Creator campaign KPI glossary

Measures sound alike and are easy to confuse. Platforms also define some of them differently, so when a number matters, ask which definition was used and who reported it. Where a measure is calculated from others, the formula is given in words.

Followers

The number of accounts that follow a creator at a point in time. It describes potential audience, not who saw a given post.

Reach

The number of different accounts that saw a piece of content at least once.

Impressions

The total number of times content was displayed, including repeat views by the same account. Impressions are always equal to or higher than reach.

Views

The number of times a video or story was played. Platforms differ on how long a play must last to count, so check the definition.

Engagements

Actions people take on content, such as likes, comments, shares and saves. Which actions are included depends on the platform.

Engagement rate

Engagements divided by reach or by impressions, shown as a percentage. State which denominator was used, because the two give different results.

Average views

The typical number of views a creator's recent content receives. Useful for judging a creator's usual performance, and a creator-reported figure unless verified.

Clicks

The number of times people clicked a link or button attached to the content.

Click-through rate

Clicks divided by impressions, shown as a percentage.

Conversions

The number of times a person completed the action the campaign was designed to produce, such as a purchase, a sign-up or an install.

Conversion rate

Conversions divided by clicks or visitors, shown as a percentage. State which was used.

Sales

The number of purchases attributed to the campaign.

Revenue

The money received from those sales. Attribution is the hard part, so note how it was attributed.

CPM

Cost per thousand impressions: spend divided by impressions, multiplied by one thousand.

CPC

Cost per click: spend divided by clicks.

CPA

Cost per action or conversion: spend divided by conversions.

ROAS

Return on ad spend: revenue divided by spend. A ratio above one means revenue exceeded spend, before other costs.

Each of these needs both inputs. If spend or the count is missing, estimated or unverified, the ratio carries the same weakness.

KPI

A key performance indicator: the measure you chose in advance to judge whether the campaign worked.

Deliverable

A specific piece of content or action a creator agrees to provide, such as one video or a set of stories.

Usage rights

Permission for a brand to reuse a creator's content in defined ways, places and periods.

Exclusivity

A restriction on the creator working with competing brands or categories for a defined period.

Amplification

Paying to promote content beyond its organic audience. It is usually budgeted separately from creator fees.

Provenance

The source of a number: who produced it and how. Reported alongside the number so readers can judge its reliability.

• Reach and impressions: reach counts people, impressions count displays. One person who sees a post three times adds one to reach and three to impressions.
• Views and reach: a view is a play, and one account can play a video more than once.
• Followers and audience: followers are a count of accounts that follow a creator. The people who actually see a post are usually only part of that group, and can include people who do not follow.
• Engagement rate: always ask for the denominator. A rate based on reach and a rate based on impressions are not comparable.
• Conversions and sales: a conversion can be a sign-up or a download, not only a purchase.

Pick the few measures that match your objective and write them in the brief, with who will report each one. A short list that people trust is worth more than a long dashboard that nobody believes.

In MOWJ, results are entered or imported against each deliverable with a provenance label. Derived measures such as engagement rate, CPM, CPC, CPA and ROAS are shown only when their inputs exist.