Today, the communications industry is moving at such a rate that it is hardly possible to stop and reflect on what trends are working and why. Influencer marketing is a field that has been hit like a bomb in recent years.
The problem is that many people follow the trial and error method with influencers of different dignities and magnitudes to see which collaborations actually give something back.
If the decision makers themselves are concerned about how to measure what ROI (return on investment) influencer collaborations are giving while they continue to invest – then something is wrong.
The problem is that many marketers use influencer collaborations with the wrong approach. Influencer cooperation must be based on delivery and the agreement therefore adapted to be more profitable for the influencer the better commitment it creates.
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Pay for distribution – not for influence
On paper, influencer collaborations are a great way to expand your brand awareness in select audiences and get conversions. However, you must remember that by working with an influencer, you work with a human being and the human factor must therefore be taken into consideration.
To know if your investments in influencers are actually paying off, you must, just like with any other campaign, ensure how well it delivers in relation to your business goals. Many have done the opposite and instead paid a large sum directly to the influencer and then sit and hope that it does its job and that the expense pays off in the long run.
Obviously, if you are dealing with a well-known person with a professional reputation or are working with someone you have previously achieved good results with, prepayment can be a good option to promote the relationship. If, on the other hand, you are testing new, untested micro-influencers, you should be on your guard and see what it actually does for your business.
To measure micro-influencers
With the breakthrough of social media, the power of influence has shifted from the big world celebrities to more niche online personalities with clear audiences. To be sure, a makeup blogger who communicates with his followers on a daily basis has much greater potential for engaging with his followers than an actor they have no relationship with before.
Micro-influencers create commitment, but a tool is still needed to measure and determine how much this commitment is worth. It is a natural next step in the phenomenon of influencer marketing that the influencer is also compensated based on the delivery. This is something everyone will benefit from and it will create better campaigns. Here are three ways to accomplish this:
Get everything and everyone under one roof
A common reason for problems is poor communication, which arises when different actors working towards the same goal work on in their respective silos. By bringing together the entire marketing team under one umbrella, you will be able to more easily see what strategies are working and synergies can arise.
Connect to affiliate programs to more easily manage measuring micro-influencers.
Finding the right influencer can be difficult and once you have done that, you will come to the next obstacle when negotiating a reasonable agreement for both parties. When it is done after a lot of effort and great hassle, you come to the big problem – how do I measure if this collaboration is successful?
An alternative is to enter into partnerships with micro-influencers via affiliates and thereby reach new levels of engagement and delivery.
Don’t rely too much on Last-Click Attribution
For the past 10 years, marketers have assessed the performance and delivery based on the last click before a conversion came from. This is a method that is starting to slow down with influencer marketing – it is rarely from those people go to do a conversion but they can still play a vital role in creating trust and interest in the company that underlies the conversion.
