Influencer marketing is a multi-billion dollar powerhouse industry with no signs of slowing down on spending, or efficacy. According to a recent study, it’s been found that businesses and brands can see up to 11x’s higher ROI with influencer marketing than with other, more traditional forms of advertising. More and more brands are turning to influencer marketing to grow their business, spending nearly $8 billion this year alone. That number is only projected to increase as Business Insider recently predicted that brands are set to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022.It’s no surprise that companies are willing to spend if they see real results. But how can those companies be sure their maximizing their return on investment (ROI)? Answer: data collection and analysis.The strategy surrounding successful influencer marketing campaigns is dictated by accurate data collection and analysis. The use of this data can connect audiences, influencers, and brands with similar interests and affinities, thereby increasing engagement and ROI. But the collection and subsequent commodification of this data introduces an incredibly important ethical question: when and how can we accurately report this data without breaching consumer’s privacy?The solution, we believe is two-fold: practice ethical data collection and analysis, and then taking every measure possible to protect that data from being compromised or shared inappropriately.

Ethical data collection and analysis

It all starts with responsible data collection. Tagger, along with a few other influencer marketing platforms, gains ethical access to users’ social media data through applying for and being granted, API approval. Make sure the platform you use has API approval from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest or other major social media channels to access data on those platforms. Some influencer marketing platforms unethically “scrape” unapproved data from social platforms. Data collection should always be approved through the various API’s based on a platform’s use case.API approval is so vital to the ethical question of data collection because all social media users have control of their data privacy within each individual platform. Therefore, we can only collect and/or analyse the data that users choose to share. Users should be most concerned about their data privacy when they use their social accounts to log in to third-party apps or websites. The app and or website should be very clear what data they have access to and how they are using that data to benefit the user.

Protecting user data

Once an entity has access to user information, they have a moral responsibility to protect that data. When investing in a platform, make a point to ensure they implement the best-in-class data security and protection protocol possible.Examples of this data protection might include a web application firewall, database encryption, continuous penetration testing, continuous vulnerability scans, SOC2 audits, and third-party verification, and two-factor identification, to name a few.The goal of these measures is to ensure the safety of user data is never compromised. There are new legal boundaries on data collection being determined by governments around the World. Though they might be extreme in some situations, the root of their intention is to protect the rights of their citizens. In the past, a user’s data was no longer theirs once they signed on to an app, website, or platform. Today, governments have made the right decision to give ownership of that data back to the people. I think we are going to look back in 20 years and be shocked by how little control people had of their digital data. I think people are going to be more willing to pay for platforms like Facebook and Google if that means that their data is completely private.   The bottom line: social media and influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere. With the increase in spending in our industry, we have to be more diligent than ever to make sure the data we’re collecting is correct and harvested in an ethical manner.As long as boundaries are drawn between brands, influencers, and their audiences, data can be utilised without taking advantage of people’s privacy. 

Tagger is a headline sponsor for this year’s Influencer Marketing Show. Meet them and learn how to connect audiences, influencers, and brands using data analysis and ethical data collection at their session on Day 1.

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