Finding Real "Influence" Among Fake Followers
The most challenging thing about “having influence” in the Influencer Economy is proving you have it. Gone are the days where just stating how many followers you have is the metric. Brands are moving to a model of engaging micro and nano influencers - (usually individuals who have a niche brand with a follower base between 1,000 and 50,000 followers). So, if the size of follower base isn’t a direct correlation of “influence”, then what is?
Brands are getting far more savvy as they partner with influencers. Metrics such as Engagement Rate are now at the top of the list. Engagement Rate is most commonly defined as the number of followers divided by the number of engagements (likes, shares, retweets, views, etc…). This can be done as an average across all posts or on a per post basis. My recommendation for brands is to take a deep dive into Engagement Rate - look into the content for previous brand sponsors and analyze how the content is performing. Too often, brands take a high-level view, but don’t dig in to see how well an influencer actually performs for brands.
Sidebar: the conversation surrounding “fake followers” is muted when you look at Engagement Rate. Fake followers don’t tend to share content. So, looking into Engagement Rate and dividing the Engagement Rate into types of engagement will expose the fraud.
Another challenge to measuring influence is proving Conversion. In a recent study by McKinsey, it was determined that “word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions.” [https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-new-way-to-measure-word-of-mouth-marketing] Back in 2017, I authored “Social Media is Finally Growing Up” for Adweek. [https://www.adweek.com/digital/kyle-nelson-mvpindex-guest-post-social-media-is-finally-growing-up/] In the article I state that, “[p]roviding an in-depth view into engagement-to-purchase potential represents an enormous opportunity, particularly considering the reach and frequency that are inherent to social media. . . [a]s a result, brands can build more authentic relationships with properly targeted users”. It may be a difficult exercise, but when an influencer can show how they are influencing Conversion, future brand engagements will be less onerous.
The third and, arguably, the most important factor is showing who the Influenced Audience is for brand backed influencers. Sure, brands want to understand the demographics behind the influencer - male to female ratio, location, and age targets are important. However, brands are seeking richer information about their Influencer's Audience to understand broader data concerning brand affinities the Influencer's Audience consumes. Understanding a more well-rounded slate of audience interests creates and builds brand alignment.
To net it out: brands want to know what works before selecting an influencer. Focus on showing high levels of engagement for other brand sponsors and what types of content perform best. Be sure to have an understanding as to whether certain content has helped drive conversions of any type - purchase data might be harder to extract, but registrations and web visits should be an easier exercise. Finally, as much as you are selling “you”, you are also selling your audience and their consumer consumption and preferences.
