Imagine being able to engage with your target audience without feeling like you’re selling to them. That’s what influencer marketing can do for your brand.
A big reason 93% of marketers include influencer marketing in their brand strategy is because it’s an authentic and effective way to build trust with your audience and sell products fast.
And according to Influencer Marketing Hub, brands can earn close to $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, but without proper planning and tracking, it’s like navigating in the dark. How can you ensure it delivers the results you set out for? What metrics should you focus on to maximize success?
Let’s dive into the KPIs that will steer your campaign toward remarkable ROI.
Start by finding the right influencers
Before diving into KPIs, you have to find the influencers who will resonate with your target audience — and have their audience find value in your brand. Too many times, I see partnerships that don’t make quite sense. It can be tempting to go with the influencer with a higher follower count but go with the one whose brand fits yours.
Start by defining your target audience and understanding their demographics, interests, and preferences. If it feels like a certain influencer promoting your product is a stretch, it’s not the right fit.
Related: How to Do Influencer Marketing the Right Way
For example, if you’re a company selling headphones, try working with an influencer who has a popular podcast using the headphones. When you start your influencer search, here are four tips to help see if an influencer is a good fit for your product based on their social profiles.
Set a Realistic Budget
A well-defined budget is essential to achieve successful influencer campaigns. You don’t want to waste time writing out a list of influencers and then realizing their price tag is the cost of two campaigns.
Consider your campaign goals, desired outcomes, and the resources available. While budgeting, remember that influencer fees vary depending on factors such as their reach, engagement, and industry. Allocating your budget strategically helps maximize ROI and ensure campaign success.
→ See the average cost for influencers here
The Road to ROI: 5 Must-Track KPIs
Here it is. The reason you clicked on this article. Let’s explore the 5 KPIs to focus on and useful resources for a successful influencer campaign.
1. Reach and Impressions
Reach and impressions are fundamental KPIs to assess your campaign’s visibility and potential audience exposure.
Tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, and influencer marketing platforms like SARAL, Mavrck, and creator.co 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 are viewing 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 getting as many eyes on your content as possible rather than persuading viewers to take a specific action, like making a purchase.
2. 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 well your brand is being received.
By tracking engagement metrics, you can determine how well your content strategy aligns with user interest, identify areas of improvement, and plan strategic campaigns to engage with users meaningfully.
For example, comments like this are what you’re looking for:
“Thank you for this. I’ve been searching for a product that can help with XYZ. Definitely going to check this out.”
Hearing common pain points your product solves helps you address this in future marketing. Maybe you’ll find a pain point or audience you haven’t marketed to. Getting customers to talk and using their language in your copy is a gold mine!
Engagement is also a good indicator of how loyal your customers will be and how likely they are to buy, repeat purchases, and share your product or service with others.
Related: Forget Paying for Ads on Google and Facebook. Use These 6 Marketing Tactics Instead.
3. 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, like websites, social media channels, or sales pages.
By closely monitoring referral traffic, you get a close look into 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 (Urchin Tracking Module) Parameters: Incorporate unique UTM parameters in the influencer’s content links shared across different channels. UTM parameters are tags added to the URL, allowing you to track the traffic source and campaign details in Google Analytics or other web analytics tools.
→ Website Analytics: Regularly analyze your website analytics to identify the referral sources that drive the most traffic. Look for referral domains, such as social media platforms, blogs, or other websites where your influencers’ content is being shared.
Remember, referral traffic is not only about quantity but also about quality. While high volumes of traffic are desirable, it’s equally important to assess factors like bounce rate, time spent on site, and pages visited per session.
4. Conversion Rates and Sales
Let me put my ‘captain obvious’ hat on for a sec and say that influencer campaigns should drive conversions and sales. So, tracking this is key for several reasons.
→ Tracking conversions provides tangible evidence that your campaign drives desired actions, such as purchases, sign-ups, or downloads. This data helps you assess their influencer collaborations’ ROI and overall success.
→ You can set up future campaigns for better success by identifying high-performing influencers, content types, or platforms that generate the most conversions. For example, you can see if your audience prefers Instagram over YouTube or if specific platforms drive higher-quality leads.
→ Lastly, conversion tracking provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. For example, identify popular items, product categories, or price points that resonate with your audience.
5. Audience Growth.
One of the key goals of influencer marketing is to reach and connect with a wider audience. The wider the audience, the better your chance your reach and sales go up.
By monitoring the growth of your social media following, email subscribers, or website visitors, you can evaluate the success of your campaigns in attracting new audience members.
It’s a clear sign your message resonates and that the partnership with your influencer is a good match.
Ways to track this: Utilize social media analytics, email marketing tools, and influencer marketing platforms to monitor the growth of your social media following, email subscribers, and website visitors.
By understanding the demographics and engagement of your expanding audience, you can optimize your influencer marketing strategies and ensure long-term success in reaching and connecting with new customers.
To Recap: Plan, Create, Track, Evolve
Managing a successful influencer marketing campaign goes beyond having a great idea. It requires strategic planning, flawless execution, and diligent tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs).
By focusing on the five must-track KPIs discussed in this article—reach and impressions, engagement metrics, referral traffic, conversion rates and sales, and audience growth — you can see a clear picture of the success and profitability of your influencer campaigns.
Additionally, finding the right influencers who align with your brand values, setting a realistic budget, and leveraging influencer marketing platforms and tools play vital roles in the success of your campaign.
Remember, the road to ROI in influencer marketing requires constant evaluation, adjustment, and optimization. Stay updated with industry trends, explore new platforms and techniques, and adapt your strategies to meet the evolving needs of your target audience.
So, take the leap into the world of influencer marketing armed with valuable insights, powerful tools, and a mindset focused on delivering meaningful connections and outstanding results. You got this!
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