1, 2, 3 KPIs. Oh my!

…What to measure when creating an influencer marketing campaign.

Influencer Marketing is just like any other advertising medium in that there are many different metrics to consider when reviewing a post report but which one/s are the MOST important. 

We are often asked - how many clicks did the post get?  What was the engagement rate?  How many people viewed the video?  Which post did the best organically?  

All the different metrics can be a little overwhelming and while most vendors can answer all of these questions, it’s best to stick to the original KPIs set out at the beginning of the campaign and focus on these rather than venture down the metric rabbit hole.  Having set clear attainable goals/metrics at the beginning of your influencer marketing campaign and ending your campaign, measuring the same goals/metrics, is the key when determining whether it was a success.

That’s not to say you can’t have multiple KPIs for a campaign, however communicating them to all parties involved is crucial ie. vendor, agency, influencers etc.

For the purposes of this blog post, we will use video as the content example. 

When developing a social video campaign where influencers are creating and posting videos to their Instagram feed; clicks back to the client’s site is not a realistic KPI when determining the success of the campaign. Nor should it be.  You can’t click on a video within an in-feed post on Instagram.  Not to mention video content is an upper marketing funnel tactic that creates interest/consideration, not purchase.   

If clicks to your brand/client site is an important metric, then you need to consider adding a re-messaging tactic to the campaign, using a different piece of content (perhaps a still image) to retarget users who have watched the video. This secondary message (with a strong call to action) will entice them to fall further down the marketing funnel, and push them to purchase/sign up etc.  

This means, the first part of the campaign will be measuring views and the second part will measure clicks back to the site. Ultimately this ensures, you/the brand have created campaign elements that serve a purpose, and then the remaining campaign engagement highlights are gravy! 

What about other types of metrics and content you ask?  Instagram Stories, Swipe-Ups, Engagement Rates??  Stay tuned!  To be continued…c