ANA Releases First-Ever Guidelines For Measuring Influencer Marketing

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) this morning released its first-ever guidelines for measuring influencer marketing.

The guidelines, which include metrics covering "awareness," "engagement," and "conversions" generated via "organic" influencer marketing, were described as a "challenge that has thwarted" marketers for several years, the ANA said in a release, adding, "The lack of both consistency and transparency has limited organic influencer marketing’s value to advertisers, hamstrung its growth, and obfuscated its true ROI."

The ANA said the guidelines were developed in collaboration with "agency partners and the major platforms" and have also been endorsed by the Media Rating Council.

“Two years ago, in the ANA’s State of Influence report, we asked its members to identify their single biggest challenge in implementing influencer marketing, and the overwhelming response was measurement,” ANA CEO Bob Liodice stated, adding, “These new guidelines will help all marketers harness the power of this important and growing discipline and help them maximize their ROI.”

advertisement

advertisement

The ANA said the lack of standardized measurement across social media platforms and ad agencies has been a key part of the problems for marketers and recommended that marketers:

  • Use the guidelines as a starting point to understand the differences across social platforms in measurement definitions and calculations. Communicate with your platform points of contact that you will be using the Guidelines’ definitions and calculations moving forward and express the need for greater data transparency, especially in organic exposure.
  • Share them with your internal marketing teams. Consider including not just the leaders executing the influencer campaigns but also communications and PR, data and analytics, social and digital, media, and content marketing teams.
  • Share them with your agency partners and align on the use of the guidelines’ definitions and calculations for organic campaign measurement and reporting.

 

4 comments about "ANA Releases First-Ever Guidelines For Measuring Influencer Marketing".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Dan Ciccone from STACKED Entertainment, July 19, 2022 at 8:53 p.m.

    Wow, probably the biggest platform, Twitch, isn't even presented....?!  You can shoot a hole a mile wide with these recommendations. 



    There are very tangible and reliable platforms to measure ROI and compliance. Looks like the ANA is about five years behind on real world solutions that exist to guide marketers through their influencer efforts. 

  2. John Grono from GAP Research, July 20, 2022 at 8:53 p.m.

    I'm puzzled how an industry 'standard' can have so many different data points and calculation methods.

  3. Dan Ciccone from STACKED Entertainment replied, July 21, 2022 at 1:42 p.m.

    @john Grono - it's very much the typical force a square peg into a round hole and make the industry eat it approach.

  4. John Grono from GAP Research, July 21, 2022 at 4:53 p.m.

    Too true Dan.   Plus each peg and hole can be whatever shape and size they want.

Next story loading loading..