How to Analyze Engagement Metrics to Optimize Your Influencer Marketing Campaign ROI

Generally speaking, the most obvious sign that an influencer marketing campaign has been successful is if it has generated (or exceeded) anticipated levels of engagement. That’s why it’s so important to regularly track your engagement metrics.

But what type of engagement should you be analyzing? What’s the best way to do it?

In today’s article, we are going to share a few insights to help you measure and analyze your engagement metrics so that you can optimize the ROI of your influencer marketing campaigns.

What Are Engagement Metrics?

Engagement metrics, also known as engagement KPIs, are used to measure the performance of your influencer marketing campaigns. You can use this form of influencer tracking to compare actual performance with your benchmarks and objectives to see whether your campaigns are hitting (or exceeding) expectations. These metrics also provide you with valuable insights that you can use to optimize your current and future campaigns.

So, what do we mean by engagement, exactly?

Engagement can actually mean a few things, depending on the objectives of your campaign. Generally speaking, though, when most people refer to engagement they are talking about the following interactions:

• Likes
• Reactions
• Shares 
• Comments
• Clicks
• Votes
• Brand mentions

All these interactions reflect the response your content is eliciting from your target audience. The more engaged online users are with your content, the more likely they are to convert into loyal, paying customers. Plus, the higher your engagement rates are, the wider your campaign reach will be.

How To Analyze Engagement Metrics

Let’s take a look now at 4 common formulas used to analyze engagement metrics. Measuring and analyzing your engagement metrics with these formulas will give you a clearer idea of how well your campaigns are performing. You can then use these insights to make any necessary adjustments to your campaigns and optimize your influencer marketing ROI.

Engagement By Reach

This is the most common method used to calculate engagement metrics. This formula takes the total number of interactions on a post (likes, comments, shares, etc.) and divides it by the total reach of said post (your followers plus anyone else who was reached your post through follower engagements). It then multiplies the result by 100 to obtain a percentage:

Engagement by reach = total number of engagements per post / reach per post * 100

You can also use the following formula to calculate your average engagement reach for multiple posts:

 Average engagement by reach = total engagements over the analyzed period / total posts * 100

Engagement By Impressions

This engagement metric formula is used to calculate how many people are engaging with a post compared to your total number of post impressions. Although similar to reach, this differs slightly as it takes into account the fact that your post might reach the same people multiple times. 

The formula is as follows:

ER impressions = total engagements on a post / total impressions * 100

It’s best to use this formula together with the first formula that we just saw. This will give you a clearer picture of the impact of both reach and impressions on your engagement.

Cost Per Engagement

Cost per engagement is used to calculate how much each engagement costs you. This formula is useful when you are working with an influencer as you can calculate how much of a return you are getting in exchange for the fee you are paying them.

The formula is as follows:

Cost per engagement = total spend / total engagements

Daily Engagement Rate

Finally, your daily engagement rate helps you determine how often your followers are interacting with your brand on a daily basis, rather than with specific campaign posts. This formula takes into account both new and old posts. So, if a follower engages with an old campaign, it still counts towards your daily engagement rate. 

This engagement metric can be useful for identifying how your engagement rate is evolving over time. However, the formula doesn’t differentiate between one follower engaging 10 times (for example) and 10 followers engaging once.

The formula is as follows:

Daily engagement rate = total engagements in a day / total followers * 100

Influencity’s Engagement Rate Scale

You can gain additional insights into your engagement metrics by using Influencity’s Engagement Rate Scale. This scale puts an influencer's engagement into context by comparing it to influencers with similar community sizes. You can view this metric directly from your IRM.

Aside from the Engagement Rate Scale, Influencity’s platform also provides you with the following performance metrics:

• Number of followers
• Accounts followed
• Engagement (interactions divided by followers x 100)
• Earned Media Rate
• Average interactions
• Follower quality
• Average activity split

Moreover, Influencity’s platform also provides you with reporting tools that you can use to compare your performance metrics at four important levels:

• Campaign level: the overall performance of your influencer campaigns.
• Social media level: the impact that your campaigns are having on social media in terms of online presence, reach, and engagement. 
• Influencer level: the performance of each influencer collaboration.
• Post level: the performance of each individual post.

All these engagement metrics provide you with valuable insights that you can use to enhance your campaigns and optimize your influencer marketing ROI.