MAM
Guest column: A favourable ROI is a must for a successful influencer engagement
It has become quite evident that influencer marketing is gaining popularity and prominence rapidly over a span of 3-4 years. There are reports after reports that depict how this form of social media marketing is growing in leaps and bounds. These reports also showcase how companies are increasingly devoting a considerable amount from their marketing budget to influencer marketing. While it has been established that influencer marketing has flourished quite a bit, it is also crucial to develop a framework to evaluate its effectiveness.
In order for a brand to evaluate the effectiveness of an influencer engagement, it needs to focus on gaining maximum ROI in terms of reach, conversions, awareness, etc. For assessing the ROI of an influencer engagement activity, a brand needs to keep a few factors in mind.
Firstly, the goal and objective of the marketing campaign need to be clearly established. The brand might want to reach new target audiences, improve brand advocacy, increase product sales, generate more leads, manage the reputation of the company or just simply increase brand awareness.
Second of all, the brand should clearly establish the key performance index (KPI). This takes into account how much success the company is getting with respect to the investments it is making in an influencer engagement activity. If a brand is investing 3 lakhs in an influencer campaign and getting 6 lakh-worth of impressions, reach and other parameters, the brand has attained a KPI of 1:2 that signifies a favourable ROI.
Thirdly, the influencer should ensure that the content created is visually and aesthetically pleasing. So all the background elements, characters, plot, props, etc. need to be in line with the campaign objectives. Along with that, they should be visually attractive to grab attention.
After that, one needs to ensure that there is some synergy between the brand and the influencer. Apart from fulfilling the campaign objectives, the influencer should be a right for the brand’s overall tonality and ethos. For instance, an influencer who is big on spirituality and natural living may be a suitable fit for promoting a herbal soap/supplement brand. The influencer’s content and tonality will be in line with the herbal brand. Not just that, his/her followers would expect brand content similar to that.
Lastly, a brand should be able to identify the key messaging used in the influencer engagement. Ths key messaging can act as the unique selling proposition of the influencer campaign. Whether its the dialogue delivery, the funny music or the emotions the video espouses, as long as there is a touchpoint, the campaign ROI would be in the brand’s favour.
So every brand should invest in an influencer engagement strategy that promises a favourable ROI as only then will the brand achieve success.
(The author is founder & CEO, Whoppl. Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to her views.)
Brands
Acko CMO Ashish Mishra to exit in July
The digital insurer’s marketing chief, who helped build the brand over nearly five years, is heading for the exit.
Ashish Mishra is stepping down as chief marketing officer of Acko, with his departure confirmed for July. He remains in the role for now, and an official announcement from the company is expected shortly.
Mishra joined the digital insurance start-up in August 2020, making him one of the longer-serving marketing chiefs in India’s fintech and insurtech space. Over nearly five years, he played a central role in building Acko’s brand presence in the country’s fiercely competitive digital insurance market. More recently, he was closely associated with Acko Life’s Unmixed brand philosophy, a proposition built around pure protection products stripped of the investment components that have long complicated traditional insurance offerings in India.
Before Acko, Mishra spent over a decade at HSBC in a series of marketing leadership roles spanning the Middle East, including regional marketing manager for credit cards and advance propositions, brand and media manager, and marketing manager for retail banking. Earlier in his career, he worked on the agency side, serving as senior brand service manager at Lowe Lintas and as executive for brand communications at DDB Mudra Group.
His exit leaves Acko with a sizeable gap to fill at a time when the brand is pushing deeper into life insurance and doubling down on its direct-to-consumer positioning. Whoever takes the seat next will inherit a brand that Mishra spent five years building from the ground up. That is not nothing.
