Brands benchmark “always on” influencer efficiency against paid media channels by measuring influencer marketing and paid media against the same criteria. These criteria typically include metrics like cost per engagement, conversion rate, and ROI. The comparison involves the following steps:

1. Define Metrics: Both influencer marketing and paid media should ideally be measured using the same metrics. Popular choices are impressions, reach, engagement rate, conversion rate, and ROI.

2. Collection & Analysis: Brands gather the relevant data from the influencer marketing platform and paid media channels. Depending on the tools being used, this might be done manually or through automated reporting systems.

3. Benchmarking: The performance of both strategies is compared against the defined metrics. The goal is to find out which approach brings the best results in terms of cost-efficiency and overall effectiveness.

4. Decision Making: Based on the benchmarking results, brands can make informed decisions about allocating budget and optimizing the mix of influencer marketing and paid media.

Platforms like Flinque can help with this process by providing in-depth analytics, easy-to-understand reports, and practical tools for campaign tracking. With a platform like Flinque, brands can easily track the efficiency of their influencer marketing campaigns compared to paid media, making the benchmarking process more straightforward.

However, it’s important to remember that the best approach depends on a brand’s specific needs and objectives. While one brand might find that influencer marketing brings better results, another might find that paid media is more effective. Therefore, it’s essential to continually review and adjust the strategy based on the ongoing results.

Overall, benchmarking is an essential practice in marketing decision-making. It provides a way to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of different strategies, making it clearer where to invest for the best results.