The ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind the evolution of influencer marketing measurement
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Creator Deck
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Originally posted by Fast Company - Jessica Thorpe
A look at how the measurement of influencer campaigns across social media platforms has developed over recent years, and why those shifts are happening.
Social media platforms are some of the most innovative and fastest-growing entities on the planet. They need to be. The entire industry depends on keeping consumers interested through new trends and capabilities that set one platform apart from another. The market size of social networking sites is set to reach over $94 billion in 2023.
Here, we’ll look at not just how the measurement of influencer campaigns across these social media platforms has developed over recent years, but also why those shifts are happening. Understanding the catalyst behind industry developments is crucial to staying ahead of the curve in future endeavors.
TOP CONTRIBUTORS TO THE EVOLUTION OF INFLUENCER MARKETING MEASUREMENT
Before we take a look at the ‘how,’ let’s take a look at the ‘why’ of how the influencer marketing industry has shifted over the years. From my research and experience, three of the top contributing factors of these shifts are:
- Social media platform launches and product updates
- Updated measurement technology and sources of compiling data
- Influencers getting better at SEO and building their brands
In regards to product updates, an extreme example of this can be seen with platforms like TikTok, which weren’t around a decade ago when text-focused content was much more prominent. Now, short-form video has risen to the top for preferred content and marketers are enticed to look at ROI and measurement in a completely different way.
When considering how measurement technology has developed, we can take a look at the days of pure display and native advertising, before social media took off and when metrics like CPM were king when measuring ROI for marketing initiatives. Measurement technologies have developed to the point where marketers can look at full-funnel insights to see the true value of their influencer programs. Sales attribution, both online and offline, can be utilized to showcase the overall effectiveness of certain assets, platforms, and influencer types.
On top of that, influencers themselves have better understanding of SEO and the value that comes with knowing how to index highly in searches across social media. They’re more than just content creators—they’ve seen the need to differentiate themselves in the saturated world of influencers and have adapted by becoming marketers themselves.
HOW MARKETERS HAVE EVOLVED THEIR INFLUENCER MARKETING MEASUREMENT STRATEGIES
Between my own experiences with influencer ROI measurement strategies and chats with colleagues of mine, three major areas of focus stand out as the industry has evolved:
- Ever-increasing focus on a positive, authentic social presence
- Higher focus on trending placements and new social platform buzz
- Staying in tune with updated influencer metrics and benchmarks
Positive sentiment on social has been an increasingly pressing pain point since the dawn of the online marketing era. Creating a product positioning framework that not only paints your product in a positive and meaningful light, but is also genuine in the eyes of the audience is crucial to any successful social marketing strategy.
To tackle this issue, more and more brands are turning to authentic influencers who have proven their abilities to connect and build an audience through unique messaging and creative content production. The key is for a brand to find relevant influencers that make sense for their specific product, since then there won’t be any issue with establishing authenticity.
In regards to influencer analytics, it’s up to the brands and marketers themselves to establish what it means to run a successful campaign given the new measurement options that are developed as time goes on. Years ago, influencer content was measured by the same impression/engagement-based KPIs that any social campaign is based on, and it is still measured that way in several campaigns.
Since influencer marketing first took off over a decade ago, data measurement tools have become more sophisticated due to technological developments. On top of that, social platforms have established different ways of producing content, and therefore indirectly established different ways of measuring success.
All of this means that influencer marketing can produce a higher impact due to increased capabilities of ROI measurement.
Some other trends that I’ve noticed while talking with colleagues:
- Marketers using influencer platform tools for scalability for A/B asset testing
- Marketers tracking and optimizing sales-focused campaigns and moving away from CPM
ARE YOU READY TO DISCOVER NEW AVENUES OF INFLUENCER ROI MEASUREMENT?
It’s so exciting to see how influencer ROIs are developing across different industries as we head further into 2023. Marketers have all of the tools they could ever want at their disposal so they can scale, test, and learn what will work best for them moving forward.
Interested in learning more about how your brand can more authentically connect with audiences online? Looking to scale your existing influencer program? If generating best-in-class social media connections is a priority for your team, feel free to reach out to us at creatordeck.com/contact-us.
