According to Statista, the global influencer marketing market has more than doubled in size since 2019, reaching a staggering $16.4 billion in spending in 2022. This exponential growth highlights the increasing confidence brands have in influencer marketing’s ability to drive tangible outcomes.
However, the landscape of influencer marketing has undergone a significant transformation as brands now prioritize tangible outcomes, such as increased sales, website traffic, and engagement, over mere brand awareness.
And performance-based influencer marketing, also known as performance campaigns executed through influencers, provides brands with an additional avenue to achieve their desired outcomes. Let’s dive into this performance-based influencer marketing.
What Is Performance-Based Influencer Marketing?
In a performance campaign, the brand only pays the influencer if the influencer can deliver a specific result, such as an increase in website traffic or sales. This is known as performance-based influencer marketing.
The list of influential people on social media is constantly changing. Today’s influencer may be tomorrow’s has-been. It is important that brands keep up to date with who the current influencers are.
Pros and Cons of Performance-Based Influencer Marketing
Let’s discuss all the pros and cons of this new shift in influencer marketing.
Pros
Organic Advertising
One of the key advantages of performance-based influencer marketing is the ability to sidestep the pitfalls of pushy advertising. Unlike traditional ads, influencer marketing seamlessly integrates promotional content into influencers’ posts, making it appear more organic and authentic.
This approach ensures that the marketing message does not come across as a paid advertisement, resulting in a more positive and receptive audience response.
Results-Driven Marketing
Numerous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of influencer marketing in driving tangible results, particularly in boosting sales for businesses. When executed properly, influencer marketing campaigns have the potential to significantly impact a brand’s revenue generation.
By leveraging the influence and reach of trusted influencers, brands can tap into their audience’s buying potential and achieve measurable outcomes.
Less Susceptible to Fraud
Influencer fraud is a major concern for brands. In fact, 67% of brands are concerned about influencer fraud. This is understandable, as fraudulent influencers can cost brands a lot of money.
For example, one study found that fraudulent influencers can cost brands up to $300 per post. This shift towards performance-based influencer marketing not only addresses the concerns surrounding influencer fraud but also allows brands to mitigate risks and invest their resources more efficiently by partnering with influencers who can deliver genuine, measurable results.
In this way, brands only pay influencers if they can deliver a specific result, such as an increase in sales or website traffic.
Saves Time and Resources
Performance-based influencer marketing can save brands valuable time and resources. It reduces the risk of wasted budget in influencer marketing campaigns. With the use of performance-based influencers by requesting performance metrics, brands can ensure they are not over or undervaluing the influencer’s work.
Metrics such as engagement rates provide valuable insights into the influencer’s audience involvement, indicating the level of genuine interest and potential for conversion. This data-driven approach allows brands to make informed decisions, maximize their return on investment, and weed out partnerships that may not deliver the desired results.
Cons
Despite its benefits, influencer marketing also comes with certain drawbacks and challenges that organizations should be aware of.
Finding the Right Influencers: A Complex Task
One of the main hurdles in performance-based influencer marketing is the difficulty brands face in finding the right influencers to execute their campaigns. Identifying influencers who align with the brand’s values, target audience, and campaign objectives requires significant effort and research.
Brands must invest time and resources in identifying influencers who have a genuine connection with their target market and possess the ability to drive desired actions. Failure to find the right influencers can hinder the success of a performance-based campaign.
Inaccurate Measurement of Results
Measuring the results of performance-based influencer marketing campaigns can be challenging for many companies. Without proper monitoring and tracking mechanisms in place, brands may struggle to accurately assess the impact and effectiveness of their influencer collaborations.
The success of a campaign relies on the ability to analyze whether the influencer is delivering the desired results, such as increased website traffic, conversions, or sales. The complexity of measuring these results within the context of influencer marketing can pose a significant challenge for brands.
Limited Exposure
Another obstacle in performance-based influencer marketing is the lack of exposure and familiarity among influencers themselves. Some influencers may have limited knowledge or experience with this form of marketing campaign, requiring brands to invest additional time and resources in educating and training them.
This lack of exposure to performance-based influencer marketing can result in longer onboarding processes and potentially higher costs for brands as they work to align influencers with their campaign objectives and performance metrics.
Performance Based Influencer Marketing Indicators
According to Statista, the global influencer marketing value stood at 16.4 billion U.S. dollars as of 2022.
Also, according to Supermetrics, there are other influencer marketing metrics that you should be tracking, such as cost per acquisition (CPA), brand awareness, brand sentiment, website visitors, and influence engagement rate (IER).
These metrics can help you measure the effectiveness of your influencer campaigns and optimize your strategy.
Let’s explore some of the most common performance metrics used in influencer marketing:
Clicks: Measuring User Engagement and Response
- Clicks help measure specific actions taken by users on web pages or ads.
- This metric provides insights into audience response to specific marketing messages.
- By analyzing click-through rates (CTRs), businesses can assess the effectiveness of their influencer marketing campaigns.
Conversions or Sales: Assessing Completed Activities
- Conversions represent completed activities that indicate progress towards desired goals.
- Macro conversions refer to successful purchase transactions, while micro conversions include activities like email sign-ups.
- Measuring conversions helps businesses understand the impact of influencer marketing on driving desired user actions.
Total Site Traffic: Evaluating Reach and Audience Interest
- Total site traffic measures the number of unique visitors to a website.
- Tracking this metric helps businesses assess the reach and interest generated by their influencer marketing campaigns.
- Analyzing site traffic trends enables optimizing marketing strategies and user experience.
Earned Actions: Indicators of Engagement and Interest
- Earned actions refer to actions taken by users after viewing an advertisement.
- Examples include likes, additional video views, subscriptions, and shares.
- A higher number of earned actions signifies greater engagement and interest in the advertisement and brand.
Wrapping Up
For businesses seeking to build their brand through influencer marketing, performance-based influencer marketing offers a compelling solution and it is the future. This approach allows you to scale your business while minimizing risk and maximizing revenue potential.
