6M Views, Almost Zero Sales: The Relevance Problem

A campaign can look like a blockbuster and still be a commercial dud. Marketing consultant Ishan Goel recalls a skills-course promotion aimed at blue-collar workers, led by a popular comedy creator. The video crossed six million views. The comments were packed with laughter. Enrolments were nearly zero.

On paper, the creator was a sound choice: a large, engaged audience and demographic overlap with the target buyer. But those viewers had come to be entertained, not to rethink their careers. A course pitch from a comedian felt off-script, so they didn’t act on it.

Views tell you attention, not trust

Most influencer reports lead with reach, views and engagement. Those numbers confirm that people watched. They do not confirm that anyone would buy this product from this person. Goel’s rule is blunt: “Content is king, but relevance is god.”

A creator with 50,000 followers who already talks about the problem your product solves will often outsell a creator with five million who doesn’t. That inverts the usual planning reflex, where the biggest audience wins by default.

Choose the scoreboard before the creator

Before briefing anyone, decide whether the campaign is for branding or for sales. Branding campaigns can be judged on reach and recall. Sales campaigns need a different scoreboard: enquiries, conversions and cost per customer.

When those two scoreboards blur, brands end up celebrating a video that sold nothing. For any sales campaign, Goel recommends running a seven-question relevance scorecard before signing a creator.

• Does the audience already come to this creator for advice in this category?
• Would followers expect this product from this person?
• Has the creator sold something similar before, and what happened?
• Does the audience have the money and the need right now?
• Will the creator genuinely use the product or just read a script?
• Is there a clear, trackable next step, such as a code or link?
• Are you measuring enquiries and sales, not only views?

If three or more answers are no, walk away, however large the audience looks.

Build a relevance pyramid

The campaigns that convert best often use a pyramid. One well-known face provides credibility at the top, a handful of mid-size creators supply category relevance in the middle, and many small local creators speak the buyer’s language at the base. Reach comes from the top; sales come from the base.

Influencer marketing isn’t broken. It is being bought like media when it should be bought like trust. Trust only moves when the audience already believes the creator has the right to recommend.

Source: Afaqs!