Influencer Marketing measurement is often considered to be a minefield – but it doesn’t have to be. 

To kick off our first day in Cannes, we invited a group of the brightest minds in Influencer Marketing to take part in our beachside panel discussion ‘How do you know your Influencer Marketing is working?’. 

Our CEO, Jennifer Quigley-Jones moderated the panel that welcomed… 

• Max Osborne, Founder of brand uplift platform ThisThat.
• Lucrèce Sicat, Head of Creator Marketing for Amazon Europe. 
• Upasana Roy, Global Creative Strategy Director at Reckitt. 
• Neil Francis, Commercial and Operations Director at Lickd. 

We began by establishing the core KPIs of the brand marketers on the panel. Neil explains that as a startup, Lickd looks to attract high-value, long-term customers to sign up to the music licensing platform – brand awareness is great, but it’s not enough on its own. Upasana has a rich background in FMCG and believes that there are still barriers to connecting the success of Influencer Marketing at each stage of the marketing funnel. 

At ThisThat, Max is working towards bridging the gap between the brand recognition success and performance success that Influencer Marketing can drive. Brand lift metrics can show brand marketers how much it costs to shift consumers' perceptions, driving them to that final sale. 

Jenny explains that as an agency, we see value in all metrics, including lower funnel data so that we can work in tandem with them to drive the results they require. Our newly launched AI-powered tool, Composer, analyzes historic data to aid us in establishing a strategy that suits each of our brand clients. Brands, all data is important data! The more data you share with your agency, the more you will get out of your partnership. 

Top of the funnel 

We are seeing a resurgence of Earned Media Value (EMV) as a metric. EMV as a metric is a great way for those outside of a brand's marketing team, the CFO for example, to see at a glance that the brand's marketing efforts are working and driving a return. It’s important not to view EMV as the primary metric proving success, consumer sentiment analysis is essential to incorporate too to learn how your brand and your campaigns are being perceived. 

Upasana is fascinated by understanding mental availability, which is the likelihood of a brand being thought of in buying situations. She believes that cracking this metric within the Creator Economy would be instrumental in brands’ ability to understand their perception, especially in the FMCG space. 

Brand value is certainly attractive, now how do we attribute the bottom-of-funnel sales to an influencer campaign… 

Tips from the experts

• Follower count isn't everything! If an influencer with 1 million followers gets 1,000 impressions on a post, it's the same as an influencer with 10,000 followers getting 1,000 impressions. Micro-influencers not only tend to be more budget-friendly than celebrity influencers, but their engagement rates are often significantly higher.
• Metrics need to be meaningful. A high number of content views might look impressive at first glance, but one view doesn't necessarily mean one engaged viewer.
• Collaborate closely with creators. Brand relationships with creators should go beyond mere transactions. Long-term partnerships that benefit all parties help strengthen campaigns and create an open dialogue about how to improve future campaigns and enhance returns.
• Avoid turning off comments. Boosted creator ads will reach broader audiences, which can sometimes lead to more negative comments. However, disabling comments entirely hinders your ability to measure post-engagement after the campaign.  

Watch the full panel here to dive deeper into the conversation.