Forecasting Organic Engagement Value

Q1: When evaluating a brand's success on social media, what metrics do you personally look at?

A1: I usually start with likes and views because they're the most visible, but I've learned to go deeper—shares, saves, and comments are more meaningful indicators of interest. Shares especially show me that the content had enough value for someone to pass it on. If a video has high views but no comments or shares, I question whether it actually resonated with people.

Q2: If you were a brand trying to prove that your content had value without paying influencers, what kind of proof would convince you?

A2: I'd want to see a comparison to something concrete, like paid influencer pricing. If you could say, "This organic post got 100K views, which would've cost $2,500 if we paid an influencer," that's convincing. It's even better if you can break that down by metric—what the shares, comments, and views would've cost separately—so it feels more real and tailored.

Q3: Do you feel like follower count still matters in content evaluation?

A3: Not as much anymore. I think we all know someone with 100K followers who gets 200 likes. What matters more to me is engagement rate and consistency. I'd trust a microinfluencer with 10K followers and high engagement way more than a macro creator with dead followers. That's why measuring the impact of content feels more valuable than just looking at audience size.

Q4: Would a dashboard that estimates how much influencer money your post saved be useful to you?

A4: Definitely, especially for early-stage brands or student-run organizations trying to justify their content strategy. Being able to show, "We saved $6K in paid media by doing this ourselves" gives you leverage to ask for more resources—or just to prove that your content is working.

Q5: What kind of visualizations would make that data digestible for you?

A5: I'd love a timeline that shows spikes in engagement, maybe color-coded by metric type. A bar graph comparing actual views to what it would've cost to buy them is super compelling. I'd also want a total earned value summary at the top so I could screenshot it and drop it in a pitch deck.

Q1: What's something frustrating about influencer metrics today?

A1: It feels like the wild west. Every platform has different standards, and there's no agreed-upon baseline for what "good" engagement looks like. Plus, it's hard to compare a meme account with a tutorial page or a personal vlog. I wish there was a way to normalize engagement across content types and industries.

Q2: If you were launching a product, how would you decide between hiring influencers vs. building organic?

A2: I'd weigh cost against timeline. Influencers can offer a quick spike, but it's hard to know if that translates to real users or sales. Organic content takes longer, but if you can show me it brings in similar attention for free, I'm sold. Especially if I can prove that value to a team or investor.

Q3: Would a site that tells you "how much paid reach your content equals" be useful?

A3: Absolutely. I'm working on a startup, and we're trying to grow on a tight budget. If a tool could say, "Your last three posts were worth $3,000 in paid impressions," that's a powerful data point when we meet with advisors or plan our next move.

Q4: What filters would you want on that site?

A4: I'd want to filter by post format—like TikTok vs. Instagram Reels—and maybe by content length or tone. Being able to compare educational vs. comedic content would help us refine our creative direction. I'd also want to toggle between metrics like views vs. engagement vs. estimated value.

Q5: Would you share that data with your team/founder/clients?

A5: Yes, especially in investor updates. It's hard to prove traction from organic content. A tool that quantifies that impact in dollars would give us much more credibility without needing backend sales data.