How to Choose an Influencer for Your Store and Evaluate Advertising Results

Choose an influencer based on how well their audience matches your customers, the audience’s location, and the quality of their previous sponsored posts. Before paying, ask for statistics from the creator’s account, agree on a small test placement, and sign a contract specifying the posts, deadlines, payment, content rights, and advertising disclosures.

If the goal of the collaboration is sales, assess paid orders after cancellations and returns, and the funds remaining after the cost of goods and variable expenses. Decide in advance how the store will link purchases to the advertising: through a unique link, a promo code, or the buyer’s response. None of these methods gives a complete picture on its own, so compare the results with the sales records.

Define what the influencer is expected to do

An influencer is a creator whose opinions a particular audience listens to. For a store, what matters in practice is whether these people are interested in your products and can buy them. Start with a brief: which product you are promoting, to whom, where, for what period, and what action you expect from the audience.

These are options for planning a test. The format alone does not guarantee sales or reach. If the owner expects orders, they should also prepare sufficient stock, a convenient purchase process, and a staff member to respond to inquiries.

How to check whether a blogger’s audience is a good fit

Match the audience’s location and interests to your sales terms

For a physical store, the share of the audience living in the city and in places within reasonable travel distance matters. For an online store, compare the audience’s location with your delivery area, delivery cost, and delivery times. A large number of followers is of little help if most of them cannot use the offer.

Review the creator’s regular posts: what products they show, what questions they receive, how they discuss prices, and what needs they talk about. For example, a home textile store might consider creators who regularly show how they furnish their homes. Next, find out whether their audience and typical spending level match your offer.

Ask for statistics directly from the account

Send every candidate the same request. This makes it easier to compare offers and understand what the store is paying for.

• Ask them to show the audience’s location and age breakdown in the platform’s available statistics.
• Ask for reach—the number of accounts that saw the content—for several recent posts in the format you need.
• Ask them to show results separately for regular and sponsored content: views, interactions, and link clicks, if those metrics are available.
• Confirm the statistics period, the post date, and whether additional paid promotion was used.
• With the creator’s consent, ask for a screen share or a short recording showing how they navigate to the statistics for specific posts. You do not need their password or account access.

Compare several posts rather than just the most successful one. If the creator shows only total views without audience location or results for the format you need, propose a smaller test budget or postpone the collaboration until you receive the relevant metrics.

Assess whether the engagement is genuine

Read comments under several posts. Look for product-related questions, substantive answers, and discussions relevant to the topic. Repetitive comments, sharp changes in metrics, or a mismatch between the language of the comments and the stated audience location are reasons to ask for an explanation. Any one of these signs alone does not prove artificial activity.

If you compare engagement rates, agree on the same calculation method: which interactions you count and whether you divide them by reach or by the number of followers. Percentages based on different denominators cannot be compared directly. For the final choice, also consider the placement price, audience fit, and the result of a small paid test.

Start with a small paid test

The store owner should decide how much the business can spend on the test and select a limited range of products. Choose one clear offer, one primary ordering method, and a specific evaluation period. If you change the creator, product, discount, and page layout all at once, it will be harder to identify the cause of the result.

1. Prepare the product. The person responsible for the product range checks stock, available sizes or colors, the price, and whether the order can be fulfilled.
2. Go through the customer journey. A staff member opens the advertising link on a phone, places a test order, and checks the delivery and payment terms.
3. Prepare staff. Sales staff receive the offer terms, dates, promo code rules, and instructions for recording the source of a purchase.
4. Agree on reporting. The creator knows which metrics to send to the store and when. The owner assigns a staff member to compare them with orders.
5. Decide what happens next. Before launch, write down what results would lead you to repeat the placement, change the offer, or stop working with the creator.

If possible, do not run other advertising for the same product during this period. If parallel campaigns are necessary, use different tracking labels and account for their possible combined effect. Comparing results with sales before the post is useful for an overall assessment, but by itself it does not prove that the change happened because of the creator.

What to include in an influencer brief and contract

A brief is a short assignment for creating an advertisement. In it, the owner or marketer describes the customer, the product and its verified features, the offer, the ordering method, and the required information. Let the creator choose a presentation style that feels natural for their page, while setting out how facts, prices, terms, and disclosures will be approved.

