Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a disruptive force in several sectors, yet its application in influencer marketing has been slow. Traditional influencer marketing practices rely heavily on subjective decision-making and offer limited scalability. Impressions and irrelevant statistics are often mistaken for return on investment (ROI), leading to inefficiency and wasted budgets.
Despite recent attempts to integrate automation solutions, the lack of human authenticity often mars their effectiveness. There is a dire need for a less wasteful, more efficient answer to these challenges—and AI might have the solution.
AI can harness creative intelligence data to enhance influencer campaigns. It allows for the understanding of target audience personas, accurate matching of audiences to influencers and enables optimization of campaign content. Measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) help in tracking performance.
The result is a more cost-efficient influencer marketing campaign with the level of measurable ROI tracking seen in pay-for-performance advertising. This solution allows businesses to meet their marketing goals within budgetary restrictions.
Influencer marketing has been around for as long as social media, but automation in this sector has been slow. Manual selection of influencers is still a common practice, which can be time-consuming, expensive, and unreliable. Even automated solutions have their drawbacks, often leading to a lack of authenticity and misalignment with target markets.
Businesses often spend money on agencies and influencers that provide misleading statistics rather than actionable insights. Without understanding the source and relevancy of your data, there is a risk of wasted budgets and missed opportunities.
The root of the problems with conventional influencer marketing lies in a lack of actionable business intelligence. Effective automation for digital marketing needs reliable and accurate data. Businesses need the ability to analyze past performance to guide future results accurately.
However, gathering and analyzing relevant data presents a significant challenge. Without proper KPIs in place, even a wealth of information won’t translate into actionable insights. Focusing on the wrong metrics also leads to high impressions but low engagement and conversions. Optimizing content requires a deep understanding of audience preferences and behaviors.
Neglecting relevant variables leads to problems in ROI tracking as well. Generic KPIs do not provide a true picture of campaign success. To gauge ROI accurately, businesses need specific metrics that align with their campaign objectives. A lack of these metrics results in poor performance tracking and missed opportunities.
The solution to these issues lies in performance-based influencer marketing, powered by creative intelligence. This method involves the use of data and advanced analysis tools to inform decision-making, replace guesswork, and improve campaign ROI. The second and third parts of this series will delve into these solutions.
