At Cure Media, we talk over and over again about the fact that influencer marketing should be an integrated part of your media mix. We also talk about how it has a positive impact on other channels – especially with a long-term strategy. But how exactly can you track these effects, and how do you tell influencer marketing is responsible for the positive development in your other channels?
In this blog post, we’ll go through the basics you need to know when it comes to tracking the effects from your influencer marketing activities on your other marketing channels.
How can I track the positive effects of influencer marketing?
First of all, it’s always useful to track the development of your different marketing channels, for example via Google Analytics, throughout the whole campaign period. This way, you are able to compare the results of your marketing channels with and without your influencer activation in the mix.
To get a holistic view of your total marketing efforts, Google Analytics is an efficient tool to track your influencer marketing activities as well as your other digital channels. To be able to compare the results of your other marketing efforts with and without influencer marketing, you need to look at a certain time period before the influencer activation and compare it to the same time period during the influencer activation, i.e. when influencers have posted.
Here we recommend examining several different time periods, e.g. certain weeks, months or, if that is possible and you have enough data at hand, a certain year.
One example is that your organic traffic often increases during, and after, an influencer activation. The reason is that we might see a product or service in an influencer post, and then search for this on Google later. The same goes for Google Ads; if we’ve seen a product from a certain brand on Instagram we might search for it later and end up buying the dress through Google ads, instead of through the influencer’s UTM link.
How can I recognise if influencer marketing is responsible for the positive development of my other channels?
Even if we know that much of the effect of an influencer marketing investment shows on other channels, it’s often tricky to prove. But here comes a piece of advice; If you haven’t undertaken any significant changes regarding your investments in other marketing channels (for example increased the budget for your Google or social ads) but notice more traction and conversions since you started to work with influencer activations, you can in general lead the positive change back to influencer marketing.
On the other hand, if you have undertaken changes on other channels, you need to look more closely. Were the changes made at the exact same time the influencer activation started? If the posts of your influencers were uploaded on a different date than your activities on your other digital channels started, have a look at how the results of the certain channels have developed on the specific days. Sometimes you need to dig deep into the data in order to find the answers.
If you want further insights on this subject we recommend you to check out this podcast episode on how influencer marketing fits into the overall media mix, and what role the channel plays in relation to the consumer journey and other media channels.
Why are my influencer marketing activations not showing any effect on my other marketing channels?
The past years, many marketers have discovered the value of influencer marketing and appreciate the channel for its agility. With the right tools and knowledge, it is possible to set up a campaign in a relatively short time, compared to other, more static, marketing channels. Nonetheless, sometimes you may experience that your campaign isn’t going as expected. The results may not be as wished and the positive effect of your other digital channels isn’t showing.
One common reason for the lack of a positive effect on your other channels is the budget deficit. If you are investing a relatively small amount of money in influencer marketing compared to the amount you spend on Google ads or other similar channels, it’s only natural that the influencer activations can’t achieve results that affect other channels – and it works just the same the other way around. If you want your influencer marketing activities to be effective cross-channel and throughout the whole buyer’s journey, you need to calculate the budget accordingly and treat it just like any other media investment.
Like any other marketing initiative, influencer marketing does not work from one moment to the next. The channel requires a long-term approach and needs – just as your other marketing channels – to be an integrated part of your marketing strategy. If you keep that in mind when determining the budget, and make sure you know what factors to look at, you can expect a positive influence of your influencer marketing on other digital channels.
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