Choosing the Right KPI for Influencer Campaigns
The KPI you pick determines what kind of campaign you run. Pick badly and the campaign was doomed before it launched.
Most influencer campaigns underperform because the KPI was wrong, not because the execution was. Reach goals produce reach-optimized creative. Sales goals produce sales-optimized creative. They look completely different.
The four KPI families
Awareness: reach, impressions, brand search lift, share of voice. Use when you're entering a category, launching a brand, or correcting a misperception.
Engagement: saves, shares, comments, follow growth. Use for brand-building campaigns where consideration is the goal.
Conversion: attributed revenue, CPA, ROAS, promo code redemptions. Use for performance campaigns where direct response is the goal.
Content output: number of assets, usage rights captured, paid-creative library growth. Use when the campaign exists to fuel downstream paid social.
The mistake
Stacking all four on a single campaign and grading creators against all of them. Creators optimize for one. Pick.
How to choose
Work backward from the business question. "Are we building a brand?" → engagement. "Are we filling the funnel?" → conversion. "Are we generating ad creative?" → content output. "Are we entering a category?" → awareness.
The hybrid
Multi-objective campaigns can work if you stack them in waves. Awareness wave → engagement wave → conversion wave. Different creators, different briefs, different success criteria per wave.
What to put in contracts
The KPI you'll grade against. Make it explicit upfront. Creators perform to the brief you set; if the brief says "build awareness" and you grade on sales, you've burned the relationship.
Need help putting this into practice?
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