How to Evaluate Influencer Marketing

With 83% of brands using influencer marketing to connect with customers, the demand for collaborations between companies and creators is growing, as is the need to evaluate each campaign’s success effectively. With strained budgets and an increased demand to prove ROI for every investment, marketers need a plan in place to evaluate each campaign’s efficacy. 

But which KPIs are important? When should you explore these metrics? And, are there tools that can help your team gauge influencer marketing success? We’ll answer each of these questions as we dive into how to evaluate influencer marketing campaigns.  

KPIs to track 

Which metrics are important to monitor? The goal of your campaign will dictate which analytics have the most weight. Generally speaking, most influencer campaigns aim to improve one of the following:

• Brand awareness
• Social engagement
• Conversions

Based on these goals, there are specific metrics to pay attention to. 

Brand awareness

Increasing brand awareness is all about getting your name and product in front of the right audience so they’re more familiar. So, how do you measure a customer’s familiarity with a brand? There are a few metrics that can point to success, including: 

Audience growth

Look at the number of audience members you gained during the campaign. These customers have signaled interest in what you have to say. 

Reach

See how many people your campaign has reached; remember that influencer collaborations are an ideal way to expand your reach to a targeted audience. 

Hashtags and brand mentions

Every @mention and brand hashtag used on social media is like a newspaper headline for your company or product. Each post bolsters brand awareness. 

Social media engagement

Today’s consumers use social media to connect with a brand. Connection plays an essential role in courting consumers, which is why many brands focus on social media engagement when they team up with influencers. To measure social media engagement, brands should look at: 

Likes

Did your content resonate with consumers? The number of likes you receive is a good barometer. 

Shares

If the audience liked your content so much that they shared it, you’re doing something right. Each share not only increases engagement, but reach as well. 

Comments

Influencer-generated content that sparks comments is a good indicator of engagement. You want people to ask questions and share their opinions in the comment section.  

Saves

If users save your content, it indicates they found it valuable enough to revisit later. This is a strong indicator of long-term interest and relevance.

Click-through rate (CTR) 

Tracking the number of users who clicked on links in your content can show how well your content is driving traffic to your website or landing pages.

Mentions and tags

If users mention or tag your brand in their posts or stories, this indicates deeper engagement and word-of-mouth marketing.

Video views and watch time

Video views on platforms like Instagram Reels or TikTok are important engagement metrics. They indicate how many people watched your content, which helps measure reach and interest. However, views alone don’t always reflect engagement quality, so it’s often best to pair them with other metrics like watch time (how long users watch), likes, comments, and shares to get a fuller picture of audience interaction.

Conversions

Brands may choose to focus influencer campaigns on conversions. Many associate conversions with sales, which is one of the metrics you can watch, but there are other conversion-based analytics you can measure too. 

Sales

How many sales did you make as a result of the influencer campaign? If you’re working with IZEA’s Managed Services team, you can use our tools, like Tracking Links in our IZEA Flex influencer marketing platform, to attribute sales to specific influencers. With this kind of data, you can see which influencers net the best ROI and consider future collabs with the best of the best. 

Referrals

For some brands, generating a list of leads is the end game. Generally collected via content downloads or interest forms, a collection of prospective customers can constitute a conversion. 

Additional conversion metrics include click-through rates, number of app downloads, webinar signups, or product demo scheduling. 

When to check your metrics

Most teams schedule a “post mortem” to discuss the campaign, review metrics, and make an action plan for the next go-round. While you certainly should evaluate your analytics at the end of a campaign, you should check in on them several times during the campaign to make sure numbers are trending in the right direction. Our clients get reporting regularly to track key performance metrics, analyze campaign effectiveness, and make data-driven adjustments for optimal results.

Evaluating influencer marketing campaigns starts by setting a goal and identifying the KPIs you plan to track. With the help of an experienced influencer marketing team, you can easily access the data that provides attribution and guidance for future influencer collaborations.