As mentioned in Influencer Fair Market Value Part I: Analyzing Structures for Compensation, life science companies see added value in working with patient and HCP influencers. These influencers have access to audiences with a focus on a disease state or therapeutic area, which can bring increased authenticity and responsiveness to pharma marketing and medical information campaigns.
However, not all influencers have the same strength of online presence. Sometimes, either for budgetary or logistical reasons, campaigns that enlist influencers must decide whether they want to dedicate resources to fewer influencers with large presences, or to more influencers with only moderate presences.
Cutting Edge Information has observed some metrics that companies use to differentiate influencers based on the strength of their online presence:
- Number of Followers – Although basic, evaluating an influencer has to start with the size of their audience. The absolute numbers involved tend to depend on the size of the medical or disease-state audience, with organizations using that information to determine follower count thresholds that draw lines between tiers. Companies decide for themselves how much value to place on an influencer’s total number of followers.
- Percentage Engagement Rate/Level of Engagement – The next step after gauging audience size, percentage of engagement puts a quantifiable value on an influencer’s reach. Formulas may differ slightly, but this metric is typically calculated by counting engagement actions (likes, comments and shares) for a post or set of posts and dividing that number by the total number of followers. A higher average percentage of engagement equals a higher tier of influencer.
- Amount of Relevant Content – How often does an influencer mention relevant topics? Companies assess how often an influencer posts about certain subjects, both in terms of raw numbers and as a percentage of total posts.
- Platform – Consider the breadth of an influencer’s online presence. These activities can take place on different social media channels as well as conventional media outlets. Activities such as giving interviews, maintaining an active blog, or producing a podcast all help to define a relative level of influence.
Influencer valuation standards are still up for debate. As more life science companies engage online audiences to add a unique dimension to their customer outreach campaigns, the question of accurate compensation may become clearer. But, for now, understanding frameworks for payment and the metrics behind an influencer’s effectiveness are key in creating more standard fair market value rates.
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