How to check a creator is a real promoter before you send product
To check that a creator is a real promoter, spend about 10 minutes on five checks. Open their page. Find a past post that promotes a product. Check they posted recently. Read the comments. Find a business contact. Send product only if they pass all five.
A promoter here means a person or site that tells an audience about products. A creator is anyone who makes posts, videos, reviews or episodes. The routine works for a blogger, a YouTuber, a podcaster or an Instagram account.
Why bother? A scan can include rows that are not promoters. Here is what our own check found.
How many rows in our scan were not promoters?
In our 30-row check, an AI model judged 9 not to be promoters. It read the page title and web address of 30 random rows from our scan of 30 Shopify brands on 22 October 2026. That is 30%, with a likely range of 17% to 48%.
Two limits matter. The model read titles and addresses, and nobody opened the pages or checked by hand. And the rows came from a scan of people who cover Shopify brands, not from a gifting list. So treat 30% as a rough warning, not a rate you can plan on. The scan method and limits are on their own page.
The misses were not subtle. They included a national broadcaster, a government health site and another brand's own site. A free box sent to any of those costs you the product and the postage. The five checks below catch them.
What are the five checks?
Give each check one to three minutes, about 10 minutes in all. Keep a sheet with one row per creator and a tick for each check. Here is our rule of thumb, used all the way down this page. Hard fail (checks 1, 2, 4): drop the creator. Soft fail or maybe (checks 3 and 5): park them and re-check next quarter. Send product only on five clean passes. Stop at the first hard fail.
| # | Check | What a pass looks like | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open the page | A real person or small publisher, in your category | 2 min |
| 2 | Find past promotion | At least one post that recommends a product | 2 min |
| 3 | Check it is recent | A post within 3 months | 1 min |
| 4 | Read the comments | Real people replying to what was said | 3 min |
| 5 | Find a business contact | An email or contact form you can use | 2 min |
Check 1: Open the page and see who they are
Click the link. Do not trust the label on a list. A page marked "review site" may be one blogger who wrote one review. In our 30-row check, about 8 rows labelled as review pages looked like single-post bloggers by their title and address.
Ask three things. Is this a person or a small publisher? Does it cover your kind of product? Is it independent of every brand?
Fail it if you land on a broadcaster, a government site, a directory or another brand's shop. Fail it if the page is gone.
Check 2: Find a post that promotes a product
Look for proof they have promoted something before. Scroll to a review, a "best of" list, an unboxing, a video that names a product or an episode with a sponsor read. One clear example is enough.
Look for the disclosure too. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says to disclose any relationship with a brand, including when you get "anything of value" for a mention. Words such as "ad" or "sponsored" are fine, and vague tags such as "sp" or "collab" are not (FTC, Disclosures 101, November 2019, checked 28 October 2026). That is US guidance. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says affiliate ads must be "obviously identifiable" as marketing, and, for a social post where every product is affiliate-linked, the page says to put an identifier such as "Ad" at the beginning (ASA, Online Affiliate Marketing, 22 March 2023, checked 28 October 2026). A creator who labels past deals plainly is likely to label yours. One who never does is a risk.
Fail it if every post is personal and none recommends a thing. A lovely feed is not a promoter.
Check 3: Check they posted recently
Look at the date of the newest post. Our rule of thumb is a post in the last three months. This is our own rule, not a published standard.
An old account can hold a good audience that has left. A stale page also means your box may go to someone who no longer checks the inbox. Look for a regular rhythm, not one burst a year ago.
It is a soft fail if the last post is more than six months old. A post between three and six months old is a maybe. Either way, park them and re-check next quarter.
Check 4: Read the comments
Open the newest post and read the comments, not the count. You want people replying to what was said. Look for questions about the product, "where did you get that?" and replies from the creator.
Warning signs are a row of the same emoji, the same few words under every post, or no comments at all on a large account. Our rule of thumb: hard fail it if the comments are one repeated emoji, or if the last three posts have none on an account over 10,000 followers. Our guide to checking an Instagram account goes further.
Do not use a number as a pass mark here. A small account with five real replies beats a big one with fifty empty ones.
Check 5: Find a business contact
Look for a way to reach them that is meant for brands. That means an email in the bio, a contact page, a media kit or a "work with me" link.
Ask first, so you need a way to reach them. Email them: "Can I send you one to try? No strings." Ship only to people who say yes and give an address. Product seeding for Shopify brands has the full steps, and our outreach email template has wording to copy.
It is a soft fail if the only route is a public comment, or if there is no route at all. Park them and re-check next quarter. Do not guess an address and mail a box to someone who did not ask for it.
What do you do with a creator who passes?
Write one line that proves you opened the page. Name the post you liked, then add a short note. Our gifting note examples show ten, and the three-line formula takes under a minute.
Send one item per person. Ask them to say it was a gift if they post. Our disclosure examples have wording you can copy.
Later, if they like it, offer a commission, which is a cut of each sale they send you. Keep that to a separate email.
What if a creator fails a check?
Use the rule in the five-checks section: hard fails drop, soft fails park, and neither gets a box.
Expect to drop some names. In our scan, 9 of 30 rows were judged not to be promoters; your list may differ. So start with more names than you have boxes. Finding micro-influencers and finding UGC creators help you fill a list.
Where does RecruitAffiliates.ai fit?
RecruitAffiliates.ai finds people who already cover shops like yours. Each prospect shows its source and an evidence link (see our guide to the Discover screen), which speeds up check 1. If all we have is their home page, the row says so. Check 2 still needs a post that promotes a product.
It does not open the pages for you or promise every row is a promoter. Open each one before you write.
Frequently asked questions
How do I vet an influencer before sending free product?
Run five checks in about 10 minutes. Open their page, find a past post that promotes a product, check they posted recently, read the comments and find a business contact. Send only if all five pass.
How can I tell if an influencer is real?
Look at the comments on their newest post. Real people ask questions and the creator replies. A row of identical emoji or no replies at all is a warning sign. Follower count alone does not tell you.
Can a creator look real and still not promote anything?
Yes. A page can look like a real site and still not promote anything. In our check, an AI model judged 9 of 30 random rows not to be promoters. That is about 30%, with a likely range of 17% to 48%. It read titles and addresses only, and nobody checked by hand. Treat it as a rough guide.
Do I need to ask before I ship product?
Yes. Email first and ship only to people who say yes and give an address. It saves the product and keeps the first touch polite.
Does a creator have to say a free gift is a gift?
In the US, the FTC says to disclose anything of value received for a mention, which includes a free product. Ask them to say so in the post. This is US guidance, not legal advice.
How many followers should a creator have?
There is no safe number. A small account with real replies can beat a large one with empty ones. See what a micro-influencer is for the usual ranges.
Sources
- FTC, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers, November 2019, checked 28 October 2026. The page says to disclose the relationship "if you got anything of value to mention a product". It lists "ad" and "sponsored" as fine and calls "sp", "spon" and "collab" vague or confusing.
- RecruitAffiliates.ai, how we scanned 30 Shopify brands, 22 October 2026
- ASA, Online Affiliate Marketing, 22 March 2023, checked 28 October 2026. The page says marketing communications must be "obviously identifiable as such" and suggests an identifier such as "Ad" at the beginning of a social post.