Beyond the Metrics: Measuring the True Impact of Creator Campaigns

Creators can cultivate a dedicated niche community, drive top of funnel product discovery and awareness, and become long-term brand advocates. And this combination of tangible and subtle brand benefits is why it can be a challenge for Marketers to holistically assess the full impact of their Creator campaigns.

Though traditional KPIs, like sales and traffic, provide insights into immediate results, they may overlook the enduring influence of creator collaborations on consumer sentiment and brand awareness. Thus, assessing the true efficacy of campaigns goes beyond conventional metrics. 

Accordingly, Collective Voice leveraged alternative methods, feedback, and data from our vast Creator network to measure the impact of brand campaigns beyond traditional KPI’s. Analyzing the influence of factors like trust, social proof, and aspirational appeal on brand perception, we’re unveiling the insights gleaned from our 2023 Creator Survey.

Effective Partnerships Strongly Influence Audience Perception

A one-time Creator partnership may drive serious clicks and sales to a brand or product. But will those customers care about the brand or product long-term? 

Our findings indicate that Creator partnerships can do more than create a temporary boost in sales. In fact, effective partnerships can influence and shift audience perception. A substantial 72% of Creators responded that partnering with new brands significantly increases awareness and visibility among their audience to products and brands they never knew about before. 

Take, for instance, Creator Vee Bell’s partnership with a well-known home brand. “I experienced a notable shift in my audience’s perception,” says Bell. “Integrating their products into my content not only enhanced visual appeal but also communicated a sense of refinement and on-trend aesthetics. I believe it played a role in positively shaping how my audience views my brand.” 

Similarly, brand collaborations can have a real impact on audience’s perceptions of Creators as well. In fact, a staggering 78% of Creators reported that brand partnerships have positively influenced their audience’s perception of them; beyond amplification of brand messaging, these collaborations elevate the Creator’s credibility and resonate deeply with their audience.

Engagement Boost Lasts Well Beyond The Campaign Period

Contrary to conventional wisdom, engagement on campaign content is not necessarily lower than that of organic content. In fact, 67% of Creators report similar engagement levels with sponsored and non-sponsored content, highlighting the seamless integration of brand messaging into their content ecosystem. 

And these strong levels of engagement can have lasting results. While some Marketers only measure KPIs during the campaign’s duration, our findings consistently indicate that Creator campaigns can extend far beyond the initial campaign period. In fact, Creators observe a sustained engagement post-campaign, with notable percentages lasting beyond 2-4 weeks. 

To measure this sustained engagement, Creators perform social listening, dive into their analytics across platforms, and take note of audience sentiment. “A recent campaign serves as an example, where post-engagement surpassed my expectations,” explains Bell. “The ongoing discussions, shares, and sustained interest not only met but exceeded goals, leaving a lasting impact on brand awareness.”

Such prolonged engagement underscores the longevity of brand messaging and its ability to resonate with the audience well beyond the campaign duration.

Campaign Halo-Effect Influences Organic Creator Content

Campaign recaps often focus on the sponsored content created during the course of the campaign. But a strong brand-Creator relationship can encourage Creators to produce organic content outside the campaign duration, creating a campaign halo effect that continuously drives awareness and sales.

Our survey revealed that 65% of Creators frequently incorporate campaign products into their organic content, demonstrating a commitment to integrating brand messaging beyond initial collaborations.

Moreover, a significant 70% of Creators revisit and repurpose content from past collaborations, extending the lifespan of brand messaging and maximizing audience engagement.

Creator Blair Eadie of Atlantic Pacific suggests that her organic advocacy of brand partners has influenced the perception of her millions of followers. “Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue are long term partners of mine and because of this I prioritize shopping them, linking them and posting them for any and all organic content I create,” Eadie explains. “Because I post them often in both sponsored and non sponsored content, my audience knows and understands they are my ‘go-to’ retailers for all things fashion.”

Similarly, Creator Kay Davenport believes “brand loyalty goes a long way.” Her partnership with Macy’s serves as a testament to an authentic, long-term relationship. By seamlessly integrating brand products into both sponsored and non-sponsored content, Kay nurtured a genuine connection with her audience and became the 5th overall revenue driver in her influencer cohort. According to Kay, this strategy of organic promotion “creates trust with my community” as “they know I actually frequent this retailer and brand outside of paid content and even the items seen in my paid content are included in non paid content.”

Fostering long-term relationships with Creators based on genuine affinity can serve as a catalyst for authentic advocacy, encouraging the development of brand ambassadors who influence their audience through organic recommendations.

Campaigns Spark Long-Term Conversations With Creators and Audience

Audience feedback can be challenging to measure, especially across a variety of social platforms and content formats. But this feedback, and the conversation it can create with a Creator and their audience, is hugely impactful for brands and Creators alike.

Our survey suggests that almost half of Creators frequently prioritize audience feedback, integrating it into their decision-making process. “I see feedback from my audience…that my content prompted them to visit their local store or keep the brand top of mind,” says Davenport. And her audience continues to tag her in stories and posts relating to one of her recent partnerships. 

Similarly, this audience feedback plays a large role in Creators’ careful selection of branded campaigns. According to Steph Dekker, Director of Operations for Living In Yellow, which boasts hundreds of thousands of followers across their channels, “our community’s interest, and our organic attraction to a brand or product completely determines our involvement in sponsored content. If our community doesn’t want to see it, or we aren’t organically drawn to it, we aren’t collaborating on it.”

This conversation between brand, Creator, and audience can not only provide Creators and brands with helpful feedback, but it can also produce sustained engagement with an audience well beyond the campaign period.

Creators’ Branded Content Priorities

Measuring the long-term impact of a campaign isn’t just about understanding its effect on audiences. Successful campaigns should harmonize with Creators’ needs and preferences, as well. 

Thus, we asked Creators to rank their priorities in approaching branded content, so Marketers can better optimize their campaigns. Here are the five factors they ranked, with the first being their top priority: 

1. Building Brand Loyalty: This emerged as the top priority for Creators, indicating a strong emphasis on creating content that resonates with the audience on a deeper level, establishing trust, and encouraging repeat engagement.
2. Showcasing Creativity: Creators are highly interested in showcasing their creativity, suggesting that they value the opportunity to express their unique ideas and perspectives while aligning with the brand’s message and identity. 
3. Fostering Community Engagement: While not Creators’ first priority, they do strive to encourage discussions, solicit feedback, and create shared experiences among their audience.
4. Generating Sales and Conversions: Though this is extremely important to many brands, generating sales and conversions ranked lower in priority for creators. Creators recognize the importance of driving revenue for the brand, but prioritize other aspects of content creation, such as building loyalty and fostering engagement, which may indirectly contribute to sales in the long term.
5. Eliciting Emotional Responses: Though this ranked lowest in priority, it doesn’t necessarily diminish its importance. However, it suggests that Creators may prioritize other objectives such as loyalty, creativity, and engagement over directly evoking emotions in their content.

By aligning their priorities with those of Creators, brands can produce more seamless campaigns with a halo effect of sales, engagement, and brand advocacy that last well beyond the campaign duration.