In addition to standard metrics like impressions, engagement, and conversion, there are indirect signs to estimate the effectiveness of a campaign’s execution.

1. Quality of Engagement: Look beyond numbers to deeply analyze the quality of user engagement. Genuine comments, thoughtful feedback, and active discussion often indicate better campaign effectiveness than simple likes or shares.

2. Sentiment analysis: It’s one thing to generate buzz, but what’s the nature of that buzz? Using sentiment analysis tools can help you understand whether the campaign sparked positive, negative, or neutral audience reactions.

3. Mentions and Hashtag use: Keep an eye on how often your brand or campaign-specific hashtags are being used outside of the influencer’s posts. This can help gauge whether your campaign is generating organic conversations.

4. Customer Inquiries: If you notice an uptick in inquiries or customer complaints post-campaign, it could suggest that the influencer’s audience is indeed interested in your product or service.

5. Pinpointing influencers’ influence: Look where the sales or traffic flow is coming from. If a higher percentage comes from the influencer’s followers directly, this signifies their significant influence.

Platforms like Flinque, for example, support an in-depth understanding of these metrics. However, it’s essential to consider your specific brand strategy, as the ‘right’ performance indicators can vary.

Other platforms also offer tools for tracking campaign execution. Selection should depend on your specific needs, your budget, and the extent of insights you seek about your campaigns. Critically, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution—your choice will depend on your specific requirements.

To determine the impact of a campaign, brands and influencers must consider both direct and indirect metrics, and qualitative as well as quantitative data. This comprehensive approach can lead to more informed decision-making in future influencer marketing strategies.