Taking this step can go the extra mile to impress brands, AND it helps you assess and improve your performance.
A successful brand partnership doesn’t end at ‘publish’. Creating a campaign report is one of the best ways to show you’re invested in you and your partner’s mutual success.
Not sure where to get started? Here’s a few must-have’s to include in your campaign wrap-up report:
As influencer marketing continues to evolve, creators are now adding data analyst to their long, growing list of qualifications. But with so many different platforms, metrics, and numbers to track, it’s hard to know which should be included in a partnership report.
According to Colllectively’s 2021 report, “Within the industry, there’s a general consensus that engagement, impressions, reach, sentiment, and clicks are very important KPIs”.
However, when it comes to the single most important measurement criteria, there’s a large range of perspectives, with 9 different metrics coming out on top:
Specifically, Engagement & Impressions were reported as the most important metrics to track, with Clicks and Conversions ranking as least important, according to Collectively’s marketer and creator community.
The best way to determine which metrics to include in your report is to understand the goal of the campaign and how your partner will be measuring your success.
If you’re working with a new brand looking to build awareness, your engagement and follower metrics may be most important. If you’ve partnered with a service-based company trying to drive people to their website, they’re probably pretty focused on link clicks and signups.
What is the desired outcome from your partnership? What are they hoping to accomplish with their campaign? Are they looking to get more followers? Drive more sales? Promote a new product?
Understanding the why before starting your project will not only make reporting a breeze, but also help you determine the best strategy to reach your partnership goals.
Keep in mind: whenever presenting data, it’s important to keep things concise and to the point. People tend to lose focus when it comes to talking numbers, so you’ll want to make sure you’re making compelling conclusions. Plus, they can also refer back to the numbers later on.
From first glance, your brand contact should know that your partnership was a win. Your report should start off with high-level insights, then move into the details later on in the report.
Chances are that your brand partners has no interest in every little detail of your social media performance – but rather wants to understand if your partnership was a success.
Creating a campaign report is more than just finding out which photo, video, or stories performed best. It’s about turning your data into actionable insights.
First, start with your metrics. For example, how many clicks/purchases did you receive on your Stories swipe-up?
Then, ask yourself some questions like, How does this differ from previous partnerships? How did your audience respond to the content? Did you receive any specific feedback?
Keep in mind also that numbers alone can’t tell a story — it’s up to you to make sense of what they mean! Truly understanding how your content performs — by tracking account metrics and insights over time — is key to building successful partnerships that last.
Next, share a summary of the deliverables and any important details included in your contract.
It’s safe to assume your report will be shared among team members that may not have been a part of securing your partnership. Highlighting your agreement at the beginning of your report will give partners a quick point of reference for what was agreed upon and more importantly, how you delivered.
Include any photos, videos or links created for your partnership. While your content may be truly unforgettable, it’s always a good idea to share a reminder.
If you over-delivered on your campaign agreement, make sure to include that, too. For example, if you were asked to create 3 Instagram posts, but also posted an Instagram story, let them know you went above and beyond the listed deliverables.
By including a mix of visuals and data in your report, you’ll paint a full picture and have a better chance to really “wow” your partner with your presentation.
Finally, the end of your report should provide everything else, or any additional context.
Your full summary can dig deeper into your overall campaign performance and include any of the numbers not previously reported.
When it comes to putting together a campaign report, it’s better to over-deliver and share each metric that could be relevant to your partnership.
If you tried something outside of scope and it worked well, share it under opportunities. On the other hand, if the campaign didn’t go as well as you originally planned, this is your space to provide context or share your insights.
To keep your report clean and concise, include a link to a spreadsheet with your full performance overview. While many brand partners may not take time to dig into the details, they’ll appreciate the thoroughness and transparency on your end.
Partnership managers are busy, which means they should be able to quickly look over your results with little effort. That’s why it’s important to present your social media report in a results-oriented fashion, tying together your goals, methods for reaching them, and outcome.
While a spreadsheet works well for internal tracking, a PDF is better suited for sharing with brand partners.
As a creator, presentation is everything. Using a reporting template or free tool like Canva makes it super easy to create easy-to-share, eye-catching reports.
Similar to your media kit, you can customize your report to include branded fonts, colors, or graphics that are unique to you. Once you’ve put in the work to create your first custom report, you’ll have your own template you can easily replicate for future reports.
Remember, putting together campaign reports takes time and practice. However, taking the extra time to measure your campaign results will help you create lasting relationships with brands and provide “proof” for new partnerships.
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