Conversions are great, and we love nothing more than attributing tangible sales to our influencer programs to solidify the power of influencer marketing. But there’s more to it than just sales. Influencer marketing touches the full marketing funnel, everything from making people know about a brand to making them buy something and become loyal customers. But how can we assign value to these upper-funnel outcomes to really understand the return that we’re getting for the time and money invested in our influencer efforts?
At Find Your Influence (FYI), we’ve made something special to help with that. By using data, we translate the intricate value of each view, like, comment, and click, to not only gauge campaign success but also encapsulate the broader narrative of a brand’s impact through their influencer partnerships.
Earned Media Value (EMV): Redefining Measurement
Developed in collaboration with each social media platform, Earned Media Value (EMV) is our proprietary algorithm that calculates the total market value of content, impressions, and engagements garnered by a campaign. But it doesn’t stop there – EMV adapts its calculation based on engagement type and channel, offering a nuanced perspective.
In essence, EMV tells us how much the exposure from a campaign is worth in dollars. It provides a tangible understanding of what a brand would need to invest in paid advertising to get the same attention and engagement. This is a game-changer, as it helps brands evaluate the true impact of influencer partnerships beyond conventional ROI calculations.
Putting EMV to Work: Calculating ROI and Benchmarking
Let’s break it down with an example.
Imagine you wanted to test working with influencers for your brand, so you invested a total of $20,000. At the end, the content looks great, people say nice things, and FYI’s platform made it easy for you to view all the data and numbers. You think, “This is awesome! We should do it again,” and you ask for more budget. Even though you might not have made many sales this time, it’s a new product, and you understand it takes time to see the money come in. How do you ask for more budget and improve for the next time?
Now, consider that this campaign generated an EMV worth $80,000. This means you would have needed to spend $80,000 on ads to achieve the same results. Give yourself a pat on the back – you created $80,000 worth of ad value for just a quarter of the cost! Now, you can proudly share this accomplishment with your boss.
Sometimes, a campaign might shine on one platform but not do as well on others. It can be tricky to draw conclusions from this. For instance, one influencer might attract the most views, while another might have received the most engagements, and you experimented with multiple social media platforms. So, who’s the top performer? Which platform worked best? Evaluating everything through the EMV lens helps you score accordingly.
In this case your campaign ROI was 3:1. This is a great benchmark to compare to each influencer’s individual ROI and as well as each channel’s ROI. Perhaps for the next campaign a reasonable goal would be to accomplish a 4:1 ROI.
Empowering Brands with Intelligent Insights
In the dynamic landscape of influencer marketing, understanding the multifaceted impact of campaigns is crucial. FYI’s Earned Media Value (EMV) algorithm transcends the limitations of traditional metrics, offering a tool to bridge the gap between metrics and meaningful insights. It helps brands measure campaigns holistically, compare influencers effectively, and benchmark performance over time to ultimately harness the full power of influence and drive results that truly matter.