What Is EMV and What Does It Measure?

in Influencer Marketing

EMV is a way to sum up the total value of how often your brand is mentioned by factors you don鈥檛 directly control or pay for. Think of it like a way to keep track of your digital word of mouth, and put a dollar value on your social media efforts. EMV focuses on the times your brand is mentioned on third party websites, TV, radio, social media, or other platforms. It can even include more specific metrics like forum posts and reviews if that matters to your brand. It works by assigning those dollar values to different efforts and actions made on social media and other marketing platforms that you didn鈥檛 directly pay for.

However, there is an important factor to know about EMV: there is no standard formula set for it. It is subjective to each brand and individual that uses it, since what metrics are useful for you can be completely different from what another brand is looking for. But that鈥檚 also what can make it such a powerful tool: you can pick and choose what matters to you, and not clutter your data with other metrics that aren鈥檛 a priority for your brand.

What Can It Measure?

As we just mentioned, EMV is a fluid formula. But that doesn鈥檛 mean you can鈥檛 start with some of the more commonly used versions of it. The most standard formula of EMV typically used is: impressions x CPM x an adjustable value.

Let鈥檚 walk through those slowly just to give you an idea of how it works.

Impressions are just how many times different viewers have seen your content. It鈥檚 a raw number, since unless it鈥檚 termed more specifically, it doesn鈥檛 mean that each of those impressions goes to a unique viewer. It also doesn鈥檛 track interactions users may have with your content. Again, it鈥檚 there simply to tell you how many eyeballs your promotion has reached.

CPM, or cost per mille, is the amount that you pay for every 1,000 impressions your content makes. For example, say that you paid $15 in marketing fees and received 15,000 impressions for your investment. Your CPM would be 1000 x $15 / 15,000 = $1. In other words, you鈥檇 be spending $1 for every 1,000 impressions in that example.

The adjustable value is where EMV can get tricky. What metric makes the most sense for your brand? You can use just about any value that makes sense. A few good examples of what you can use are: likes, story views, favorites, followers, clicks, comments, and shares. We typically recommend using more involved engagements like comments and shares over likes or favorites, but it鈥檚 all about what matters to you.

To see more on EMV and other invaluable metrics for your influencer marketing campaigns, take a look at our platform or request a demo and we鈥檒l be happy to show you a deep dive into the platform.