Are you wasting your influencer marketing budget? Without accurate data, it’s hard to know if your campaigns truly drive business results or are just noise. Modern influencer marketing tools now provide advanced metrics and precise ROI insights. Early adopter brands are moving beyond vanity metrics, measuring real value from creator partnerships – and you can do the same.
In the early days, marketers relied on easy-to-track metrics to understand influencer campaigns. But research has found that follower counts, likes, and even comments don’t prove that the audience noticed the product.
Let’s take a look at the most common vanity metrics and their downsides:
These metrics can lead to a campaign hitting superficial targets but lacking positive business outcomes.
With UK consumer confidence falling to -10.4% in Q2 2025 and spending subdued, marketers can’t afford to waste time and money on campaigns that don’t connect.
To truly benefit from influencer marketing, you need accurate, reliable, and relevant data.
Let’s explore the metrics that are replacing vanity metrics.
Earned media value (EMV) estimates how much the exposure from influencer content would have cost through traditional media channels.
This metric is useful for difficult-to-track awareness campaigns, providing a comparative baseline to other channels. It also supports cost forecasting and defining influencer fees, two often challenging calculations.
Collaborate with an effective influencer, and you reach a targeted audience via a trusted voice.
But if the audience isn’t credible – inflated by fake followers, bots, or inactive users — even well-planned content won’t land.
Here are the long-term effects of working with influencers with non-credible audiences:
Choosing the wrong influencer doesn’t only waste budgets and time; it can also chip away at brand credibility and sentiment.
But influencer marketing platforms like Kolsquare can help, providing credibility scores that rate influencers’ audiences by analyzing engagement patterns and activity levels.
The most effective influencer marketers have shifted focus from short-term results to long-term value.
Much of influencer marketing’s power lies in the mid-funnel, such as brand consideration, brand affinity, and purchase intent. To affect these outcomes, marketers must generate relevant reach by communicating brand values and USPs – rather than quick likes and views.
Defining influencer marketing’s goal in your marketing mix allows you to focus on the most relevant metrics. For example, brands looking to impact messaging should focus on long-term sentiment across social media.
Direct-to-customer (DTC) skincare, beauty, and fashion brands are some of the most innovative in the influencer space. These ultra-competitive niches require marketers to adapt quickly to trends and scale successful tactics.
Let’s look at some successful brands running data-driven campaigns.
British brand No7 has been operating since 1935, focusing on innovative skincare with proven results.
The brand uses a diverse marketing mix, including influencer marketing, TV ads, and PR. When asked about choosing creativity or data, marketing director Richard Bowden shared with MadFest: “I always try to aim for the middle because you can’t have one without the other.”
But they are clearly well-versed in influencer data. No7 activated influencer Maria Joynson (@mariajoynson, 185K followers, TikTok) to create a get-ready-with-me video. The content generated €134K in earned media value (EMV), thanks to her majority (90%) female and UK-based (83%) audience. There was deep interest, with 1,200 users favouriting the content and 125 comments showing strong interest in the products and brand.
Manchester-based fashion brand Club L London has seen turnover rise by 51% between January 2023 and March 2024 to reach £41m. It uses a range of influencer marketing tactics, with events acting as a key lever.
In July 2025, Club L London invited influencers to a luxury spot in the South of France to celebrate its new collection, Serenade. Events often rely on organic content rather than sponsored content. And they tap into an aspirational content style. Almost two-thirds (63%) of UK influencers believe that followers stick around because they feel inspired by their content and lifestyle, according to data from the Kolsquare Creator Economy Report.
The event was a success. One of the most successful influencers was Laura Blair (@thelaurablair, 1m followers, Instagram), who generated over €100,000 in EMV by sharing creative content, such as drone footage and catwalks, from the event.
Why was her content so effective? Blair has a majority (93%) female audience whose first interest is fashion. Her engagement rate is slightly above average for a mega-influencer, at 1.34% for Instagram Reels, and her audience is credible, rated 71/100 by Kolsquare.
Qure is a skincare brand that specializes in bringing clinical treatments into the home. Its micro-infusion system has become incredibly popular and dominated social media conversations.
Katja Trbara, Qure’s affiliate and influencer marketing manager, says that her job is driven by numbers. But with vanity metrics, the numbers can lie.
Qure once collaborated with a prominent influencer, but only gained five sales despite a spend of over £20,000. The creator showed positive signs: a large audience and successful results in other brands’ campaigns, but Qure’s content lacked spark. As Trbara put it: “the content didn’t feel personal, urgent, or story-driven”. Now, she prioritizes genuine fans who can authentically share product benefits.
Qure also uses a commission-based framework to inspire influencers to create content that performs. More than half (53%) of UK brands running influencer campaigns now use affiliate marketing, which uses a commission framework that reduces up-front costs and, therefore, risk.
Monzo, the UK’s most-downloaded banking app, recently reported a 48% jump in revenue, hitting £1.2bn. Now, it’s doubling down on lifestyle-led marketing targeting millennials and gen Z to highlight its travel features.
A standout post sharing Monzo has no hidden fees by grobe trotters YaYa and Lloyd (@handluggageonly, 1.2m followers, TikTok) generated €102,000 in EMV. Another travel vlogger, Shu Lin (@dejashu, 31,500 followers, TikTok), highlighted Monzo’s stress-free bill splitting. The post made €107,000 in EMV.
Why were these posts so effective? Firstly, the creators have high engagement rates and highly credible audiences. Large chunks of their audiences are in the UK and between the ages of 18 and 34, making these effective, targeted activations.
Over half (51%) of influencer marketers struggle to accurately measure campaign ROI. More than a quarter (28%) lack data overall, according to Kolsquare’s State of Influencer Marketing Report.
So, where can you grab these all-important insights?
Influencer marketing platforms can fill the gaps, eliminating guesswork and vanity metrics.
Kolsquare empowers brands and agencies with an all-in-one influencer marketing platform that simplifies every step, from creator discovery to reporting. With in-depth search filters, automated performance tracking, and transparent payment management, teams can scale their strategies and collaborate in one place.
Every great campaign starts with a great plan. So we’ve put together a clear road map to power up your strategy.
Use this guide to start your data-driven influencer campaign:
Influencer marketing will only grow more competitive. But brands with considered, directed campaigns can break through the noise.
More KOLs and competition mean teams must work harder to impact audiences. But with the right data and strong marketing instincts, marketers can reach their targets – and prove it.
To fill the gaps, some marketers and agencies choose influencer marketing platforms like Kolsquare to support their campaigns from start to finish.
Book a demo with Kolsquare today.
