Alexis Kestler
Influencer marketing has exploded in popularity over recent years, projected to become a $20 billion dollar industry by 2028. As brands increasingly leverage influencer partnerships, measuring performance is more important than ever.
This comprehensive guide explores the key influencer marketing KPIs that smart brands track to benchmark success, identify what‘s working well and optimize campaigns for maximum ROI. Monitoring the right metrics provides tangible insights to level up your influencer program.
What Does an Effective Influencer Marketing Program Entail?
While direct returns matter, the influencer path often involves incremental touchpoints across brand awareness, consideration, conversion and beyond. Rather than solely transactional outputs, a mature approach appreciates progress toward S.M.A.R.T. goals tied to micro-conversions.
For example, driving 100 new newsletter subscribers might precede a revenue boost. Tracking sign-ups signals progress. Celebrating small wins maintains momentum while longer plays materialize.
Step-by-Step Influencer Campaign Setup
Meticulous planning and execution underpin effective influencer collaborations. This process overview provides a blueprint:
Outline Overarching Campaign Goals
- What specific KPIs do you want to impact?
- How will you define and measure success?
- Set quantifiable objectives for awareness, engagement, conversions etc.
Choose Campaign Type
Common programs include sponsorships, contests, affiliate initiatives, guest posts, brand ambassador cohorts and more. Format selection depends on objectives, audience, creative direction and other factors.
Define Target Audience Attributes
- Demographics like age, income level
- Psychographics including interests, values
- buying stages, pain points and behaviors
Precise audience targeting enables refined influencer outreach.
Select Platform(s)
- Instagram for lifestyle, beauty, fashion
- TikTok to attract Gen Z
- YouTube for lengthy educational videos
…or multi-channel for expanded reach
Vet and Onboard Influencers
- Assess content resonation, production value and creativity
- Audit engagement levels and audience crossover
- Partner with nano to celeb-level creators
An influencer marketplace like Ainfluencer eases discovery and communications.
7 Crucial Influencer Marketing KPIs to Track
Below are seven metrics to benchmark, monitor and optimize influencer initiatives:
1. Brand Awareness
Expanding reach and visibility signifies growing awareness. Potential reach stems from collective influencer follower counts.
monitor:
- Influencer follower count
- Brand social followers
- Content impressions
- Total unique reach
- Site visitors
- Search volume
Higher signals climbing mindshare. Compare pre and post-campaign figures to parse impact.
2. Engagement Rates
Engagement denotes audience affinity. Benchmark Cost Per Engagement (CPE) to gauge efficiency.
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Clicks | Click-throughs to site/bio link |
| Likes | Post reactions signaling interest |
| Shares | Reshared content expanding reach |
| Brand Mentions | @tags linking content to brand |
| Hashtag Usage | Campaign hashtags driving conversation |
| Comments | Direct responses showing engagement |
The more quality comments, shares, clicks etc., the better the content and partnership perform.
3. Conversions
Conversions represent desired actions taken. Track email sign-ups, ebook downloads, coupon claims, sales and more.
| Conversion Funnel Stage | Sample Conversions to Track |
|---|---|
| Awareness | Newsletter signups, competition entries |
| Consideration | Content downloads, product inquiries |
| Evaluation | Add to carts, store visits |
| Purchase | Sales, coupon claims |
Use UTMs, unique links and promo codes to quantify conversions attributable to influencers.
4. Referral Traffic
More visitors from influencer posts signals growing attention and interest.
| Referral Traffic KPI | Definition |
|---|---|
| New Users | Net new site visitors |
| Traffic Sources | Links, @mentions driving visits |
| Pageviews | Number of page visits |
| Sessions | Collection of interactions in timeframe |
| Time on Site | Session duration indicates engagement |
Compare pre and post-campaign figures to parse incremental lift.
5. Audience Growth
A rise in owned media followers shows content resonance. Track:
- Social media follower growth
- Email list subscriber gain
Compare relative growth across channels pre to post-campaign.
6. Return on Investment
Ultimately, positive ROI confirms productive partnerships.
| Metric | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Total sales from campaign period |
| Initial Spend | Influencer compensation + other costs |
| EMV | Estimated exposure value from interactions |
Tie campaign-specific promo codes and UTM parameters to attributed sales for true ROI.
7. Content Production
Tally both volume and subjective quality of influencer content.
- Content volume: Absolute # of posts
- Quality score: Rank visual appeal, messaging accuracy etc. on a scaled rubric
User-generated content (UGC) also expands reach. Incentivize with rewards.
Additional Tracking Tips
- Distribute exclusive discount codes
- Create unique offer landing pages
- Integrate UTMs into all links
- Develop attribution models accounting for sub-converions
- Compare results across influencer tier
Wrapping Up
In closing, meticulous tracking provides tangible proof points on influencer partnership traction. Monitor the above metrics to benchmark and optimize for real ROI.
What key indicators do you track for your influencer campaigns? Which metrics matter most for your brand? Let me know in the comments below!
