Let’s face it: Measuring influencer marketing success can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned pro, you want to be sure you’re tracking the right metrics to prove your campaigns are worth the investment.
Consider this: When your marketing team reports that an influencer campaign generated “100,000 impressions and 5,000 likes,” what does that mean for your business? But when they tell you the campaign delivered “$50,000 in EMV from a $10,000 investment”, now that’s speaking your language.
This is why understanding Earned Media Value (EMV) is crucial. It provides a solid foundation for measuring success. Once you understand how to track it effectively, you’ll feel more confident in your influencer marketing efforts.
Check out our complete breakdown of EMV and discover why it’s the metric your business can’t afford to ignore.
What’s EMV?
Think about all the metrics you track in a day. Engagement rates, reach, impressions, clicks – these can get pretty overwhelming, right? And trying to explain their value to stakeholders who just want to know about ROI can be even more challenging.
That’s where EMV comes in. Earned Media Value (EMV) assigns a monetary value to influencer-generated engagement on social media platforms. It helps you translate all that social engagement into actual monetary amounts that everyone understands. Think of it as putting a price tag on every like, share, or comment an influencer generates for your brand, similar to how you’d value a click-through on a paid ad. This “value per engagement” allows brands to compare influencer marketing directly with other ad spend and make informed budget decisions.
Why is EMV Important for Brands?
Better Budget Management
When planning your influencer marketing budget, EMV shows exactly what you’re getting for your money. For example, if you spend $5,000 on an influencer campaign that generates $15,000 in EMV, you can clearly show a 200% ROI. This makes it easier to secure and justify future marketing budgets.
Platform Performance Comparison
Different social media platforms generate different values. On Instagram, a comment might be worth $1.00, while on TikTok it’s worth $0.05. These differences help you understand where your content performs best and where to invest more resources.
Influencer Selection
With EMV, you can quickly identify the influencers driving the highest returns. By focusing resources on top performers, you can optimize partnerships, improving both reach and engagement while controlling costs.
Better Resource Allocation
EMV helps brands understand which types of content resonate most with audiences. This insight allows marketing teams to allocate their budgets more efficiently, focusing on the influencer content with the best return.
Campaign Evaluation
Instead of guessing which campaign worked better, EMV gives you clear numbers to compare. If your summer campaign generated $10,000 in EMV while your fall campaign generated $15,000 with the same budget, you know which strategies to repeat and which to adjust.
Clear Performance Reporting
When presenting results to your team or clients, EMV turns likes and comments into actual monetary values. Instead of reporting “we got 10,000 likes,” you can say “this campaign generated $20,000 in marketing value.” This makes it easier for everyone to understand the real impact of your influencer marketing.
What to Know Before You Start Tracking EMV
There are certain steps you can take to make EMV tracking more effective from the start:
- Understand your social media platform values and set a Benchmark
- Use a proper tracking system (manual tracking can be a nightmare!)
- Get your team aligned on EMV goals
Turning EMV Data into Action
Converting EMV insights into strategy is remarkably easy. Here’s how:
- Track EMV across all campaigns
- Compare performance across platforms
- Identify your highest-value influencer partnerships
- Optimize future campaigns based on EMV data
EMV in Practice
Let’s look at a practical example. A skincare brand decides to launch a new anti-aging collection, collaborating with two influencers on Instagram. Both have large audiences (around 500K followers each), but different engagement patterns. They’re investing in Instagram campaigns to boost brand awareness and sales.
Here’s how they can use EMV to track success:
Here's how they can use EMV to track success:
Setting EMV Benchmarks
Before the campaign, the brand determines the EMV based on average engagement costs in the beauty sector. They set the value for a like at $0.10, a comment at $0.50, a share at $1, and a view at $0.05.
Tracking Engagement Metrics
As the campaign rolls out, they monitor engagement across influencer posts. For instance, influencer A known for authentic storytelling and high engagement, posts an Instagram carousel with a detailed skincare routine, generating:
- 150,000 views (150,000 x $0.05 = $7,500 EMV)
- 8,000 likes (8,000 x $0.10 = $800 EMV)
- 500 comments (500 x $0.50 = $250 EMV)
- 200 shares (200 x $1 = $200 EMV) This gives the post an EMV of $8,750.
Comparing Across Influencers
Influencer B’ who typically creates more promotional content, generates:
- 100,000 views (100,000 x $0.05 = $5,000 EMV)
- 5,000 likes (5,000 x $0.10 = $500 EMV)
- 200 comments (200 x $0.50 = $100 EMV)
- 50 shares (50 x $1 = $50 EMV) This post achieves an EMV of $5,650.
By analyzing EMV data, the skincare brand can see that while both influencers have similar follower counts, influencer A generated significantly higher EMV ($8,750 vs $5,650). Despite both commanding similar fees, Influencer A’s content delivers a much stronger ROI.
EMV Tracking Doesn't Have to Be Intimidating
Does manually calculating EMV sound time-consuming? That’s because it is! influencer marketing platforms like indaHash can automate this process, giving you more time to focus on strategy and relationship building.
Be sure to choose tools that give you comprehensive EMV tracking and keep your metrics authentic.
Want to learn more about automating your EMV tracking? Check out how indaHash can help you save time and maximize your campaign value.
