The popularity of social media gave birth to many excellent marketing options. Even though they started as a social platform for personal communication, social networks quickly became a powerful business tool. Social media is also responsible for creating many advertising strategies, and one of the most popular ones is influencer marketing. The concept is straightforward; a social media celebrity advertises a business in front of their followers in return for cash, free services, or any other arrangement. As a result, the business and its products or services are exposed to thousands, if not millions, of people online, which can substantially boost its growth and profit. While this strategy brings fantastic results, it is not that simple to accurately track the efficiency of social media influencers. That’s why we want to spend some time and talk about the influencer marketing KPIs you should be tracking.

The number of followers

Every influencer has their followers. The number varies depending on the various types of influencers. There are four main groups:

• nano influencers;
• micro-influencers;
• macro influencers;
• mega influencers;

When it comes to picking the right influencer, and measuring their success, the number of their followers plays a significant role. First, it tells you how many people can potentially become your new customers. And second, depending on the size of your business, you need to consider the type of influencer as well. For example, a startup company should never work with a mega influencer. Their fee will be too much to cover, and you are potentially setting yourself up for failure. Imagine getting advertised in front of millions of people as soon as you open. Suddenly everyone starts making orders, and you cannot keep up. That is not a good business plan. If you want to enjoy the benefits of influencer marketing, you need to keep track of the number of their followers and make sure it fits the current size of your business.

Brand awareness

A successful influencer marketing campaign should improve your brand awareness. We already mentioned how the number of followers plays a role and why you should start with nano influencers as a startup. However, there are also other factors you should consider. First, check if the number of your brand followers on social media is going up. Second, you want to know the number of times your content was displayed. Third, keep track of the number of people that have seen the campaign content. Finally, you want to focus on measuring the growth rate of traffic on your website and the number of times users search your brand on Google.

Keep track of the engagement rate

Once the campaign launches, it is crucial to monitor user engagement. First, you want to keep track of the number of clicks, likes, and shares. That is the perfect way to measure the engagement rate and to know if the users are interested in the content or not. Your influencer marketing is working if these three KPIs have a positive result. Furthermore, check brand mentions, comments, and the use of campaign hashtags. These three metrics show the engagement level and how closely connected your users are. You want to know if they are discussing the brand amongst each other in online spaces.

The conversion rate percentage

The only thing that is important at the end of every marketing campaign is the change in the conversion rate. Influencer marketing is only successful if it drives sales. While there are other benefits that don’t include the increase in profit, at the end of the day, that is the main thing your company needs to grow and become self-sufficient.

Keep track of the referral traffic

While creating a group of returning customers is very important, another crucial goal of an influencer marketing campaign is to acquire new users. That is why you need to monitor the referral traffic through Google Analytics. The most important metrics to keep track of include the number of new users, referral sources, total page views, time on site, and the total number of sessions.

Audience growth, and how it differs from reach and awareness

This is a critical section on influencer marketing KPIs you need to understand. When we talk about reach and awareness factors, we refer to people who hear about your business and visit the website. However, this does not guarantee the immediate success of the influencer marketing campaign. What if someone hears about your company through an influencer, and they visit the website, leave, and never come back? Even though the influencer successfully got them to check you out, that still counts as a failure to secure a paying customer. You want to attract people interested in continuing to follow your business on social media platforms. This includes people following the newsletter and talking about your business. That is considered audience growth, and it is a metric that genuinely shows the success of a marketing campaign.

How does the campaign affect ROI?

Every marketing campaign costs money. That is why you need to keep track of the return on investment. If you spend more money paying an influencer to advertise your business, but the ROI is negative, you are not doing a good job. Just think of what we spoke about at the beginning and how important it is to find the right type of influencer for your business.

Is your content production going up?

When an influencer starts working on advertising your business, they are in charge of content production. Furthermore, the influencer should encourage their followers to create and share similar content to support your business. You need to constantly monitor the quality of content and the consistency of posting. These metrics will show you how engaged and effective the influencer is.

Track these influencer marketing KPIs and you will set yourself for success

We hope that you better understand the most critical influencer marketing KPIs you should be tracking. Social media marketing, particularly influencers, is a fantastic way to advertise your business, but it requires a lot of work. Best of luck in pushing your business forward and growing it to the next level!

About Author: Sam Whilt is a content creator and a professional writer for WP Full Care. He specializes in digital marketing for startups, and focuses on helping new businesses scale and grow. Sam is very passionate about connecting with people and helping them grow in a professional sense.