Record the specific scope of work and acceptance terms in the contract or its appendix:

• Parties and authority. Identify the service provider, the payment recipient, and the person who approves the post. If a manager is handling negotiations, confirm who will sign the contract and be responsible for performing it.
• Content. Specify the platform, account, number of posts, format, video length, links, store tags, and how long the content must remain available.
• Deadlines and approval. Set the date for submitting the content, the number of revisions, the person responsible for approval, and the publication date. Separately agree on what happens if the product runs out or the offer terms change.
• Payment. Record the total amount, the services included, any advance payment, the final payment, the cost of additional work, and the documents the parties will use to confirm completion.
• Product for filming. Clarify whether the product is provided as compensation or temporarily, who pays for delivery, and when it must be returned.
• Disclosure and accuracy. Agree on the use and placement of the word «Реклама» (“Advertising”) and prohibit unapproved product claims.
• Reporting. Specify the metrics to be provided, when the statistics must be sent, and how publication will be confirmed.
• Failure to deliver or error. Set out the process for rescheduling, corrections, republication, cancellation, and refunds for work not performed.
• Restrictions on working with competitors. If needed, define the product category, duration, and corresponding compensation.

Distinguish between the obligation to publish the approved content and the store’s goal of making sales. Treat the creator’s forecasts for views or orders as forecasts. The store should decide whether to repeat the collaboration based on the actual test results.

How to disclose a blogger’s advertising under Ukrainian law

For a store ordering advertising for customers in Ukraine, apply the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising.” Under Articles 1 and 9 of this Law, advertising content distributed for monetary or other compensation must be identified as advertising using the word «реклама» (“advertising”). Hidden advertising is prohibited. Providing a product in exchange for an agreed advertising post must also be treated as non-monetary compensation.

A practical way to meet this requirement is to put the clearly visible word «Реклама» (“Advertising”) at the beginning of the text and in the advertising video. For a series of short posts, provide a disclosure in every part that can be viewed separately. Do not rely solely on the #ad tag, a thank-you to the store, or a mention of a gift: the approved content must include the word «Реклама» and make the advertising purpose clear.

Under Article 6, the state language is the language of advertising. For ordinary store advertising, prepare the text, voice-over, and on-screen text in Ukrainian. Intellectual property may be used in the language of its legal protection, while internet addresses and other network identifiers may use Latin letters. The law also provides for specific use of the languages of indigenous peoples and national minorities in accordance with special legislation.

The owner should give the creator accurate product specifications, current prices, and terms. Articles 8 and 10 require, among other things, that prices of goods sold in Ukraine be stated in hryvnias and prohibit unfair advertising. Before approval, remove unsubstantiated exaggerations and claims that the creator personally used a product when they did not.

• If a promo code gives a discount, state where the discount applies, its start and end dates, and the discount amount or the ratio of the new price to the previous price. Clearly describe the products and offer restrictions.
• If you hold a prize draw, the advertising must state the dates, location, and source of information about the terms and location. Changes to the terms, location, or dates must be communicated in the same way as the original information.

Under Article 27, the advertiser is responsible, among other things, for inaccurate information provided for creating the advertisement and for ordering content that violates requirements for advertising content. The owner should therefore approve the final version and keep it together with the contract and proof of publication.

Agree on rights to photos, video, music, and people’s images

If the store plans to repost the creator’s video, publish it on its website, edit short versions, or use it in paid advertising, specify each intended use. Under Articles 1107–1109 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, transactions involving economic intellectual property rights generally require written form, including electronic form; the law may provide exceptions. Rights and uses not specified in a license agreement are considered not granted.

The terms of permission should cover the specific content, type of license, publishing channels, territory, duration, payment, and permitted editing. Ask the creator to clear the use of music, photographs, and other third-party elements for every planned format. If the rights to an element are insufficient, replace it before publication.

Separately address the use of people’s names and images in advertising. Point 9 of Part One of Article 8 of the Law “On Advertising” provides for written or electronic consent and statutory exceptions, including, under specified conditions, paid posing or performing a role in the creation of advertising. For filming in the store, agree in advance on the participation of sales staff and customers, and keep incidental visitors out of the frame. Also specify in the creator’s contract how the store may use their name and image.

How to link purchases to advertising and protect customer data

Attribution means assigning a purchase to a particular advertising contact according to a chosen rule. Before launch, the owner should define that rule and the period during which orders will be counted. For example, each creator can have a unique link and promo code, while in-store purchases can be tracked by asking customers how they heard about the offer, with answering being voluntary.

