrants questions. Far above it warrants scrutiny too, engagement pods produce suspiciously high rates with low-quality comments.
- Follower growth pattern. Smooth organic growth versus sudden vertical spikes. A spike with no viral post behind it suggests purchased followers.
- Comment quality. Generic emoji-only comments at volume are a bot signature. Real audiences ask questions, share experiences, and disagree.
- Likes-to-comments ratio. Very high likes with almost no comments is a common pattern on inflated accounts.
- Audience geography. A creator marketing to Indian consumers with a majority-overseas audience will not convert, however good the content.
- Story views versus follower count. Far harder to fake than post likes, and a good cross-check.
- Reach versus follower count on recent Reels. Ask for screenshots. Consistent reach far below tier norms suggests the account is being throttled or the audience is inactive.
2. Content and brand fit
- Have they posted about your category before, and how did that content perform relative to their average?
- How many sponsored posts appear in their recent grid? Heavy saturation depresses audience response to all of it.
- Does their production quality match your brand standard, and if not, is that actually a problem, or is rougher content more credible for your objective?
- Would their existing audience plausibly buy your product, or are you buying reach that doesn't map to demand?
- Read the comments on their last 20 posts. This is the single fastest way to understand what their audience actually trusts them for. It takes fifteen minutes and tells you more than any analytics dashboard.
3. Brand safety
- Search their name plus "controversy" and check the last 12 months
- Review their content for anything incompatible with your brand positioning
- Check whether they currently work with a direct competitor, and whether any exclusivity applies
- Confirm they disclose paid partnerships properly, a creator who hides disclosure exposes you to ASCI risk
- Check how they handle negative comments. A creator who argues with their audience is a risk attached to your brand
4. Professional reliability
- Do they respond within a reasonable window during initial conversation? This predicts campaign behaviour accurately
- Can they show past campaign results, not just past campaign content?
- Do they have a consistent rate card, or does pricing change conversation to conversation?
- References from other brands where possible, especially on whether deadlines held
- Do they ask good questions about your brief? Creators who ask about audience and objective tend to deliver better than those who only ask about fee
5. Commercial fit
- Does their rate sit within the benchmark band for their tier, niche and engagement?
- Is the rate inclusive or exclusive of GST? (Relevant once they cross the ₹20 lakh registration threshold)
- Are usage rights and exclusivity priced in, or will they be charged separately later?
- If represented by a manager, is the management commission included in the quoted rate?
If you only have time for three checks
Automatic disqualifiers
- Refuses to share audience demographics or reach screenshots
- Engagement rate wildly out of band for their tier, in either direction, with no explanation
- Majority audience outside your target market
- Undisclosed paid partnerships in recent content
- Currently under an exclusivity agreement with a competitor
- Unwilling to sign a written agreement
A fifteen-minute version
Full vetting takes an hour per creator, which doesn't scale across a longlist of forty. This is the compressed version that catches most problems:
- Two minutes: check engagement rate against their tier band. Far outside in either direction is a flag.
- Five minutes: read comments on their last twenty posts. Bot patterns and audience quality both show up here faster than in any analytics tool.
- Three minutes: scan recent grid for sponsored-post saturation and category conflicts.
- Three minutes: search their name plus "controversy" and check the last twelve months.
- Two minutes: confirm audience geography matches your target market.
Frequently asked questions
How do you check if an influencer has fake followers?
Look for engagement rate far outside the normal band for their tier, sudden vertical growth spikes with no viral post behind them, high volumes of generic emoji-only comments, very high likes with almost no comments, and implausible audience geography. Story views relative to follower count are harder to fake than post likes and make a useful cross-check.
What should brands look for when choosing an influencer?
In order of predictive weight: audience authenticity, whether the audience actually matches your buyer, and how their past sponsored content performed. Those three carry more weight than every other signal combined. Follower count is the least predictive thing you can screen on.
What engagement rate should I expect from an Indian influencer?
Nano (1K–10K) 6–12%, micro (10K–50K) 3.5–7%, micro-plus (50K–100K) 3–6%, mid (100K–500K) 2–4.5%, macro (500K–1M) 1.5–3%, mega (1M+) 1–2.5%. Compare against the creator's own tier, never across tiers.
Are micro influencers better than macro influencers?
For conversion objectives, usually yes; engagement is several times higher and cost per engaged person is lower. For pure reach efficiency, larger creators are cheaper per thousand impressions. Which matters depends entirely on your objective.
How do brands find the right influencer for ROI, not just reach?
By screening on audience authenticity and whether the audience matches your actual buyer, then on how past sponsored content performed; in that order. Follower count is the least predictive signal available, and selecting on it systematically overpays for conversion outcomes.
Should brands work with micro or macro influencers?
For conversion objectives, micro creators usually deliver better value; engagement runs several times higher and cost per engaged person is lower. For pure reach efficiency, larger creators are cheaper per thousand impressions. The right answer depends entirely on the campaign objective.
Plan, vet and measure the campaign
Influencer Marketing ROI Calculator
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Open →Campaign Brief Template
The nine sections a complete influencer brief needs, the fields most brands leave blank, and what that omission costs them.
Open →Campaign Launch Checklist
Six phases from objective-setting to close: the operational checklist that prevents the failures good creative cannot fix.
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