How to Vet Influencers Before You Work With Them

By Ewen Ling, Co-Founder, Referwo | Ecommerce Growth Strategist
Last updated: October 2026

Vetting an influencer means checking that a creator is real, reaches your customers and will do what they agree to, before you spend a cent or ship a single product. Allow about 15 minutes for a first check on a new creator once you know what to look for.

This guide gives you a five-check routine, a 10-point scorecard you can copy, the red flags that should end the conversation and a simple way to test new creators with low risk. It works for gifted, affiliate and paid campaigns, on Instagram or TikTok.

Key facts

• Fake or bot followers make up 56.5% of all fraud and quality issues brands report (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2026).
• Creator discovery and vetting is the task brands outsource most, at 19.44% of answers (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2026).
• 81% of 118 influencers reviewed by the ACCC had posts that raised concerns, most often undisclosed brand deals (ACCC, 2023).
• A study of 802 Instagram campaigns found engagement peaks at a moderate follower count, not the highest (Journal of Marketing, 2022).
• Cherub Baby worked with 119 creators on Referwo and tracked $34,855 in sales at 11.6x ROAS (Referwo case study).

What does it mean to vet an influencer?

To vet an influencer is to check a creator’s audience, engagement, content and track record before you agree to work together. You want to know if the followers are real and if they buy what you sell. You also want to know if the creator will post on time and on brief. Allow about 15 minutes for a first check. It can save you wasted product and fees.

Influencer vetting: the checks a brand runs on a creator before approving a collaboration, covering audience quality, brand fit, reliability and legal disclosure.

Vetting is broader than choosing a creator for a single affiliate deal. If you only run affiliate campaigns, our guide on how to choose affiliate influencers who actually convert goes deeper on commission and sales history. This guide covers any creator, on any campaign type.

Vetting matters because the problems are common. In the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026, fake or bot followers made up 56.5% of reported fraud and quality issues. The survey also reported templated comments (10.6%) and bought engagement (10.2%).

What are the five checks to vet an influencer?

The five checks are audience fit, engagement quality, fake follower signs, past brand work and ad disclosure. Run them in that order, because the first two show obvious mismatches fastest. Each check takes two to four minutes on the creator’s profile. Score each one out of 2, so a creator ends up with a score out of 10.

1. Audience fit: are the followers your customers?

Audience fit is whether the creator’s followers match the people who buy from you, by country, age, gender and interest. A beauty creator with 40,000 followers in the US is a poor fit for an Australian skincare brand that only ships locally. Ask the creator for a screenshot of their audience insights, or check them on your platform.

• Country: most followers should be in the countries you ship to.
• Age and gender: the main group should match your buyer.
• Niche: the creator’s last 12 posts should sit in your category, or close to it.

2. Engagement quality: do real people respond?

Engagement quality is whether the likes, comments and shares come from real people who care about the content. Work out the engagement rate, then read the comments. A high rate full of single emojis tells you less than a modest rate with real questions about the product.

Engagement rate (by followers): likes plus comments on a post, divided by the creator’s follower count, times 100. Average it over the last 10 posts and leave out giveaways, which inflate it. Compare creators using the same formula and the same post type.

A bigger following does not mean more engagement. A study of 802 Instagram campaigns in the Journal of Marketing found engagement rises with follower count only up to a point, then falls. That makes smaller creators a sensible place to start testing. Our engagement rate guide for TikTok and Instagram shows how to work out the rate for each platform.

3. Fake follower signs: is the audience real?

Fake follower signs are patterns that show some of an audience was bought or is made of bots. Look for a sudden jump in followers, comments that could sit under any post, and many followers with no profile photo and no posts. One or two odd signs are normal. Several together are a red flag.

On Instagram, the About this account panel shows the date an account joined and how many times its username has changed. An account that joined recently but already has a large following deserves a closer look. A handle that has changed many times can mean the account was bought or repurposed.

4. Past brand work: will they deliver?

Past brand work is the creator’s track record with other brands: what they posted, how it performed and whether they delivered on time. Scroll back through sponsored posts. Check that each one shows the product clearly, matches the brief style you would want and drew real comments. If the creator has sold for a brand before, ask what results they can share.

Reliability is the hardest thing to see on a profile, so reviews from other brands help most here. If more than one brand mentions the same problem, such as late posts, ask the creator what happened before you approve.

5. Ad disclosure: do they label paid posts?

Ad disclosure is whether the creator clearly labels gifted, affiliate and paid posts as advertising. In Australia, brands and creators can both be in trouble for hidden ads. In its 2023 sweep, the ACCC found 81% of 118 influencers reviewed had posts that raised concerns, most often for not disclosing brand relationships.

Check that past sponsored posts use a clear label such as “#ad” or the platform’s paid partnership tag, near the start of the caption. Our guide to influencer gifting rules in Australia covers what gifted posts need to show.

How do you score an influencer? (a 10-point scorecard)

Score each of the five checks 0, 1 or 2, then add them up for a score out of 10. Approve creators who score 7 or more. Consider creators who score 5 or 6 for a small gifted test only. Pass on anyone below 5, and on anyone with a red flag, whatever their score.

Two checks are must-haves. A 0 on audience fit or a 0 on ad disclosure means no, even if the total is 7 or more.

Worked example (made up to show the scoring): a parenting creator with 12,000 followers. Most followers are Australian mums aged 25 to 34 (2 points). Some comments ask where to buy, but many are emoji-only (1). No sudden follower jumps, copy-paste comments or empty follower profiles (2). Two past sponsored posts, one off-brand (1). Every gifted post has a clear #ad label (2). Total: 8 out of 10, with no 0 on a must-have, so approve.

