Why Marketers Fail at Influencer Marketing (Report)
Influencer marketing has been one of the dominating trends in social media and marketing this year. However, marketers are still discovering how to best utilize influencer strategies, not to mention navigating the disconnect between brands and influencers. According to the 2016 “Measuring Influencer Marketing” report from software provider GroupHigh, there are a few core issues that result in this lack of understanding.
The most significant and persistent challenge in measuring influencer marketing efforts, according to the report, was “proving value.” 28 percent of survey respondents said that gathering data was a challenge, while 13 percent don’t know which metrics to track and 9 percent reported that finding time to generate reports was difficult.
These responses really encapsulate what marketers believe to be the problem, but all of these problems stem from the same issue: analyzing data correctly. There are plenty of tools for gathering all kinds of data from simple things like page views, shares and likes to leads and conversions. While influencer marketing can seem like the wild west, the market is becoming more sophisticated and data-focused.
According to the GroupHigh report, more than 60 percent of companies surveyed track five or more metrics. Among the most popular are traffic to a specific website (79 percent), social media shares (77 percent) and conversions (60 percent). Not closely studying these metrics may be the core problem, as 43 percent of companies only use one tool to track and measure their influencer marketing efforts.
When asked how their company calculates return on investment for influencer marketing, 44 percent were unsure and 4 percent said they don’t. 70 percent of respondents don’t think their methods for reporting are accurate or reliable, and 34 percent of the survey respondents indicated that they didn’t have to when asked how often they generate reports on their influencer marketing efforts.
The tools are in place, the metrics are obvious and influencer marketing is here to stay. Companies need to get serious about their influencer marketing data, as marketers in other sectors have. ROI is the goal, and hesitance associated with influencer marketing will only result in lagging behind the competition.
Check out the full report for more details.
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