Follower count is the worst metric for picking creators. Here’s what actually works.

Rethinking Creator Selection: Why Follower Count Should Not Be Your Primary Metric

In the fast-evolving landscape of influencer marketing, brands are constantly seeking the most effective ways to identify promising creators. Yet, many still rely predominantly on one metrics—follower count—to evaluate potential partners. This approach, however, is increasingly disconnected from actual performance and ROI.

Why Follower Count Is an Insufficient Metric

It’s a common misconception that a higher follower number equates to greater influence or engagement. But the reality is quite different. In today’s social media environment, users rarely follow creators solely based on the number of followers they have. Instead, the consumption pattern has shifted toward quick, brief content on platforms like TikTok For You Page and Instagram Reels, rendering follower count a less reliable indicator of a creator’s true impact.

What Metrics Truly Reflect Authentic Engagement

Rather than focusing on raw follower numbers, brands should prioritize metrics that reveal a creator’s real audience engagement. Two particularly telling metrics are:

1. Views-to-Followers Ratio
This ratio indicates how many followers are actually viewing the content. For example, a creator with 10,000 followers who garners 30,000 views on a video demonstrates a high active engagement rate, suggesting their audience is genuinely interested.

2. Engagement Rate (ER)
This measures the proportion of viewers who interact with the content through likes, comments, shares, or saves. A high ER reflects a lively, attentive audience rather than a dormant or bot-fueled follower base.

The Reality of Audience Quality: Real-Life Examples

To illustrate, consider these typical scenarios:

A creator with 50,000 followers who receives only 3,000 views per post and a 0.5% ER likely has a less engaged, “dead” audience.
Conversely, a creator with 12,000 followers pulling in 20,000 views and a 2% ER indicates a more active, aligned following.
Even more compelling is a creator with 10,000 followers consistently achieving 30,000 views and over 5% ER, representing an extremely strong and engaged audience.

In practical terms, a smaller creator with a highly engaged following can outperform someone with a larger, passive audience. For example, a 10k follower influencer with 20-30k views per post often surpasses a 50k follower account with poor reach