Beauty Brands Shamed for Buying Fake Followers

In this Digital Age it isn’t news to anyone that a brands Social Media identity is just as important as its traditional Marketing and Media strategies. Consumers and businesses alike look at a brands Social Media presence and following as a confirmation of their legitimacy and success. Follower count is where the money is and, as superficial as it sounds, is key to making it in this digital world in order to grow your reach and establish your influence. Blue ticks symbolize brand elevation and entering the upper echelon of the Instagram world. The Beauty industry today markets heavily on Instagram and many brands attribute their success to their Instagram influence.

 

Getting your brand to be legitimized in this way requires continuous following and engaging with posts by your customers and users. This, however simple as it might sound, can be an uphill struggle. Fake followers aren’t anything new, everyone knows that with a few clicks of a button and a credit card purchase, you can ‘buy’ them to inflate your numbers. But these fake followers aren’t real customers. Therefore, they aren’t engaging with your posts and often are easily identifiable as bought rather than earned.  They are known as spam accounts or ‘bots’, used to fraud the system and make an account look more attractive, faking its influence or engagement.

 

Pilot Fish Media, a Marketing Agency in Edinburgh, did some research into these blue tick accounts and published a list of brands, ranking them according to their fake following as a percentage of their total following. Their findings tell us that huge trusted brands in the beauty industry aren’t immune to the allure of these inflated numbers. While some brands may be unaware of these bots and spam accounts following their account, it begs the question of which brands took part in these practices to inflate numbers and knowingly trick consumers into associating their brand with success. Assumingly, their goal was to outdo their competitors.  

 

Click here for the full list of Brands with the highest number of fake followers (as a percentage of following) published by Pilot Fish.

 

Pilot Fish Media published their findings in an article called “Don’t Fake it to Make it – It Won’t Work”, listing trusted brands from various industries who had the most fake following. Beauty brands held 6 spots in the top 10 brands listed – huge names with huge followings. These top 10 beauty brands had an estimated fake Instagram following of 50%, according to reports. More beauty brands cascade the list, joined in the ranks with luxury brands and sports brands alike.

  

Pilot Fish Media warns brands that fake following is a short-term fix and can waste their time when they want to advertise, as their efforts will fall “on deaf ears” bringing down your CPC and ROI.