Influencer Marketing, Part 8: Analyzing Performance

You’ve made it to the end of my series on influencer marketing.

To date, I’ve defined influencer marketing and addressed why merchants should use it. I’ve explained how to set goals, how to pick the right channels, how to target and pitch influencers, and how to make the most of your first campaign.

In this final, “Part 8” installment, I’ll describe a process to analyze performance.

Influencer marketing can drive ecommerce sales. The eight posts in this series can help merchants launch, iterate, and improve influencer campaigns.

Post-mortem Analysis

A post-mortem marketing analysis determines what went right and wrong with a campaign or strategy. The outcome forms actionable steps to improve future efforts. The process involves collecting critical data during a campaign and assessing it afterward.

• Document everything. Rigorous note-taking can help remember critical campaign developments, such as an influencer requiring two revisions, the entire art department out sick, or developers forgetting to set a tracking pixel. Documentation is not about finger-pointing. It’s an objective explanation as to why the campaign exceeded or failed in meeting its goals.

• Meet with stakeholders afterward. Assemble all participants post-campaign. Developers, designers, marketers, sales — all involved should attend. This is as much a planning meeting for the next campaign as a rehash of the one just concluded. Were the goals met? Did labor costs exceed expectations? Was revenue greater than anticipated? Stick to the data — a cold, sober analysis.

• Identify learnings. From the data discussion, apply the lessons learned without attaching blame. For instance, the art department may have learned that the influencer preferred a different format and style, resulting in extra labor. The sales team may have learned that coupon codes assigned to Instagram viewers were also fulfilled by Pinterest users, suggesting the latter is a promising future channel.

In my experience, a post-mortem analysis can quickly get off-track as stakeholders try to defend their decisions. Stick to the agenda. Remove personalities and focus only on the data.

Post-mortem Questions

Post-mortems are not easy. Ask the following questions of all participating departments to isolate potential changes.

Collaboration. Did the team:

• Understand the goal?
• Build a consensus?
• Receive needed people resources?
• Notify managers during the campaign on progress and roadblocks?

Process. Did the team:

• Accurately prioritize tasks?
• Sync the task timeline with the goal?
• Match the campaign date with the goal?
• Communicate unexpected roadblocks?

Function.

• Who was the key decision-maker?
• Did the key decision-maker execute properly?
• Did all participants understand their roles and tasks?
• Was additional personnel necessary to complete the campaign, such as vendors and other internal departments?

Next steps.

• How can senior management help with future campaigns?
• Which learnings could result in quicker execution at less cost and greater revenue?
• Are different functions needed?
• Should goals be re-assessed?

Iterate and Improve

It may look daunting, but a post-mortem analysis is essential for iteration and improvement. The result is high-performing influencer campaigns that surpass your competitors.