In the early days of social media, EMV was the KPI by which to measure a campaign's success or failure. But as social media and influencer marketing matures, new, more concrete metrics emerge for measuring the impact of campaigns. E-commerce and social commerce, for example, provide marketers with a means of directly linking influencer campaigns to sales and conversions through promo codes and tracking links.
In addition to likes and comments, marketers now have a range of engagement metrics such shares, saves, plays, and views to evaluate impact. It is also possible to evaluate the sentiment behind engagement metrics for greater understanding of how the campaign and content was received by the audience.
Strategies that involve fixed payment, per post or a series of posts, and measure engagement still dominate the industry. But as influencer fees rise and new platforms and formats force marketers to stretch budgets, the pressure to link influencer marketing to a tangible ROI is more intense than ever.
Key Takeaways
- The evolution of metrics: EMV measures the share of voice gained from influencer marketing campaigns. Now, it is less relevant due to the rise of newer metrics that allow for more actionable insights by directly linking influencer collaborations and sales.
- Engagement beyond likes and comments: Modern engagement metrics extend beyond likes and comments to include shares, saves, plays, and the number of viewers. This broader range of metrics provides a more comprehensive understanding of how content is received and its overall impact.
- Comprehensive campaign analysis: To truly gauge the success of influencer marketing campaigns, brands must analyse the entire customer journey, from initial awareness to final purchase.
- Standardisation and calculation: Due to the lack of a standardised method, calculating EMV can be complex and contentious. Yet, without a uniform baseline for calculating EMV, comparisons across campaigns can be unreliable. Different platforms and brands may use varying values for engagement metrics, leading to inconsistencies.
Why is EMV so contentious. and how is earned media value calculated?
EMV is calculated by placing a monetary value on indicators marketers are already tracking, such as likes, comments, shares, and impressions. Its credibility issues stem from a general confusion over how to calculate the value of indicators, how it is calculated, and what it then tells us about the impact of a campaign or marketing strategy.
The confusion only worsens as there is no single standard for setting the initial indicator values upon which the calculation of EMV relies, and values can vary according to individual market conditions. In addition, social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube do not set or validate values for engagement metrics on their platforms.
This means brands and platforms must customise EMV settings to suit their own purposes.
How to estimate EMV?
This leads to confusion and misunderstandings about what EMV represents and how to estimate it, especially when marketers attempt to compare campaigns without a uniform baseline.
Yet, there are some predefined frameworks to follow. The US marketing firm Ayzenberg Group’s Earned Media Value Index is recognised as the first index on the market and widely accepted as a global industry standard.
Kolsquare uses the Ayzenberg Index algorithm to calculate EMV on its platform. The algorithm incorporates media buying data, reporting analytics of Fortune 500 companies, and third-party research to arrive at values for individual metrics that are updated regularly in line with market fluctuations.
What EMV can and cannot tell us about the impact of a social media marketing campaign
EMV assigns an aggregate value to the KPIs you’re already tracking—likes, comments, shares, etc. In doing so, it attempts to measure the nebulous concept of ‘brand awareness’ generated by an influencer's social media posts or influencer marketing campaigns.
Being able to assign a monetary result to brand awareness generated by a social media campaign enables marketers to justify investments and activities. For C-level managers who are less likely to be involved in the day-to-day workings of an influencer marketing campaign, an analysis of EMV from one campaign compared to another helps to inform decision-making.
“Often people who’ve worked in American companies love this KPI because it speaks the same language as advertising; you’ve got €50,000 – €100,000 a year for influencer marketing, and EMV is great because opposite that, it shows you’ve earned X-amount with your campaign. Where it is useful is not to use it as a one-shot metric but to compare how well different campaigns have worked,” Omnicom PR Group Head of Digital and Influence Anne-Laure Barieraud told influencer marketing professionals at the Influencer Marketing Klub in Paris recently.
“[But] in the last 10 years, we’ve done a better job at proving that influencer marketing works. More qualitative KPIs can tell us if we’ve had an impact on purchasing behaviour, on the audience and perception of the product. It goes further than EMV.”
Those who dispute the value of EMV as an indicator argue it is popular because it provides a simple answer to a complex question, allowing marketers to draw concrete conclusions when there may not actually be any.
Detractors also argue that EMV does not measure the variety and tonality of interactions and whether they are bringing meaningful connections or consider the difference between a spontaneous message and an advertisement.
“Moreover,” warns the French Union of Public Relations Specialists, “this method consists of artificially attributing a market value to the spontaneous reactions of an audience. It’s the digital equivalent of the Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE), which tries to assign a market value to an item by comparing it to the value of advertising space.”
About Kolsquare
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.
Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.
With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.
Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.