Measurement · 5 September 2026 · 5 min read
How to Tell Whether a Partnership Actually Worked
Likes are the most misleading number on the screen. Here's what actually tells you whether the campaign moved anything.
Why likes mislead
A well-known person gets a lot of likes on everything, with or without your brand in the frame. So the number measures their popularity, not your campaign. The comparison that matters is between their ordinary posts and the one carrying your brand.
The three layers worth watching
Reach: how many people, and do they overlap with your target? Engagement: saves, shares and comments — far stronger signals than likes because they take effort. Conversion: site traffic, search volume, code redemptions, sales. Read any one of them alone and the picture lies.
Watch your brand searches
Our favourite indicator: after the campaign runs, is your brand name being searched more on Google? It sits very close to purchase intent and costs nothing to measure — compare the two weeks before with the two weeks after.
You have to set it up beforehand
Asking "did that work?" after the campaign is already too late. Record the baseline before launch: traffic, followers, search volume, sales. Without a before, the after means nothing.
Talk about the bad result too
Not every campaign lands. When one doesn't, finding out why — wrong name, wrong channel, wrong timing — is what saves the next one. Dressing up the result helps nobody.