How do you judge the ROI of an Influencer?

I finally feel inspired to blog again, like not Insta-blog but blog-blog. And it all began because someone asked me this question, “how do you judge the ROI of an influencer?”

Prior to this post, I actually posted this on my Facebook Profile (which is obviously private so it’s un-share-able, therefore so-and-so said I should post it somewhere where it could be shared (not that it would be, but there’s a possibility). But I’m not gonna un-private my Facebook just because of this, so… blog it is.

(Anyway.) There are actually quite a few ways to gauge, not entirely based on whether there’re sales conversions (though that’d be most ideal of course) or not.

Trust factor, visibility, etc. Also factoring in during ad buy what’s the reaction stats. Some influencers might have less followers but their visibility metrics are higher than others, making them more valuable. There’s also association value (you’re branded, therefore bringing up our brand value), visual value (bluntly put, chio photos – there were two influencers which did an awesome job at this, conversion didn’t even matter to me cause the value of the visuals if I had to orchestrate it myself would have cost me thousands, but by paying them I paid less and they in turn lowered their travel cost – they were going on holiday anyway – win-win situation for both parties), etc. Every campaign objective is different of course. But ultimately is still boils down to sales.

I realise most SMEs tend to forget the objective of engaging influencers and are doing it mainly because everyone else is. Hoping that that alone brings results. Then after they spend a substantial amount, don’t get the ROI, they go “it doesn’t work.” -_-”

It works, you just don’t know how to utilise it properly. Doing a video is great, but if you don’t share it, it’s as good as the vase in the office that I never showed anyone. I bet you never knew I had a vase if I didn’t just mention it.

That said, some influencers really aren’t useful at all. They think they have numbers and therefore posting with them is all that matters. After a while you’d realise why people don’t come back. I have one example, bloody good one… you gotta PM me if you wanna know.

I’ve always believed in influencers because I buy because my friend recommended it. But if that friend had no influence whatsoever, I wouldn’t have. Some call this referral, it’s the same logic. Some people have larger influence impact, while others influence a smaller more niche group. It’s still influence.

I can go on and on cause I’ve spent quite a bit just testing this and have substantial stats to back up my claims. Not that it really matters to you, unless of course, I have some influence towards you. See what I mean?