How to Launch a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign

By: Danica Kombol, CEO, Everywhere

October 19, 2018

Influencer marketing at its core is real people talking about brands, products and services they love. Because influencer marketing does not look like a traditional ad buy, many mistakenly assume you can’t measure it. In fact, it’s eminently measurable – the challenge is deciding what you want to measure, then making sure you have the benchmarks in place to quantify your results.

DEFINE YOUR CAMPAIGN GOALS

Clarity around your campaign goals means understanding the fairly wide variety of metrics available. I’m surprised by how many influencer marketing campaigns tout their success in impressions, as if this is the holy grail. Don’t get me wrong, “impressions count.” Pun intended. You can and should count impressions, however, they only represent potential viewership, and there is far more data available when

Which metrics should you consider? I wish there was a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Truth? It depends on what you are trying to achieve. No two influencer marketing campaigns are the same, nor does every campaign ladder up to the same set of goals. When we at Everywhere Agency do influencer marketing campaigns, we start at the very basics: What are your goals – what will success look like for you at the end of this campaign?

So start with the basics: What are your goals? What will success look like for you at the end of this campaign?

MEASURING SALES

For some brands, it’s easy – they want sales, plain and simple. If measurement of sales is your metric of success, there are a few different things you can do to make sure you get your message in front of your intended target audience, who are more likely to make a purchase. You should provide the influencer with a link that tracks through the point of purchase or share with them a campaign-specific coupon or promo code.

And remember to select the right influencers for a sales-driven campaign. You’re going to want to vet influencers based on a number of factors, not only based on the demographics of their audience, but also their percentage of fake followers. It’s important to know that the audience your influencer is reaching consists of actual, real people – not bots. This gets your message in front of your intended target audience, who are more likely to make a purchase.

BEYOND SALES: ADDITIONAL KPIs WORTH MEASURING

Influencer marketing can drive real action, and that activity – which takes the shape of engagement and comments of intent – is not always directly tied to a trackable link or sales figure. There are other KPIs you may want to consider:

Danica Kombol, CEO, Everywhere

Trust.Think about your own behavior on social media. You’re scrolling through your feed, and you see a recommendation from a friend or family member. While you may not purchase that product immediately, you might still give it a thumbs up and be more likely to keep that recommendation in your back pocket. In fact, over 40 percent of social media users report buying a product after sharing or favoriting it on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, according to Vision Critical, a customer intelligence platform that supports more than 650 brands worldwide. That seemingly frivolous thumbs up or comment doesn’t simply indicate that a follower saw a social post – it clues you in to who your future buyer may be.

Site Traffic. Sometimes brands have valuable information housed on their website, and they’d like to educate their audience. Good news, you don’t have to throw the measurement out with the bathwater! With the right tracking in place, you can see how many site visits are attributed to influencers driving traffic.

Awareness. In this case, look for comments from influencers’ followers, such as, “Wow, I’ve never heard of this. Can’t wait to try!” Also think about measuring the unique reach of each post from the campaign to provide insight on new audiences who have been exposed to your message via influencers.

Getting influencers to talk about your brand, your campaign and your product is the fun part. Establishing clear goals and measurement tactics can seem tedious, but in the long run it will serves as a reference point to evaluating the success of your campaign. So, before you launch your next influencer project, take the time to explore measurement efforts beyond sales and impressions alone.

Follow Danica:@danicakombol