It has become quite evident that influencer marketing is gaining popularity and prominence rapidly over a span of 3-4 years. There are reports after reports that depict how this form of social media marketing is growing in leaps and bounds. These reports also showcase how companies are increasingly devoting a considerable amount from their marketing budget to influencer marketing. While it has been established that influencer marketing has flourished quite a bit, it is also crucial to develop a framework to evaluate its effectiveness.
In order for a brand to evaluate the effectiveness of an influencer engagement, it needs to focus on gaining maximum ROI in terms of reach, conversions, awareness, etc. For assessing the ROI of an influencer engagement activity, a brand needs to keep a few factors in mind.
Firstly, the goal and objective of the marketing campaign need to be clearly established. The brand might want to reach new target audiences, improve brand advocacy, increase product sales, generate more leads, manage the reputation of the company or just simply increase brand awareness.
Second of all, the brand should clearly establish the key performance index (KPI). This takes into account how much success the company is getting with respect to the investments it is making in an influencer engagement activity. If a brand is investing 3 lakhs in an influencer campaign and getting 6 lakh-worth of impressions, reach and other parameters, the brand has attained a KPI of 1:2 that signifies a favourable ROI.
Thirdly, the influencer should ensure that the content created is visually and aesthetically pleasing. So all the background elements, characters, plot, props, etc. need to be in line with the campaign objectives. Along with that, they should be visually attractive to grab attention.
After that, one needs to ensure that there is some synergy between the brand and the influencer. Apart from fulfilling the campaign objectives, the influencer should be a right for the brand’s overall tonality and ethos. For instance, an influencer who is big on spirituality and natural living may be a suitable fit for promoting a herbal soap/supplement brand. The influencer’s content and tonality will be in line with the herbal brand. Not just that, his/her followers would expect brand content similar to that.
Lastly, a brand should be able to identify the key messaging used in the influencer engagement. Ths key messaging can act as the unique selling proposition of the influencer campaign. Whether its the dialogue delivery, the funny music or the emotions the video espouses, as long as there is a touchpoint, the campaign ROI would be in the brand’s favour.
So every brand should invest in an influencer engagement strategy that promises a favourable ROI as only then will the brand achieve success.
(The author is founder & CEO, Whoppl. Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to her views.)
