The end of the year is a time to reflect; as individuals, yes, but also as brands. For marketing teams especially, there’s a need to prove that your efforts (read: investments in creator marketing) are delivering results.
So, as the year comes to a close, it’s in your best interest to look back at the highs and lows. With all the data from the past 12 months in your hands, you can clearly see what worked and what needs work.
To help you showcase the successes of your content creator campaigns, we’re sharing our tried-and-tested tips for building an end-of-year marketing report.
Why an end-of-year creator marketing report matters
With the rest of the chaos that accompanies year-end, is it even worth spending time on a creator marketing report?
Absolutely.
By breaking down the performance of your content creator partnerships, you can:
- Demonstrate ROI – To those holding the purse strings, one thing matters most: the marketing team’s return on investment (ROI). An end-of-year report shows how much revenue your creator campaigns are (or aren’t) driving for the brand.
- Inform future investments – If you can demonstrate the value of your creator partnerships, you can secure a larger budget for next year. On the flip side, if you discover a lack of impact, it may be time to allocate your spending elsewhere.
- Celebrate your wins – Naturally, a report needs to address any shortcomings. Even still, you can take this time to pat your team on the back after a year of hard work. You’ve earned it!
What to include in a creator-focused marketing report
While every brand’s need-to-measure metrics will differ based on its goals and channels, all creator marketing reports should ideally include the following insights.
Creator performance metrics
First, how did your creator campaigns do?
It’s not an easy question to answer. If you partner with hundreds of creators across multiple platforms, your performance data is likely messy and spread out.
The easiest way to track and measure all this information is with a multi-channel analytics dashboard. From a single place, you can monitor each creator’s:
- Reach – The number of unique users who view a piece of content.
- Engagement – The number of likes, comments, shares, and saves.
- Earned media value (EMV) – The monetary gains from any non-paid publicity.
- Conversions – The number of users who check out or sign up.
Together, these stats paint a picture of your creators’ quantitative performance.
Content, creator, and channel highlights
Metrics are only half the story. There’s also the question of qualitative performance—as in, which creators are making top-quality content and seeing top-tier results?
In your report, consider identifying some of your best partnerships of the year. Knowing who your all-stars are helps you optimize your future partnerships.
At the same time, evaluate which content types perform best for you. Is it short-form video? User-generated content (UGC)? Product reviews?
Wherever you notice your best results, use your end-of-year report as a springboard, launching you into spending more in those areas.
Budget analysis
As for spending, an EOY marketing report should answer questions like:
- How much is creator marketing costing?
- What’s your return on ad spend (ROAS)?
- What’s your cost per click (CPC)?
- What’s your customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
Not only will the financials demonstrate your past year’s successes and opportunities, but they’ll also inform next year. A budget analysis is the foundation for future fund allocation, goal-setting, and more.
Storytelling your creator program’s impact
If your EOY marketing report will be seen by other stakeholders—and it should be—you want it to be compelling. A spreadsheet of statistics doesn’t exactly fit the bill.
That’s why storytelling is crucial. The human brain is literally wired for stories.
To make the impact of your marketing efforts crystal-clear, you need to transform your “boring old data” into an engaging narrative. We’re not saying you have to design a stunning slideshow, but your report needs a start and an end: a structure that lays out the problem, your solution, and the results.
Ultimately, the goal is to communicate your wins in a way any non-technical audience could understand. Our pro-tips are:
- Be concise
- Translate jargon into plain language
- Highlight any key “need-to-know” takeaways
- Use charts and images to make data more digestible
- Consider making multiple versions for different audiences
Streamline your end-of-year creator reporting
Building an end-of-year creator marketing report takes time, but it’s well worth the effort. As long as you collect your data correctly from the start and monitor your metrics throughout the year—not all at the end—you can put together an insightful, actionable report.
Having the right creator management platform helps, too.
With the CreatorIQ dashboard, you can oversee every aspect of your content creator marketing. With real-time analytics and ROI data across every channel, we empower you to transform the numbers into a compelling narrative.
We even help you find creators who can deliver the results you’re looking for, year after year. To learn more about our creator campaign management features, request your demo today.
Sources:
Forbes. Human Beings Are Wired For Story: Here’s Why. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandstorytelling/2023/10/26/human-beings-are-wired-for-story-heres-why/