Why predictive analytics matter for your 2018 marketing strategy

It’s late November and that means it’s time to start strategizing for 2018. You know what’s so 2017? Planning your social strategy almost solely around influencer reach. What’s going to be in? Predictive analytics.

So what is predictive analytics?

Predictive analytics view a data set’s current and historical facts in order to make predictions about the future. In terms of influencer marketing, this means knowing what influencers to use, what channels to post on, and what your returns will be.

How is this different?

Right now, influencer marketing is focused primarily on reach. The bigger the reach, the better the returns. But as more and more brands are seeing, there’s more to it than that. There’s more to the magic of influencer marketing than sheer numbers, but it’s hard to tell what that is. Is it engagement? What drives engagement? How do influencers connect with their audiences and how do you quantify that?

These are all questions predictive analytics hopefully can answer through science. Through the power of data, we’re trying to tell exactly what ingredients make the perfect influencer marketing recipe.

Predictive analytics in practice

This could mean seeing what EMV posts earn on different platforms. For example, influencer marketing has become synonymous with Instagram, but in terms of earned media, YouTube channels perform the best.

Take MannyMUA, a big name in the beauty influencer world. Manny has the largest following on Instagram, with 4.1 million followers compared to his 3.1 million followers on YouTube. But when you compare EMVs, his YouTube videos earn 1.5 times more than his Instagram posts, on average.

mannymua predictive analytics

Based on that data, brands can gear their campaigns toward influencers who have larger YouTube followings, earning higher returns. Instead of spending $X on 3 Instagram posts and earning $Y, you can spend $X on 3 YouTube videos and earn $Yx3.

2018 and beyond

At Sideqik, we’re already using machine learning to help our customers try to see the future. Our software helps you know what content performs the best so you can optimize your campaigns. But there’s more coming in the future.

Soon, we’re going to be able to help brands identify up-and-coming influencers, so you can get in on the ground floor with someone who is going to be a big deal. We’re also hoping to make it easier to map out future earnings.

2017 has been a big year for influencer marketing, and 2018 is going to be even bigger. But 2018 is also going to be more about details. We expect to make more predictions before January rolls around but we’re calling it now: the future is all about bigger and better data.

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