Imagine being able to interact with your target audience without feeling like you are selling to them. That’s what influencer marketing can do for your brand. One of the main reasons why 93% of marketers include influencer marketing in their brand strategy is because it is an authentic and effective way to build audience trust and sell products quickly.
And according to Influencer Marketing Hub, brands can earn about $6 for every dollar spent on influencer marketing.
How can your brand see this type of ROI?
You may have a brilliant idea for an influencer campaign. Still, without proper planning and follow-up, it’s like sailing in the dark. How can you make sure you get the results you set out to do? What metrics should you focus on to maximize success?
- Start by finding the right influencers: Before delving into KPIs, you need to find influencers who resonate with your target audience and cause the audience to find value in your brand. It may be tempting to choose the influencer with the largest number of followers but choose the one whose brand fits yours. Start by defining your target audience and knowing their demographics, interests, and preferences. If it seems like a certain influencer promoting your product is exaggerated, it is not the right choice.
- Set a realistic budget: A well-defined budget is essential to achieve successful influencer campaigns. You shouldn’t waste time writing a list of influencers and then realize that their price is the cost of two campaigns. Consider your campaign objectives, desired results, and available resources. When budgeting, remember that influencer rates vary depending on factors such as their reach, engagement, and industry. Allocating your budget strategically helps maximize return on investment and ensure campaign success.
The path to return on investment: 5 KPIs to follow
Below, we explore the 5 KPIs you should focus on and helpful resources for a successful influencer campaign.
Reach and impressions
Reach and impressions are critical KPIs for evaluating your campaign’s visibility and potential audience exposure.
Tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, and influencer marketing platforms can provide insights into the reach and impressions generated by your influencers.
By tracking reach and impressions, you can determine the best time to publish your content, analyze how many people view your content multiple times, and make data-driven decisions to improve your influencer marketing campaign.
These metrics are closely related to goals like brand awareness and audience building, as they focus on attracting as many eyes as possible to your content rather than persuading viewers to take a specific action, such as making A purchase.
Engagement Metrics
Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and saves offer valuable insights into how your audience is engaging with your content and how your brand is received.
By tracking engagement metrics, you can determine how your content strategy aligns with user interest, identify areas for improvement, and plan strategic campaigns to engage with users in meaningful ways.
Listening to the common pain points your product solves will help you address them in future marketing. Maybe you find a pain point or an audience you haven’t marketed to.
Engagement is also a good indicator of how loyal your customers will be and how likely they are to purchase, repeat purchases, and share your product or service with others.
Referral traffic
While reach, impressions, and engagement are essential KPIs to track, it’s equally important to consider the impact of influencer campaigns on referral traffic to external sources, such as web pages, social media channels, or sales pages…
By closely monitoring referral traffic, you’ll be able to closely observe the success of your influencer campaigns beyond social media engagement. It provides a tangible link between your influencers’ content and actual website visits, giving you a deeper understanding of the impact and ROI of your influencer marketing efforts.
Here’s how you can track and analyze this KPI:
- UTM Parameters (Urchin Tracking Module) – Incorporates unique UTM parameters into influencer content links shared across different channels. UTM parameters are tags added to the URL that allows you to track traffic source and campaign details in Google Analytics or other web analytics tools.
- Website Analysis: Periodically analyze your website to identify the referral sources that generate the most traffic. Look for referring domains, such as social media platforms, blogs, or other websites where your influencers’ content is shared.
Remember, referral traffic is not just about quantity but also quality. While it is desirable to have large volumes of traffic, it is equally important to evaluate factors such as bounce rate, time spent on a page, and pages visited per session.
Conversion and sales rates
Influencer campaigns should generate conversions and sales. So keeping track of this is key for several reasons:
- Conversion tracking provides tangible evidence that your campaign is driving desired actions, such as purchases, signups, or downloads. This data helps you evaluate the ROI and overall success of your influencer collaborations.
- You can set up future campaigns for greater success by identifying high-performing influencers, content types, or platforms that drive the most conversions. For example, you can see if your audience prefers Instagram over YouTube or if specific platforms generate higher-quality leads.
- Conversion tracking provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. For example, identify popular items, product categories, or prices that resonate with your audience.
- Audience growth
One of the key goals of influencer marketing is to reach and connect with a broader audience. The broader the audience, the greater your chances of increasing your reach and sales.
By monitoring the growth of your social media followers, email subscribers, or website visitors, you can evaluate the success of your campaigns in attracting new audience members.
It’s a clear sign that your message resonates and that partnering with your influencer is a good match.
To track this, use social media analytics, email marketing tools, and influencer marketing platforms to monitor the growth of your social media followers, email subscribers, and website visitors.
By understanding the demographics and engagement of your growing audience, you can optimize your influencer marketing strategies and ensure long-term success in reaching and connecting with new customers.
