What is Influencer Engagement? How Can You Measure It?

The world of marketing is evolving, and consumers no longer appreciate glossy, clever corporate campaigns.

These days, people on the internet look to other consumers for information and testimonials. Eighty-three percent of surveyed people trust their peers more than companies for information about new brands and products.

Influencers are specialized types of “peers.” These individuals have various social media channels, including blogs, video streams, web sites, Facebook pages, and Instagram feeds.

A successful influencer has followers, and you can leverage the trust of these people to create brand awareness and promote your products and services. Furthermore, you can measure the results of influencer campaigns.  

Why You Need Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing campaigns expand your target audience and expose your brand to new audiences.

About 86 percent of marketers have invested millions of dollars into influencer marketing. For each dollar spent, statistics show that companies earn an average of $6.20. Some make even more.

Influencer programs also help your rankings in Google Analytics, which measures traffic to your website.

In the digital age, this is vital to success, because the higher your rankings, the easier it is for internet searchers to find your website.

An influencer marketing program gives you a good return on investment. However, measuring an influencer’s impact on your company’s bottom line is not always easy.

In fact, in Linqia’s study called “The State of Influencer Marketing 2018”, 76 percent of marketers were concerned about measuring the success of influencer campaigns through ROI.

Measuring Influencer Campaigns

Influencer campaign performance can be determined by the nature of the campaign itself, strategies used, and your relationship with influencers.

There are multiple ways to measure influencer ROI based upon specific campaign objectives which you set before you even approach them as potential partners.

Here are some common techniques to gauge the success of influencer campaigns.

Audience Interest

An essential element of influencer marketing is how engaged an influencer’s followers are with them.

Influencers have little effect as thought leaders if their audience is not involved with their content.

• Do followers like posts?
• Do influencers receive numerous honest and conversational comments from their audiences?
• Does the number of followers grow organically over time?

An influencer need not have a huge audience to have a high engagement rate. Engagement is about the relationship between influencers and followers.

Micro-influencers with 1,000 followers may have more audience loyalty than celebrities with hundreds of thousands of followers.

Increased Visibility

Influencers work within specific niches such as vegan cooking, fashion, or physical fitness. Therefore, their followers will have interests and passions in those areas.

Look for influencers with an audience that would likely care about what you are selling. Otherwise, brand mentions would not sound authentic and could undermine public opinion of both you and the influencers.

Consumers want honesty. Consumer trust, which must be earned, is vital for long-term success. You want trust as well as interest for long-term success.

Conversion Rates

If you measure success by increased revenue, study how many people who learn about your service or product from influencers make a purchase.

Focus on how many link click-throughs are generating sales with tools from Google Analytics. If you are operating across multiple social media channels, pay attention to which networks are generating the most sales.

You can help drive sales yourself. A great way to do this is with promo codes. Giving influencers exclusive codes to share with their followers is an effective way to advertise your brand, promote sales, and boost the influencers’ reputations.

Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to drive sales. Influencer posts can include affiliate links to your website.

Influencers earn a profit for each sale generated from those links. You can easily track the results of these links—click-throughs as well as sales.

A Final Word

Influencer campaigns do not have to be famous to be successful. According to Influencer Analysis, the size of an influencer’s audience is not necessarily a mark of success.

Instead, it is the connection that influencer has with followers that matters. With the ability of influencers to sway large numbers of consumers, it pays to establish a marketing campaign that includes these thought leaders.

Following some best practices and doing a bit of research first can ensure a successful and quantifiable campaign for both you and the influencer—one that has positive benefits for both the short and long term.