ROI nightmares from influencer collabs? Brands might be measuring it all wrong!

New Delhi: It did not take much convincing for the industry to realise that the number of followers does not accurately gauge a creator’s worth. Conversations around “engagement is the new currency” have been long-brewed and buried. However, the influencer marketing ecosystem is still grappling with the ROI ruckus. 

Despite prioritising engagement, multiple brands, after investing in a high-engagement creator, are left with questions around the return on their investment.

Measurement metrics that are currently dominating the discourses between a brand and a creator rely on reach, impressions, engagement, follower growth, conversions and sales. According to Hitharth Dadia, CEO, NOFILTR, “the current metrics do not work.”

“The current metrics just don’t work — let’s be honest about that. Everyone’s out here trying to spin stories around numbers: ‘audience did this’, ‘audience did that’. But those minuscule metrics aren’t giving brands real ROI. And this isn’t just my observation — it’s a recurring conversation with every agency partner I speak to. ROI is keeping people up at night.”

A new yardstick?

To solve a problem so dense, NOFILTR is betting on a new yardstick that may significantly complement, if not entirely replace, the current metrics. 

Influence Density is the new lens that Dadia has to offer to all the brands wondering why their campaign did not churn out results, despite a high-engagement creator on board with them. 

In a whitepaper launched by the agency, influence density is defined as a metric to measure the “concentration of actual influence relative to audience size”. Putting it in simple terms, a high-density creator has an audience that acts, and a low-density creator has an audience that observes.

What influences density functions is not the quantity of engagement but the quality. 

A high-density creator might have users engaging with his content with comments like “Your recommendation was spot on; just ordered my second one because of you.” A low or standard density creator might have comments like “Great video as always!” 

This distinction jolts the engagement metric that is so dear to the industry. 

While the engagement might be high for the latter, the former is the one that actually catalyses conversions for a brand, the agency claims in the white paper. 

What does it change?

With influence density in town, Dadia believes that it can rewrite the roles of influencer marketing agencies “to a significant degree.” 

“Earlier, we sort of knew it instinctively. It was more of a gut feeling — we could sense when a creator was driving real engagement versus just vanity metrics. 

But now, with a more structured framework — and with a concept like "influence density" — we have language for it. We know what to ask. We know what to measure,” he said.

Dadia added that it will get easier for brands and agencies to sift through the myriad creators by asking themselves, Is this creator influence dense?

“With this metric, I know exactly what I'm assessing. Over time, that’s going to reshape how we scout, how we incubate, and how we onboard talent. My team structures, our priorities, even our KPIs will evolve with that shift.” 

Influence cannot be a black-and-white topic, according to Dadia. “It is much more of a greyscale spectrum.” 

Dadia added, “A creator might not be massively followed, but they could be incredibly influential within a specific niche. That’s where this framework of ‘influence density’ becomes useful.’

Speaking from his own experience, Dadia mentioned, “This system has fundamentally changed the kind of feedback we offer. Earlier, we might have had a gut feeling that something was off — maybe a creator was posting too much branded content, or the engagement just felt shallow. 

And while we didn’t always have structured data to back it up in the short term, over six months, our instincts usually proved right. Now, with influence density as a lens, we can actually structure those insights.” 

Will this metric make or break creators? 

Influence density completely changes the lens with which a creator looks at their success. For them, the number of followers, likes, and comments might hold no importance. This may rewrite the definition of a successful creator.  

According to Dadia, a successful creator, at their core, is “someone who gets paid to do something they would’ve done for free anyway.”

“That’s the sweet spot. Take, for example, a creator who genuinely loves Mercedes. It’s an aspirational brand for them — maybe they even go out and buy one. Naturally, they’re going to talk about it. Now, imagine Mercedes actually partners with them and pays them for that same content. That’s ideal — authenticity meets opportunity,” Dadia explained.

Creators, in today’s day and age, are aiming to become a billboard, rather than a conversation starter. Dadia quipped. “In such a case, brands might not get the results they were expecting to emanate from a high-value creator (as per the standard measurement metrics).” 

Dadia believes that if this metric gains traction and prominence, creators who do not have real conversations with their audience might go obsolete. 

“If you look at a lot of content today — especially static posts or reels — and scroll through the comments, it feels like noise. It's like I’m talking to you, but you keep complimenting my shirt instead of engaging with what I’m saying. That’s not connection — that’s distraction.

That used to work back in the day when aesthetic content was enough. But now, with so many creators competing for limited attention, we crave something meaningful — content we can save, share, and talk about. If I, as a creator, don’t truly ‘exist’ for my audience beyond the visuals, then I’m easy to scroll past,” said Dadia. 

Building community at the core of the metric

Putting things in perspective, Dadia explained that the thing that keeps the creator going and their audience engaged “is not just viral trends – it is interest.” A creator who has genuine passion for something or fostering a hobby, and they share those publicly, the audience picks up on that, Dadia said. “And that builds loyalty,” he said. 

“It adds another layer to their personality, making them memorable. Therefore, no matter the platform, the audience follows because the creator always has something interesting to say,” Dadia said. 

Drawing parallels with a branded campaign, he said, “When we apply this thinking to branded campaigns, we see amazing results. If a creator is naturally into F1 and we work on an F1-related campaign, the content clicks because it’s authentic. 

The audience isn’t stupid — they don’t need spoon-fed brand messaging. You have to treat them with the same respect Nolan treats his audience: assume intelligence.”