Influencers, Bloggers and Brand Ambassadors, oh my! There’s some confusion in the air and LMS is here to clear things up. If your brand is unsure about the world of influencer marketing, how it works, or potential benefits for your brand, you’ve found the right place to have your questions answered. Social media moves fast, but LMS moves faster and we strive to keep our brands informed on the latest and greatest influencer strategies. Let’s get straight to the point.
Here are the top three questions that LMS gets asked by brands about influencers:
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What is the value of an Instagram Story activation? Should I include them in my program?
Instagram Story mentions are one of the best ways to gain attention and attract new customers in an organic, informal setting. Consumers are increasingly more skeptical of branded advertisements and turning instead to the people they follow on social media for first-hand advice, product reviews and purchase inspiration that feels like its coming from a trusted friend. While we could go on and on about just how valuable Instagram Stories are, we’ll keep it short and sweet by letting the numbers do the talking: Instagram Stories feature over 3 million daily active users (60% of total users on the app); 70% of Instagram stories are watched with the sound on, proving high engagement; 20% of stories result in a direct message from viewers; consumers have a 4.5% higher chance of conversion when they see a photo from a person rather than a brand; 92% of consumers trust recommendations from others, even people they don’t know, over branded content. So, what’s the moral of the “story” (hehe, get it?)? Instagram Stories are one of the MOST valuable activations as they are proven to attract consumers due to their word-of-mouth recommendation vibe – so, YES, including them in your program is a great choice!
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What’s considered good engagement?
Long story short, current industry standards indicate 2.5-3% engagement rate as being “good.” The KPI for engagement is constantly changing and greatly depends on the theme of the account. For example, beauty accounts see low engagement (usually below 1.5%) while lifestyle pages see higher engagement of around 2-5%. LMS knows that engagement rates don’t always capture the whole picture. We use the LMS Real Feel to do calculations on likes, comments, and video views because we recognize that video is becoming more powerful in feeds. Even if a user does not click to “like” a video, we believe that watching the video constitutes engagement that needs to be accounted for. Our holistic approach takes into account everything that makes your brand unique, ensuring that chosen KPIs and benchmarks are representative of where your brand fits in the market.
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How does the success of this campaign compare to others?
Depending on the platform, strategy, and campaign industry, every campaign will perform differently. Success is measured by comparing the campaign’s performance to multiple KPIs, especially engagement rate. One way we measure success is by benchmarking impression metrics (a comparison of the number of activations to impressions) with industry standards. We also measure engagement rates for both static (photos) and nonstatic (videos and stories) activations and compare this to industry standards. Additionally, qualitative feedback analysis provides insight into audience sentiment which we can be used to adjust messaging. Typically, we see that branded content has lower engagement than regular content. However, we have seen this is actually not the case for many of our successful campaigns where the branded content appears authentic and inviting, thanks to influencers. We know that social media algorithms and KPIs are constantly changing, so our success metrics always reflect the latest industry standards.
Still have more questions? Or, are you just curious to learn more about LMS and how we can help your brand grow? Contact us at imgame@wearelms.com and check out our blog for more helpful tips.
