The Creator Metrics Brands Need to Wake Up To
Creator marketing has never been bigger, but the obsession with the wrong metrics has never been more in demand. Too often, brands chase numbers that look good in a report but reveal very little about the real impact of the work.
As Campaign Managers and Talent Agents, we see this every day in our role. The KPIs that sound impressive, aren’t always the ones that matter the most.
In this article, Campaign Manager, Sarah Jane Staunton explores the metrics that brands should prioritise when planning their campaigns!
The Metrics Trap
Follower Count
The number everyone fixates on, and the number that means the least is a Follower Count. In 2025, influence lives in engagement, not audience size. While followers are still of importance and relevance, they simply only reflect the total number of people who follow a particular creator’s social page at one given time. It doesn’t reflect how many of those followers are still active, or aligned with a brand's target audience, or even seeing the creator’s content.
A creator with 20K highly invested followers can outperform someone with 200K passive ones.
Raw Impressions
High impressions can hide low relevance. They measure surface-level visibility, not value. Impressions tell you how many times a creator's content appeared on someone’s screen, not whether they paid attention, cared, or took any action. A campaign with 50K impressions and strong interaction is typically far healthier than one with 500K impressions and silence.
Metrics that matter, when it comes to defining a successful campaign
Engagement Rate
Engagement rate can be powerful, but only when applied thoughtfully.
A high engagement rate from a small but loyal audience can outperform a low rate from a larger following. Platform norms matter TikTok, for example, naturally has lower static engagement but higher number of completion rates. Not all engagements are equal for example, a comment is more valuable than a like, a save more valuable than a scroll past.
Engagement rate helps gauge true audience connection and the level of loyalty from a creator’s followers. Engagement rate needs to be read with context, platform trends, content type, and creator niche. When used correctly, it’s one of the clearest indicators of success for a campaign!
We can calculate engagement rate by taking all engagements on a singular post (like, comments, shares) and divide that total by the number of views the post has, then multiply it by 100.
When looking at engagement rate, it is also important to look at the quality of engagement. Quality interactions show genuine interest and trust, are the comments positive? Are people watching the whole way through? Which leads us to the next metric.
View through rate
View-Through Rate tells you the percentage of people who watched a video all the way through or to a platform-specific point of the video. In creator marketing, VTR is one of the strongest indicators of whether the content was genuinely engaging, not just scrolled past
A strong VTR shows that the audience wasn’t just exposed to the content but that they stayed with it. They cared enough to watch until the message landed. This matters because attention is the scarcest resource on social platforms, if a creator holds it, the content is working! A High VTR signals strong storytelling, good pacing, and a strong creator audience relationship built on trust and authenticity.
It’s also a more accurate indicator of content resonance than ‘likes’ alone. If people watch through to the end, they are listening and that’s where influence begins.
The Campaign & Talent Manager’s Perspective
Our job as agents and campaign managers is part interpreter, part problem-solver and part creative partner.
We see the story behind the metrics, the human reactions, the creator’s understanding of their community, and the tiny details that make a campaign work.
When brands focus on reporting the right metrics, we’re able to bring the best out of both the creator and the content. When building out reports, it is important to highlight the key metrics, such as engagement rate and view through rate to ensure the success of the campaign is being told in a clear and structured way.
Using Metrics going forward
Measure outcomes, not optics! Instead of focusing on how many people saw the content, focus on what people did with the content. Did they watch it through? Did they comment? Did it spark conversation? These outcomes tell you far more about the success of a collaborative campaign with creators.
Look at engagement rate with context. Engagement rate is useful, but only when you understand the “why” behind it.Platform norms, audience size, content style and creator niche all shape what a “good” engagement rate looks like. It’s never a one-size-fits-all metric so it shouldn’t be treated like one.
Choose relevance over reach where applicable. A smaller audience that genuinely cares about the creator will always outperform a big audience that doesn’t. Creators who know their community deeply drive meaningful actions, and that’s where brands see real impact.
Prioritise long-term creator partnerships. One-off campaigns can work, but long-term partnerships build familiarity and trust. When a creator talks about a brand repeatedly, it feels natural and their audience sees it as a genuine recommendation, not a one-time transaction.
Use the campaign metrics to learn, not to micromanage. The campaign report should help guide better decisions, not restrict a creator’s freedom to create. When brands use metrics to understand what works and not to control every detail of the campaign or the content, the content becomes stronger, more authentic, and ultimately more effective.
Real influence isn’t found in follower counts. It’s found in engagement, trust and attention and that’s where brands should be measuring!
Get in touch with us for more information- hello@collabagency.com