Influencer marketing is a valuable strategy, although the authenticity of an influencer’s audience can significantly impact its effectiveness. An influencer’s follower count over time can be a significant indicator of audience authenticity. Here’s why:

1. Gradual Growth: A genuine influencer audience tends to grow gradually. A sudden surge in followers can sometimes be a sign of bought or fake followers.

2. Follower Drops: If the follower count dramatically reduces at points in time, that might be because social platforms regularly purge fake accounts.

3. Engagement Ratio: Even if the follower count is increasing, the engagement ratio should remain consistent. If the number of likes/comments decreases while followers increase, it might indicate inauthentic followers.

Notably, certain valid situations can cause sudden follower surges or drops, such as viral content or account hacking. Therefore, these observations should be combined with other evaluative methods.

Influencer marketing platforms like Flinque offer tools to analyze these metrics over time. With Flinque’s analytics features, insights can be gained about an influencer’s follower trends and engagement consistency, thus helping brands accurately assess influencer authenticity.

Remember, the suitability of using such tools depends on your team needs and the specific use case within your influencer marketing strategy. As a brand or influencer, understanding your audience’s authenticity is crucial for planning and tracking the performance of your campaigns effectively. Keeping an eye on follower count fluctuations regularly helps ensure the accuracy of your ROI measurements.