As of January 2022, there were reportedly 3.96 billion social media users worldwide which is a 4.8% increase from a year ago, with a prediction 1 billion of those will self Identify as a creator within the next 5 years demonstrating that influencer marketing isn’t slowing down.
It’s no surprise that the industry is set to grow to approximately $16.4 Billion in 2022, as more businesses employ brand advocates to create dynamic content, increase web traffic, or drive behavior change campaigns to a wider audience.
Although influencer marketing has proven to be a successful tool for agencies, global companies, and small businesses over the years, finding the right talent efficiently and gaining access to data to assess campaign suitability is still a challenge.
Finding Accurate Influencer Data
There are valid concerns for startups and small businesses, like understanding the plethora of data available and tight budgets that reign in access to top influencers or data analysts. However, the wealth of data available to business owners today makes it possible to make informed decisions that lead to positive business outcomes.
As creators and managers become more aware of this data predictive analytics in influencer marketing is beginning to form a crucial element that will make or break your next campaign, while allowing you to gain valuable insights into audience behavior, attention, and engagement.
To gain access to the right data the creators must first opt-in to the platform, Talent opting into platforms at short notice is frustrating, so keep an eye out for talent agencies such as The Lifestyle Suite, Ministry of Talent, Ivy Talent Co and others who already have their talent opted in allowing you to jump straight into the analytics and planning the campaign.
How Predictive Analytics Supports Influencer Marketing
Sas.com defines predictive analytics as “the use of data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data.”
Predictive analytics is a powerful tool for your social media marketing strategy because it reduces the risk of working with creators that won’t produce results by understanding their success rate before it happens and it provides access to real-time data to monitor ongoing results.
Finding the Right Influencer Talent
Empowered by the behavioral data at hand, you can narrow your business’s field of vision and shortlist a range of influencers that will help achieve your goals without hours of manual research as an added bonus.
By examining a rolling performance period for each account’s media format, predictive analytics can compare the potential results of working alongside one influencer over another to help you choose the right brand advocate for your next campaign. This tool is usually paired with an influencer database that allows you to filter out accounts that are inactive, have a low engagement, and identify whose followers are mostly bots, which ultimately protects your investment.
Read more: Apply Marketing Metrics and Watch Your Business Grow
Freeing Up Resources
Every minute a user spends on social media provides an incredible amount of data and research trends available for you to dissect. As devices and smartphones become more affordable and stable internet connections become more widespread, the time spent on social media will certainly increase over the next few years from the current average of 2 hours and 27 minutes a day.
Brands looking to leverage influencers for their next campaign will be confronted with a stack of manual work and hours of searching through unstructured data to find the right people to work with. For most businesses, slewing through a mountain of information and social media accounts can prevent them from hitting targets and meeting deadlines.
Predictive analytic tools can help you save time by providing elegant data visualizations on the way an influencer interacts with their followers, clicks and conversions, precise demographics, the best posting times, and much more.
Start Using Predictive Analytics
You should expect to see more advancements in real-time data, unique algorithms, and technology as predictive analytics becomes more widely adopted over the next few years. If you are ready to equip your team with new marketing technology now, solutions like the Kitly Creator Network are already popular with brands and influencers looking for a competitive edge.