If you are chasing a vanity metric like followers, you need to STOP! Here's the hard truth: 👀 Kim Kardashian has 300M followers. If you managed to grow your account to 10M, that’s still not 1% of her audience, and the truth is, many of those are probably inactive or bots. Millions of followers mean nothing if you cannot get them to ENGAGE and TAKE ACTION! Most brands looking to partner with influencers are beginning to understand this, so they look at your engagement rate and reach rather than your follower count. Brands use a simple formula for deciding who to partner with: No engagement = no influence = no $$$. So, instead of focusing on growing your follower count, focus on: 1️⃣ Growing your engagement – Are your followers interacting with your content? 2️⃣ Growing your TAM (Total Addressable Market) – Are your followers in the right industry? For most brands, a small, engaged audience in your niche beats millions of passive followers.
Identifying the Right Metrics for Influencer Selection
Explore top LinkedIn content from expert professionals.
Summary
Identifying the right metrics for influencer selection is about evaluating the quality of an influencer’s audience and their ability to drive meaningful engagement rather than just focusing on follower counts. This approach ensures partnerships that align with brand goals and deliver measurable results.
- Focus on engagement: Evaluate metrics like comments, clicks, and shares to understand how actively the influencer’s audience interacts with their content.
- Align audience relevance: Ensure the influencer’s followers match your target audience in terms of industry, interests, and demographics.
- Analyze performance trends: Look beyond vanity metrics to assess how the influencer’s audience has been growing and whether they remain active and engaged over time.
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Influencer marketing is HARD. But B2B Influencer marketing is even HARDER. It’s because most brands are doing it completely wrong. They chase: → Big follower counts → Viral moments → Vanity metrics Which doesn’t equate to revenue. So after studying over $5M in B2B influencer marketing campaigns, here’s what we’ve found works the best: 1. Pick partners based on engagement, not size → A 10k following with 100 comments beats 100k with 10 → Industry experts convert 5x better than generalists → LinkedIn partnerships outperform Instagram by 300% 2. Structure deals that incentivize results → 40% base + 60% performance → Pay per qualified meeting (not impressions) → 6-month + long partnerships after testing → Weekly strategy calls 3. Get ruthless with data → Test with 5-10 creators initially → Track cost per meeting → Cut underperforming influencers every quarter → Triple budget on top performers BIGGEST LESSON: Pick authority over followers. Always.
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I’m currently building out an influencer program at EasyLlama And I wanted to share a five key takeaways that can help if you’re doing the same. 1. Prioritize audience quality over quantity. It’s not just about the number of followers or newsletter subscribers. Instead, ask: How new is the audience? Acquired in the last theee months vs the last 4-12 months? What’s the growth rate of the audience? Are they still actively engaged? Is the influencer still relevant to that audience? And how does your ICP definition align to their audience? How many business emails vs. personal emails make up their newsletter for example. 2. Understand the engagement profile. Dig deeper than vanity metrics. Evaluate: Engagement rates by cohort (new vs. long-time followers) Types of engagement: Likes vs. Comments, Opens vs. Clicks, Registrations vs. Attendees 3. Think in campaigns, not one-off posts. Don't just "test" influencers. Give them a theme that aligns with their voice and your story. A simple framework: - A series of LinkedIn posts - A webinar - Newsletter placements 4. Extend beyond their channels. Once you’ve proven impact, bring them into your ecosystem: Have them speak at events Feature them in your content strategy Invite them to co-host your podcast or webinars 5. Aim for the sweet spot: Entertainment + Education + Value. The best influencers deliver all three every time they talk about your brand, your product, or your point of view. Influencer marketing isn't just a growth tactic. It’s a strategy of using networks and pre-existing trust to grow an audience.