Measuring Influencer Marketing: A Guide for Marketers

Executive Summary

As influencer marketing grows in importance, its measurement is coming to the forefront. But what should marketers look for when choosing influencers, and which measurement strategies will help them best determine the return on investment (ROI)?

• Marketers are very intrigued by influencer marketing, but prices keep rising and the landscape is getting more crowded (and complicated). Meanwhile, measurement capabilities are lagging behind other forms of marketing. This will threaten future growth.
• Measurement starts with evaluating which influencers to work with. Best practices include looking beyond the size of an influencer’s audience, matching the influencer’s audience to your target audience and gauging the audience’s receptivity to branded content.
• Once influencer campaigns are underway, basic strategies for measuring include applying techniques learned from social media, looking beyond vanity metrics and measuring influencers like paid media.
• Advanced measurement strategies include partnering with social platforms, using a landing page or trackable link and correlating influencer activity to brand metrics.
• Expert strategies include tying metrics to specific influencer activities, using a cost-per-click or cost-per-engagement payment model and tying back to actual sales.
• The wish list for additional metrics includes things like better attribution, more insight into who clicks or views branded influencer content and more data from influencers themselves.