Keep the scorecard in a shared sheet or on your platform, so the whole team scores creators the same way. Write the score next to each creator’s name. After the campaign, you can check whether high scores led to good posts and sales.

What are the red flags that should stop a collaboration?

A red flag is a sign that a creator could cost you money or trust, so you pass even if the rest of the profile looks good. The main ones are bought followers, hidden ads, off-brand or harmful content, and a record of missed deadlines. One red flag is enough to say no.

• Several fake follower signs at once, such as a sudden spike plus copy-paste comments.
• Paid or gifted posts with no ad label.
• Recent posts that clash with your brand values or attack other brands.
• Refusing to agree on what they will post, when, and how you can use the content.
• Promoting a direct competitor on the same week you would post.
• Reviews from other brands that mention no-shows or late content.

Keep personal taste out of the red flags list. A creator whose style you do not love can still score well and sell for you. For the qualities that make a creator worth working with long term, see the qualities of a good influencer.

How does Referwo help you vet influencers?

Referwo helps you vet influencers by putting the checks in one place. Creators must connect their social accounts before they apply, and each application shows creator insights: engagement rate, age, gender and country. You also see performance badges and verified reviews from other brands. You approve only the creators who fit.

You do not have to send cold messages. Creators apply to your campaign, so you start with people who already want your product. Referwo’s network has 2,500+ vetted influencers across Australia, New Zealand and the US, and many brands get applications the same day they post a campaign.

Vetting does not stop at approval. Creators who communicate poorly, miss deadlines or post off-brand content can be flagged, which can lead to warnings or removal from the platform. That record helps the next brand, and it helps you when you choose who to invite back.

Here is what each plan gives you for vetting:

Full plan details are on the Referwo pricing page.

How do you test a new influencer before a bigger deal?

Test a new influencer with a small pilot before a bigger deal: usually one gifted product, or a small fee if that is how the creator works. Agree on one post with a clear brief and give the creator a unique discount code. Decide before the test what success looks like, then move the best creators up to affiliate or paid work.

1. Agree on the terms first: the product, any fee or commission, the posting date, the format (such as one Reel) and whether you can reuse the content.
2. Send one product with a short brief: what to show, key message and ad label. If you want to reuse the content in ads, request usage rights when you set up the campaign.
3. Give the creator a unique discount code, so you can see any sales they drive.
4. Check the post against the brief within a day of it going live.
5. Compare the code sales with what the test cost you (product, delivery and any fee), rate the creator, then invite the best performers to your next campaign first.

Promo and discount codes were the most common measurement tool among survey respondents. In the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026, 45.9% of respondents used promo or discount codes, ahead of affiliate links at 26.0%.

Small tests can add up. Cherub Baby worked with 119 creators who produced 180+ posts, stories and Reels, and tracked $34,855 in sales at 11.6x ROAS. Past results like these show what is possible, not what every brand will get.

Should you re-vet influencers you already work with?

Yes. Re-vet every creator before each new campaign, because audiences and habits change. A quick re-check of the five points takes a few minutes for a creator you know. Look at their last 10 posts, any new brand deals and how they did on your last campaign: on time, on brief and driving code use.

Re-vetting also tells you who to keep. Over a few campaigns, your list of creators turns into a community. The creators who love your product come back, post again and bring their followers with them. You keep the ones who deliver and slowly add new ones each month. Our guide on how to build a community around your brand with micro-influencers shows how to grow that group over 90 days.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to vet an influencer?

Allow about 15 minutes for a first check on a new creator once you know the five checks: audience fit, engagement quality, fake follower signs, past brand work and ad disclosure. Re-vetting a creator you already know takes a few minutes. Platforms that show creator insights on each application, like Referwo, cut the time further.

What is a good engagement rate for an influencer?

A good engagement rate depends on the platform and the creator’s size, so compare a creator with others of a similar size in the same niche. Smaller creators often have higher rates than very large ones. Work out the rate over the last 10 posts, leave out giveaways and read the comments to check they come from real people.

How can you tell if an influencer has fake followers?

You can tell an influencer may have fake followers when several signs appear together: a sudden jump in followers, comments that could sit under any post, and many followers with no photo or posts. On Instagram, the About this account panel shows when the account joined and how many times the username changed.

Do I need to vet influencers for gifted campaigns?

Yes. Gifted campaigns still cost you product, delivery and time. If a creator posts about a product you gifted, the post should make the brand relationship clear, for example with #ad, to stay on the right side of Australian Consumer Law. A quick vet helps you check the creator reaches your customers and lowers the risk of a missed post. Start new creators with a small test before a bigger deal.

Can Referwo vet influencers for me?

On Referwo’s self-serve Basic (US$69 a month) and Standard (US$99 a month) plans, you vet creators yourself using the creator insights, badges and brand reviews on each application. Both plans have a 14-day free trial. On the managed Premium plan (US$399 a month), Referwo’s team runs your campaigns and helps choose creators. Premium starts with a demo call.

The bottom line

Vetting takes a few minutes per creator: five checks, a score out of 10, a small gifted test and a re-check before each new campaign. Use the scores to spot reliable creators and invite them back first. Over time you build a group of creators who keep posting about your brand. Every sale through their codes stays tracked. If you want vetted creators applying to you with their insights and brand reviews already on show, start your 14-day free Referwo trial on Basic or Standard, with no lock-in contract.

Sources

• Influencer Marketing Hub, Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026 (May 2026)
• ACCC, Scrutiny of influencers and businesses for misleading advertising and online reviews continues (December 2023)
• American Marketing Association, Journal of Marketing press release: Finding Goldilocks influencers (Wies, Bleier and Edeling) (October 2022)
• Instagram Help Centre, About this account