The assigned staff member keeps a table with the order number, creator, attribution basis, date, payment amount, returns, cost of goods, and variable expenses. If one order has both a link click and a promo code, count it once. Flag orders with multiple advertising contacts separately and handle them according to a rule agreed in advance.

• A link click shows interest but does not confirm payment. A customer may also return by another route or order from a different device.
• A promo code helps link a purchase to an offer, but it may be shared beyond the creator’s audience. Some customers may forget to use it.
• A customer’s response adds to the records, but the person may not remember a specific post.
• Growth in total sales should be compared with other promotions, product availability, and changes in demand.

If the store uses Google Analytics, the staff member responsible for analytics should compare its metrics with the order records. Google’s guide to ecommerce metrics distinguishes purchase events, the number of items purchased, and refunds. In particular, the Transactions metric may include refund events, so it should not automatically be treated as the number of paid orders remaining after returns.

For a report to the creator, use totals and purchase counts. Do not give them customer lists with phone numbers or purchase histories. Under Articles 6 and 11 of the Law of Ukraine “On Personal Data Protection”, processing requires a specific lawful purpose and a legal basis; the data collected must not be excessive, and the retention period must match the purpose. Fulfilling an order may be a basis for processing the customer data needed for that purpose, but sharing it with a blogger or later using it for advertising requires a separate assessment of the legal basis and purpose. A summary report without identifying data is usually enough to evaluate a campaign.

How to calculate results after returns

Contribution margin is revenue after discounts and returns, minus the cost of goods sold and variable expenses associated with the orders. These expenses may include packaging, payment fees, delivery paid for by the store, and return costs. The balance shows how much money is available to cover advertising and the store’s fixed expenses.

Example for illustration. Under the agreed rule, the store linked 30 orders to the advertising. Four were not paid for, and two more were fully returned. That left 24 paid orders without returns. For simplicity, each has the same figures: UAH 1,000 in revenue after the discount, UAH 600 in cost of goods, and UAH 100 in variable expenses. In this example, there are no additional uncovered expenses for cancelled or returned orders.

Under these conditions, each order generates UAH 300 in contribution margin, so 20 such orders are needed to cover UAH 6,000 in advertising expenses. The UAH 1,200 balance is not net profit: the business still has fixed expenses and other applicable payments to cover. In an actual calculation, use the amounts for each order, account for partial returns, and include all campaign expenses not otherwise covered.

After the agreed evaluation period, make a preliminary calculation, then adjust it once returns have been recorded. Plan any repeat placement based on the contribution margin, available stock, and capacity to process orders. A positive result from one test does not guarantee the same result from a later post.

Tracking purchases and manually comparing advertising campaigns in Torgsoft

If the store keeps its records in Torgsoft, the responsible staff member can use a customer’s transaction history to reconcile purchases and returns. In the «Маркетинг → Клієнти» (“Marketing → Customers”) menu, open the «картку клієнта» (customer card) and the «Придбання» (“Purchases”) tab. It shows purchases and returns recorded in transactions associated with that customer. To make this comparison, the sale must be linked to the relevant customer.

Record the link between an order and a specific creator in a separate campaign table, using the agreed rule. Using order or document numbers, a staff member manually matches the table to the records, accounts for returns, and calculates contribution margin. Before publication, also compare recorded stock with the products actually available. For a retail chain, separate results by accounting centers—stores or warehouses in Torgsoft—to see where customers could access the product.

Torgsoft operates under a paid license or subscription; features depend on the selected option. In particular, «Старт» (“Start”) provides for one accounting center, and multiple centers require the relevant license option; simultaneous remote work with a shared server database requires an appropriate solution. Before purchasing, confirm the required accounting scope, workstations, and access to customer data, and review Torgsoft’s current prices, limitations, and commercial terms.

Official legislation for formalizing the collaboration

• Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” dated 03.07.1996 No. 270/96-VR: Article 1—definitions of advertising and hidden advertising; Article 6—language; Article 8—content, images of people, discounts, and prize draws; Article 9—advertising identification; Article 10—unfair advertising; Article 27—liability.
• Civil Code of Ukraine dated 16.01.2003 No. 435-IV: Articles 1107–1109—form of transactions involving economic intellectual property rights, licenses, and license agreement terms.
• Law of Ukraine “On Personal Data Protection” dated 01.06.2010 No. 2297-VI: Article 6—purpose, scope, and duration of processing; Article 11—legal grounds for processing.