Influencer marketing is the secret to the success that many businesses are witnessing. The digital-first world is fueled with immense potential for influencers from all areas of interest. From gadgets and tech to the big world of the beauty industry, influencers are in demand more than ever. Today, the influencer industry is skyrocketing to new heights, and the need for the right personalities has popped tenfold.
Business Insider reports that the market for influencer marketing will reach $15 billion by 2022.
Businesses have realized how traditional marketing has taken a backseat, and influencers, with their powerful word-of-mouth strategy, are changing this landscape. But why has influencer marketing become such a robust tool that gets bigger every passing year? It’s simple – because influencer marketing offers ROI 10x more than traditional marketing. According to Nielsen’s Consumer Trust Index reports, 92% of consumers trust influencer marketing over traditional advertising.
However, finding the right influencer for your business isn’t easy. An influencer’s metrics are only worth something if the influencer is the right fit to work with your brand. Their follower count is not enough, nor are their likes. To set the bar above and beyond, track these six metrics before finalizing the influencer for collaboration. Remember, influencer marketing is only successful with detailed research and accurate strategies. These six metrics will help you determine if an influencer is the right fit:
1. Number Of Followers/Subscribers
This metric is the one that usually inspires a brand, but looking at the numbers alone isn’t enough. Why? Because there’s a sizable number of influencers that buy followers or cheat their numbers up. For instance, have you heard of the strategy called “follow-unfollow”? It is a tactic used to increase follower numbers quickly and inauthentically.
How are followers categorized?
Depending on the number of followers, the Influencers are segmented into the following groups:
- Nano influencer – Under 10k followers
- Micro influencer – Under 20k followers
- Mid-sized influencer – 20k to 400k followers
- Macro influencer – 400k above followers
Influencers with bigger followings have inversely proportional engagement, and those with a smaller fan group influencers have highly engaged fans. Additionally, large-sized influencers often charge more for the campaigns, plus they have extensively tight schedules. The small yet strong following is also a sign of subject matter expertise. This is why you must evaluate this along with other metrics to identify which influencer is best for your campaign.
2. Reach And Impressions
In influencer marketing, reach and impressions may sound similar, but both have a different meaning when evaluating the right influencer for your brand.
Reach is the number of unique people who have seen your content. So, in a perfect world where the influencer has, let’s say, 1000 followers, 1000 is the ideal reach. Impressions are the number of times the content appears on people’s feeds. The impressions are always higher than the reach because your content may appear multiple times to a user depending on its relevance to them and its engagement..
How do reach and impressions help brands?
Today, reach and impressions are some of the top metrics for selecting the right influencer. But which is more meaningful? Firstly, it is crucial to grow your reach so that many people see your campaign. Which is where impressions come in. Impressions are what you can use to determine the level of brand awareness you have generated.
3. Engagement
Engagement is the interactions between influencers and their followers through likes, comments, shares and saves. The engagement for every influencer varies depending upon the niche, the segment, industry and the content they create.
What engagement rate is ideal?
In an ideal world, 1-3% is the standard rate, but it varies to 4-7% in some industry segments. For instance, for an influencer with between 50 – 250k followers, even an engagement rate of 3% is very high. For brands, the influencer’s engagement rate is the first metric that should be considered to determine how well the campaign will perform.
4. Post Frequency
The frequency at which an influencer posts is a good way to track how committed they are to maintaining their following. If the posting frequency is too low, it shows that the influencer is not committed to content creation or to consistently managing their fan base. As influencers work with a bunch of brands and campaigns simultaneously, you need to check the posting frequency is not too high either. This could result in their followers losing interest as the constant posting may bore them.
What should you consider to evaluate an influencer’s posting frequency?
When you send a proposal to an influencer, the number of posts you expect from them should be well-stated. This will help them manage the content they create for you, and will give you the ability to get the most eyes on your brand name without boring the audience.
5. Branded Post Frequency
Influencers are like magicians. They’ve got the skills to amaze their audience, and dazzle them with relevant recommendations. But not always! There is a term called “influencer fatigue.” This happens when the audience is exposed to too much branded content. Many influencers fall victim to this and exhaust their audience with overloaded brand sponsorship. For a high ROI, your influencer should post a good mix of different content to surprise the audience. You’ll also want to ensure that your influencer isn’t collaborating with too many brands at the same time so you’re not overshadowed by competitors.
What should you know about branded post frequency?
Start by taking a look at the influencer’s feed. It could be grueling manual work, but it is worth it for your future endeavors with the influencer. Try to look for influencers with brand mentions less than 50% – meaning they mention the brand in every other post. It is a crucial metric to track how well the branded posts perform compared to non-sponsored posts.
Figure 1: Brand Mentions of top 11 brands. Source: Upfluence
6. Comments/Likes Ratio – Fake Followers
Fake followers are a severe problem in the influencer industry, and has tarnished the reputation of the influencer marketing industry. So, how do you know if your influencer is posting to a sea of bots or a genuine community? There are many tools to detect fake followers, and this is an essential step in the vetting process.
How to find influencers’ realness?
Bots have become an immense problem, but for brands, it is easy to figure out the realness of the influencer by checking the comment and like ratio. The comments/like ratio identifies how engaged their following truly is. If the ratio is close (i.e. near 1:1), it indicates that the comments and likes may have been purchased. A chaotic scattering of comments vs. likes indirectly indicates that the following is genuine. Measure this metric early in the vetting process and eliminate influencers with a KPI.
Figure 2: Comments and likes ratio distribution segments. Source: Influencer Marketing Hub
The bottom line is that hiring an influencer requires exhaustive analysis. You must track the right metrics to determine if an influencer will bring measurable success to your brand. It’s easy for brands to get lost and overlook many crucial milestones and steps to reach the right influencer. As a brand, you need to dig beneath the surface and do a bit of investigation before you hire an influencer.
If you are determined to soar to success with genuine influencers, AtisfyReach is your ally for growth. We help you find the best influencers, create concrete campaigns, and manage it all with only a few clicks.
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