How do I verify a customer actually posted before giving the perk?

Verification matters because without it you'll either get fraud (customer claims to have posted, didn't) or you'll over-trust and lose the data trail when you need it (FTC dispute, refund question, internal audit).

Three levels of verification, from most rigorous to least:

1. Automated platform verification. The customer pastes their post URL into your redemption form. Your system fetches the public post page and confirms (a) the post exists, (b) it tags your handle, (c) it contains the required hashtag or disclosure. This is the gold standard for scale — works for Instagram (feed posts and reels, not stories), TikTok (public videos), YouTube, X.

Limitations: Instagram stories disappear in 24h and can't be verified after the fact, so for story campaigns you need real-time verification (screenshot at point of redemption) or trust-based redemption with random audits.

2. Screenshot review by staff. Customer shows their phone to your server/barista, who eyeballs: did they tag the right handle? Use the right hashtag? Then approve in your system. Fast for low volume (under ~20 redemptions/day), error-prone above that. Works for any platform including ephemeral stories.

3. Honor system + random audits. Customer says they posted, you redeem the perk, you randomly verify 10% of redemptions later. Lowest friction, highest fraud rate. Only reasonable if your perks are very small (free side, $1 discount) where the fraud math doesn't justify checking.

Fraud risk is highest with an honor system, lower with staff screenshot review, and lowest when you confirm the post via its public URL — which is why layering an automated link check with a human eyeball is the common setup.

For most small businesses, the right mix is a quick automated check plus a human eyeball — which is exactly how Social Perks works: it confirms every proof link is live and on the right platform, flags anything suspicious, and routes every submission to a one-click review queue, so you or your staff make the final call before the perk is issued (including for story-based campaigns that expire).