Influencer Marketing and Campaign Measurement

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which brands work with individuals who have a significant following on social media or other online platforms to promote their products or services. The most valuable commodity in this dynamic is not the influencer, but their fan base. Built over time through common interests, content, or humor, these audiences are loyal and often consider the influencer as a trusted source of information. This relationship is continually fostered through perceived authenticity, expertise, and relevance. These factors are the driving force behind a brand’s campaign reach. By targeting a specific audience through an influencer, they can increase brand awareness, build credibility, and boost conversions.

Influencers are commonly split into four tiers by follower count. Those tiers are: mega, macro, micro, and nano. Choosing the right kind of influencer will help a brand effectively reach and engage with its target audience. On the other hand, choosing the wrong influencer can be detrimental to a brand’s reputation and may not deliver on the campaign’s objectives or goals. A recent study conducted by IZEA found that 62% of people would be more likely to trust a sponsored post from a social media influencer than an A-list celebrity. This emphasizes the importance of choosing an influencer that best represents your brand’s interests.

Influencer niches have highly specialized pieces of content curated by the influencer for their audience. Typically, the smaller the influencer is, the higher the chances are their social platform or online identity is heavily invested in a niche. These specialized spaces can vary widely, and there are influencers in virtually every niche imaginable. When it comes to selecting a face for your brand’s campaign, it’s important to choose one that is relevant to your target audience, their interests, and the products or services you offer. 

Common niches include:

You’ve picked an influencer that perfectly matches your campaign goals; now what? Your campaign will launch to a pre-built audience, it’s no doubt that they’ll see your content, but how do you engage them? Luckily, this unique form of marketing includes equally unique opportunities for engagement. Here are some tried and true campaign ideas:

• Sponsored social/blogs
• Social media takeovers
• Giveaways & gifts
• Brand ambassadors

When looking to quantify the impact of influencers on driving installs and engagement with your mobile app(s), mobile analytics and attribution take center stage. As a mobile measurement partner (MMP), Kochava offers a host of tools to capture influencer-driven user acquisition and reengagement across any channel. SmartLinks is a flexible deep linking solution that enables marketers to create and distribute measurable linking experiences through links, quick response (QR) codes, and custom landing pages that influencers can easily integrate into their content. Kochava’s attribution and data science modeling are tried-and-true methods for calculating the true influence of social influencers. With the use of these techniques, what was formerly an intangible marketing tactic is now quantifiable.

To measure the effectiveness of an influencer marketing campaign, it’s important to establish clear goals and metrics beforehand. Some common metrics to consider include: 

• Reach: How many people have viewed the influencer’s content?
• Engagement: How many people liked, commented, or shared the influencer’s content?
• Conversion rate: How many people who interacted with the influencer’s content engaged in the desired action (e.g., purchase, newsletter subscription)?
• Return on investment (ROI): How much revenue was generated from the campaign compared to its overall cost?

These are the questions that should serve as indicators of the performance quality of your brand’s campaign. An influencer’s large reach may be enticing at first glance, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to a high conversion rate. Compare that to the rate of engagement and ROI, and you should have a comprehensive understanding of the quality of your campaigns.

It’s also important to consider the quality of the engagement rather than just the quantity. For example, if an influencer has a high number of followers, but their content doesn’t receive many likes or comments, it may not be as effective as an influencer with fewer followers but higher engagement. 

There are several tools available that help track and measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign, such as social media analytics tools and marketing automation software. It’s important to choose the right tools and metrics for your specific campaign goals and objectives.

As social media is fluid in nature, it’s difficult to predict the exact future of influencer marketing, as it will largely depend on various factors such as technological advances, changes in consumer behavior, and shifts in the marketing landscape. However, some trends that are likely to continue or emerge in the future of influencer marketing include 

• Micro-influencers
• Authenticity & transparency
• Social media integration

Overall, it’s likely that influencer marketing will continue to evolve and change in the future, but the importance of authenticity and genuine relationships with followers will likely remain a constant.