18%inaverageengagement(mostly
likes),whichacceleratesinMay.
Anotherbyinf luencermarket-
ingcloudInf luencerDBshowsthe
engagementrateforeveryindus-
try category of inf luencerhas
declinedinthepastyear,including
intravel,whichtypicallyhasthe
highestengagementrates,experi-
encinga dropto4.5%thisyear
from8%lastyear.
Thisdeclinecouldalsobethe
resultofsocialmediafatigue– hav-
ingthenoveltyof“engaging”with
othersonlinewearoff– although
westillenjoythecontent.It could
alsobea signofa clutteredplat-
formwhichis pushinglessrelevant
content,i.e.moreads,onfeeds.
But Hypetap co-CEO Detch
Singhsaysdecliningengagement
won’tshakeinf luencersit works
with.“We’vealwaysbeenfastidi-
ouslyobjective-drivenwhenwe
think aboutmetricsanddata,”
hesays.
“Ifwewerelookingataware-
ness,thenyes,reachhasbeenthe
keymetric.Ifwewerelookingto
changesentiment,thenwewould
lookatengagementandthequal-
ity/contextofthatengagement.
“Lastly,if wewantedtheaudi-
encetoactinsomeway,we’dtry
tomeasuretheaction.Westilllike
tobeholisticabouthowweare
thinkingabouteachcampaignand
measurethewholefunnel.”
Mediaagenciesagreethere’sa
moresophisticatedunderstanding
ofwhatsocialmediametricsthey
shouldbelookingfor.
“Whilewestillhavea longway
togointermsofmeasuringbrand
valuedeliveredbeyondthestand-
ardmediaandplatformengage-
mentmetrics,I feelthe‘wildwest’
monikerhistoricallyappliedtothe
field has certainly been
worndown,”SwitchedOn’sYash
Murthysays.
“Bothplatformsandcreators/
inf luencershavetobegivena lot
of credit in terms of moving
beyondmeaninglessvanitymet-
ricstoenablethisgrowthintrust
andsophistication.
“Whileit wouldbedisingenuous
tosuggestthattherearen’tsketchy
operatorsoutthere,butbothagen-
ciesandbrandshave,forthemost
part,alsobecomea lotsmarterin
evaluating the opportunities.”
Theinnatehuman
needtoseek
reassuranceand
ascribeaspirational
valuetothe
consumptionchoices
theymakehasn’t
changed.It’sjustthe
deliverymechanism
thathas.
YashMurthy,
Switched OnFilipSarna,SocialMediaDirectoratPublicisMedia,saysthehiding
oflikes“rocked”theindustryandforcedit tolookatmorevaluable
measurements.
“It’sexactlywhatwe’veneededforthenextmaturityleap– con-
tinuingtoshiftourfocusawayfromengagementasa measureof
successandforcingmarketerstobegintoalignsocialmediaactivity
withcorebusiness-relatedmetricsandobjectives,”Sarnasays.
“Tocontinuematuring,engagementmetricsneedtoshifttoward
contextualinsightforbrands;understandingbrand-impactmetrics,
suchasrecall/salience,shiftsinbrandperception,sentiment, favour-
ability,purchaseintent,andgenuine advocacy.”Localbodiesonthemove
Asthereportingandunderstandingofmetricsmatures,theindustry
hasrecognisedthesectorisbigenoughtobringinstandardisation.
TheAMAAhasbeenleadingthechargelocally,consultingthemain
players;inf luencerprovidersandmediaagencies,tocreatebestprac-
ticesintheengagementofinf luencers.It willfocusonfraudandbrand
safetyconcerns,alongwithmetrictransparencyandreporting.
ThepushhasincludedagenciessuchasHypetap,Havas,aswellas
theAustralianAssociationofNationalAdvertisers(AANA).
“It’sexcitingtoseehowcommittedtheinf luencermarketingindus-
tryhasbeentoproactivelymoveonindustryself-regulation,”Josanne
Ryan,CEOofAMAA,says.
“Thesenseofcollaborationandengagementcomingtogether
todiscussthischannelandhowtheycanaddresssuchissuessuch
astransparencyanddisclosurehasseen this projectadvance
veryquickly.”
WilliamssaysAMAA’scodewillhelpaddvalueandlegitimacyto
thefield.“Itwillcertainlyhelpbrandsandmarketersunderstand
inf luencermarketing,includingterminologyandcalculations,andto
validatethisasa viableandimportantchannel,”shesays.
As part of this push, the AMAA is also looking at establishing aL-R:TribeCEOAnthony
Svirskis,KeithWeedand
Tribe Founder Jules Lund.Investigation