By Marcelyn 
You’ve probably heard of influencer marketing. In fact, it’s impossible to get on Instagram or YouTube and not see a paid partnership post or video promoting a product or service.
But, can influencer marketing work for your brand? And, if so, how do you measure ROI?
The answer is yes, influencer marketing can work for your brand. And, the good news is that there are several influencer marketing tactics that can help you measure the return on your investment.
1. Create a unique discount code.
One of the most popular types of influencer marketing campaigns is to have an influencer promote your products or services with a discount code.
The influencer will share the discount code with their followers, who can then use it to get a discount on their purchase.
This tactic is great for driving sales and can also help you track the success of your influencer marketing campaign.
When you create a unique discount code for each influencer, you can easily see which influencer drove the most sales.
2. Use trackable links.
When you launch an influencer marketing campaign, you should be able to track how many users are clicking on the influencer’s content and then making it to your website. This is called click-through rate (CTR).
To track CTR, you’ll need to give influencers a unique link to include in their content. This is what’s called a trackable link. With this link, you’ll be able to see how well influencers are driving traffic to your site.
You can create trackable links using UTM codes. UTM codes are bits of text you can add to a URL that tell Google Analytics where the traffic is coming from. This will help you track how many people are clicking on links in an influencer’s content and then making it to your website.
3. Make content shoppable.
It’s a simple concept, but it’s one that many influencer marketing campaigns overlook: Make it easy for your audience to buy your products. If you’re not already, you should be using shoppable links, tags, and codes in your influencer marketing content.
Shoppable links and tags allow creators to tag products in their images and videos. When followers click on the tags, they’re taken to a product page where they can learn more or make a purchase. Shoppable links are a great way to make your influencer marketing content shoppable on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Shoppable codes are unique discount codes that influencers can share with their followers. When followers use the code at checkout, they get a discount and the influencer gets a commission on the sale.
By making your influencer marketing content shoppable, you can drive more sales and track the ROI of your campaign.
4. Use UTM parameters to measure influencer-driven traffic.
One of the most common ways to track the performance of your influencer marketing campaigns is to use UTM parameters. These are simply tags that you add to the end of your URL to track where your traffic is coming from.
To use UTM parameters, simply create a custom URL for each of your influencer partnerships. Then, when someone clicks on that link and visits your website, you’ll be able to see exactly where they came from.
This is a great way to measure the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaigns. If you see that a particular influencer is driving a lot of traffic to your website, you can increase your budget for that partnership.
5. Make influencer content evergreen.
Evergreen content is content that stays relevant for long periods of time. This is the type of content you want your influencers to create.
If you can, avoid asking influencers to create time-sensitive content. This gives you the opportunity to repurpose that content in the future, which saves you time and money.
For example, if your influencer creates a blog post about how to use your products, and the post isn’t time-sensitive, you can promote that content for months or even years to come.
Evergreen content can be repurposed, which allows you to get the most out of your investment.
6. Run a giveaway or contest.
Giveaways and contests are a great way to get your brand in front of a new audience and drive engagement. They’re also a great way to incentivize influencers to work with you.
By running a giveaway or contest with an influencer, you can tap into their existing audience and give them a chance to win a prize. In return, the influencer will share your content and help you reach a new audience.
When running a giveaway or contest, make sure you have clear goals in mind. Are you looking to increase your social media following? Drive traffic to your website? Increase sales? Make sure you have a way to measure your success.
Many brands tie these campaigns to referral and affiliate software like ReferralCandy, which makes it easy to reward participants, track influencer-driven sales, and combine referral, affiliate, and influencer marketing in one place.
7. Host an influencer event.
In-person events are a great way for your brand to develop real, lasting relationships with influencers. But, they can also be a great way to get new eyes on your brand and products.
You can host an influencer event in a number of different ways. You could host a launch party or a pop-up shop. You could also host a workshop or a seminar. Whatever you decide to do, make sure it’s an event that your influencers’ followers will want to attend.
You can also make the event the focus of your influencer marketing campaign. Run a contest or a giveaway where the prize is a ticket to the event. Or, you could have your influencers share a discount code that their followers can use to purchase tickets.
8. Create an influencer marketing survey.
Surveys are a great way to gather data. They can help you learn about your audience, get feedback on your products or services, and more.
In this case, you can use surveys to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign. You can create a survey that asks your audience about their experience with the influencer, what they liked and didn’t like, and more.
This can help you gather valuable feedback that you can use to improve your influencer marketing tactics in the future. Plus, it can help you learn more about your audience, which is always a good thing.
9. Use sentiment analysis.
Sentiment analysis is a great way to measure the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaigns. You can use sentiment analysis to measure how your audience feels about your brand, your products, or your influencer marketing campaigns.
There are a number of sentiment analysis tools available that can help you measure the sentiment of your audience. These tools use natural language processing and machine learning to analyze the sentiment of your audience. Some companies even complement this with an employee sentiment survey to better understand both internal and external perceptions, ensuring alignment between brand image and employee advocacy.
By measuring the sentiment of your audience, you can get a better idea of how effective your influencer marketing campaigns are and make adjustments as needed.
10. Measure brand mentions.
By tracking brand mentions, you can see how many people are talking about your product or service. You can also see who is talking about your brand and what they are saying.
This can be a great way to get a sense of how your influencer marketing campaign is going. If you see a lot of people mentioning your brand in a positive light, it’s a good sign that your campaign is working.
11. Leverage influencer content in other marketing channels.
Influencer marketing content doesn’t have to be a one-and-done thing. In fact, you can repurpose influencer content in other marketing channels to stretch your budget and save time.
For example, you could use influencer content sent from a cold email tool, social media marketing, and even in your blog. You can also use influencer content to create ads for your products and services.
Repurposing influencer content is a great way to get more out of your influencer marketing campaigns and connect with your audience in a meaningful way.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing can be a valuable strategy for brands to increase brand awareness, leads, conversions, and revenue. By following the influencer marketing tactics listed above, you can set your brand up for success and begin building relationships with industry thought leaders.