How to Measure Influencer Success: Tracking Campaigns That Work

Define what success means before the campaign starts, then track the metrics that actually map to it: CPA, CPM, ROAS, and more. Nine experts share what to track below.

Key Takeaways:

• Define success before you track it: the right KPIs depend on whether the goal is content, awareness, engagement, traffic, or sales.
• Match metrics to objective: asset volume for content goals, reach and video metrics for awareness, sessions for traffic, conversions and revenue for sales.
• Use metrics to tell the story upward: the right numbers win budget, headcount, and new program approvals.

CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track?

8 tactical lessons from this chapter's experts, one click from the full video.

Video Insights

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Ashley Brock
  Measure influencer marketing the right way: Ashley Brock on the front-end vs back-end metrics that turned a $1K client spend into $11K in sales.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Jonathan Claydon
  Acceleration Partners' Jonathan Claydon on tracking social and performance metrics in tandem.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Sarah Crow
  Superfiliate's Sarah Crow on why a 15% site welcome discount actively undercuts a 10% creator code.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Sachin Bhargava
  Sachin Bhargava on pairing promo codes with UTM parameters as one combined signal.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Molly Savage
  Molly Savage on digital sampling platforms and tear coupons that bridge creator spend to in-store sales.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Molly Cole
  Molly Cole on catching a creator on a hot streak before it fades.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Milan Freeman
  Milan Freeman on why ROAS misleads when consumers need 5 to 6 exposures before buying.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Maurice Rahmey
  Maurice Rahmey on why hook rate misleads and share of spend reveals the real winners.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Lydia Lee
  Lydia Lee on LTV by acquisition source revealing influencer customers outperform paid media buyers.

• [CPA, CPM, ROAS - What Metrics Should Your Program Track? by Josh Butowsky
  Josh Butowsky on tracking views, CTR, orders, CPA, and LTV to find why a campaign broke.

Partnering with influential creators helps brands generate brand awareness, reach new audiences, boost engagement, and drive sales—just to name a few!

But to justify the investment required to partner with creators, influencer marketers need to understand what ‘success’ looks like. This starts with tracking and analyzing the right performance metrics.

“When you're trying to report the success of the entire program to C-level execs, the board, or investors, what does that look like? What does success look like for these programs, and how do you have that conversation internally? What metrics are you leaning on to tell that story?”
Korina Sanchez, Performance Marketing Manager at Chomps.

What KPIs should I be tracking for my influencer marketing campaigns?

The KPIs (key performance indicators) depend on your campaign objectives. Key objectives might include adding UGC to your asset library, building brand awareness, growing engagement, or increasing product sales.

“When it comes to KPIs, there's a lot of things to look at. What matters depends on what your objectives are.”
Bren Daniel, Head of Influencer & Partnerships at Caraway.

Common Metrics

Brand awareness refers to how familiar your target audience is with your brand. At a minimum, brands want their potential customers to recognize and recall their brand from memory. The goals for established brands often include reaching category dominance.

Influencer Metrics by Channel

• Meta (Instagram)

  • 2-second continuous video play: Number of times your video was played for 2 continuous seconds.
  • ThruPlays: Number of times your video was played to completion, or for at least 15 seconds.

• YouTube

  • Views: Number of views on content for videos, Shorts, and live streams.
  • Watch Time: Total minutes viewers have spent watching the video.

• TikTok

  • 2-second video views: Number of times your video was played for at least 2 seconds.
  • 15-second focused views: Number of times your video was played for at least 15 seconds.

Conclusion

So, you have your key metrics—but what exactly should you do with this information? How can you present this in a compelling way to your team and leadership to tell the complete story of your campaign performance?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you measure influencer marketing success?
Define success per campaign goal first, then track the matching metrics: reach and impressions for awareness, engagement rate for resonance, and clicks, conversions, and revenue for performance.

What KPIs matter most for influencer campaigns?
Core KPIs are engagement rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, cost per acquisition, and earned media value.

How do you track influencer marketing conversions?
Combine unique promo codes, UTM-tagged referral links, and post-purchase surveys.

What is a good engagement rate for influencer content?
Benchmarks vary by platform and audience size, but generally, 1 to 3 percent is solid for larger accounts, while micro influencers often hit higher engagement rates.