Influencer Marketing Reports: Why Engagement Signals Paid Potential

Jonathan Claydon, Chief Strategist at Acceleration Partners, the world's largest partner marketing agency, breaks down the two-sided measurement framework every brand needs when entering creator marketing. He argues that new brands should not expect influencer programs to immediately match the return on paid social or search, and that premature focus on revenue metrics causes brands to miss what actually matters early on.

Claydon separates influencer marketing reports into two distinct buckets: social metrics (reach, impressions, engagement, comment sentiment) and performance metrics (clicks, CPA, ROAS, coupon code redemptions). His core claim is that social engagement is not a vanity signal. It is a directional indicator of whether a piece of content can work in paid media, and a high engagement rate is a reliable signal to test that asset by boosting through the creator's handle or running it directly on the brand's own account.

Watch to see how he maps which metrics to prioritize at which stage of a creator program, and when to shift the emphasis toward conversion.