‘Influencer Relevance Index’—A New Parameter for Selecting Influencers from Discovery Tools by Startups Based on Campaign Goals

Influencer marketing has developed as a dynamic and important force within the domain of digital marketing. It entails cooperating with individuals who have a sizeable and engaged social media following and harnessing their influence to promote products, services, or brands. However, there is always concern in terms of estimating the success of an influencer and the parameters to decide the relevance of an influencer empirically. The careful identification of influencers who connect flawlessly with business goals and resonate with the target audience is critical in the dynamic landscape of influencer marketing. Finding the optimum balance between influencer and business campaign is basically a process of methodical study of crucial indicators and key metrics. To some extent, discovery tools solve the challenge of identifying influencers. This study comprehensively includes numerous measures and dimensions used by the discovery tools to develop a systematic framework and measurable metrics for influencer selection based on intended aims. The framework categorizes metrics into multiple stages ranging from Awareness to Conversion based on the Business Goals according to the AIDA model and suggests essential metrics for each level. The study systematically identifies the metrics considered to be important by the startups when contemplating an influencer for marketing. Data for the whole study has been collected from 80 startups that used influencer marketing during the six months period ending December 2023 on any of the social media platforms, notably Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube. A systematic questionnaire was developed to collect data, and structural equation modelling was used to analyse the results. The study also examines the influencers hired by the samples in the period under study, as well as the performance of the campaigns carried out by the startups through influencer marketing on chosen social media platforms. The disparity between influencer ratings based on metrics considered relevant by startups and real-time campaign performance based on dimensions such as engagement, sentiment, mention, interest, and reach has been used to propose a new parameter for selecting influencers, dubbed the ‘Influencer Relevance Index’ (IRI). The IRI rating is based on the perceived level of business goals within the various levels of the AIDA model; thus, the score is dynamic and requires pre-requisite data for proper execution. As a result, three key assumptions have been proposed for more exact and reliable calculations using the framework. Based on the highly praised AIDA model, the research is a pioneer in influencer analysis since it integrates the metrics evaluation process with campaign goals.