There’s a saying in SaaS that managing a product development team is a lot like herding cats. The joke of the saying is that everyone involved in a project has their own set of goals and ideas surrounding what success looks like, much in the way my cats do whatever they feel like doing despite family’s efforts to stop 2am meowing and couch clawing. This project was no exception!
Carrying the analogy forward, the subscribed audience of any particular influencer is also an amalgamation of individuals with their own set of desires and reasons for following an influencer. How do we then measure and display as a singular number the overall power of an influencer across so many different social networks with different audiences?
Herd Worth (HW) ties together audience values, experiences, and expectations
For the past several years Intellifluence has been gathering data through influencer compensation surveys as a means to provide a simple prediction model for each of the social networks we support, allowing both brands and influencers to see whether an amount associated with a single action project is within the expected range based on audience size. Once we had reliable data on expectations, we began to fold in data associated with compensation realities; in other words, we compared what the overall expectation against what actually occurred. This opened the doors to what Herd Worth would eventually become.
The problem with audience size is that it doesn’t tell the full story for a creator. Do they have street cred with their audience on topical matters, do they have the clout brands are looking for, and how can that be measured?
We can’t be giving away the secret sauce, but it’s reasonable to look at consumable metrics such as a variety of engagement scores available across social networks and community interactions that occur within our platform as a means to determine whether an influencer has a truly interested herd or whether it’s an empty flock.
Weighing the variables available to us, we distilled it all into a single expressed monetary value of what a single action project would be worth from an influencer, across all their listed social accounts associated within Intellifluence.
Here’s an example of what this looks like from an authenticated brand evaluating an influencer inside the platform.
One of the questions we’re already starting to get from influencers is “how can I improve my Herd Worth?” — the most obvious answer here is to make sure that every controlled social account appears on the influencer profile. Beyond that, it’s important to be visible, real, and focused. Brands care just as much about relevancy as they do how many followers you have.
The other most important factor, ignoring our scoring model, is to be responsive when working with brands. Doing good work tends to result in being highly sought after in the influencer community, which will ultimately be reflected in your HW score.
Want to discover your Herd Worth? Sign up for free as an influencer today.
Joe, CEO and Co-Founder of Intellifluence, has over 25 years of experience in SEO, leading several successful marketing companies and providing expert consultation. He is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Using Influencer Marketing, which is available as an eBook or in print.
