Vendor reportFlywheel, 2026

Only 30% to 40% of education leads are qualified on average, so a cheap lead can end up costing more per enrolled student than an expensive one

Performance measurement

Reader Note:: Qualified means the lead shows up for a call and can pay in career prep, and applies or speaks to an advisor in higher education. Averages are 40% for career prep and 30% for higher education; top performers reach 60% and 50%. The report gives no qualification rate for online learning.
Evidence:: Observed behaviour
Vendor interest:: Moderate — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
Sample:: Aggregated Flywheel client data, plus third-party research and industry insider conversations; no sample size or selection details disclosed.

Good for

Comparing yourself against a similar segment, and choosing what to test next.

Not for

Saying that one thing caused another, or predicting what you would get.
This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
This is an aggregated or average number that covers very different cases. Real results in a particular segment may differ.
The source never says how this number was measured.
The source says how much it looked at, but not how any of it was chosen.

Platform engagement and real effectiveness only line up in about one out of three creator ads, so most engaging content isn’t what will grow your brand

Most marketers are making or planning changes to performance measurement for the AI web, mainly tracking brand visibility and citations in AI tools

AI's impact on planning and measurement approaches: current/planned changes to performance measurement for the AI web
Change	Share of respondents (%)
Measuring brand visibility/citations in AI tools	48%
Using branded search/direct traffic as proxies	44%
Using 3P AI-driven discovery analysis tools	40%
Monitoring AI platform interactions/referrals	31%
Increasing use of incrementality tests	30%
Using modeled measurement (probabilistic)	30%
Refining fraud detection for legitimate agents	28%
Placing less weight on website traffic	26%
Establishing direct AI-platform partnerships	23%
Using consumer surveys or self-reported data	21%

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Buyers often use Google Search or visit a cited website directly after seeing a brand mentioned in an AI answer

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Fixing your influencer marketing campaign: How to get into the top 10% of advertisers

151

is the long-term ROI index for influencer campaigns in the UK, contributing 6.2% of total sales (excluding campaigns that produced no result)

Marketers are much more likely to track engagement rate than efficiency metrics, with engagement monitored by 91% but EMV per working spend tracked by only 9%

Share of marketers tracking each influencer campaign KPI (%)
KPI	Tracked by (%)
Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares) — How many people interacted	91%
Impressions / reach (How many people saw it)	84%
Click-through rate (How many people clicked)	78%
Sales / revenue attribution (Whether people bought)	72%
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) — What each customer cost	72%

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71% of marketers say proving ROI is their biggest influencer challenge

Top challenges marketers face with influencer marketing (% citing each)
Challenge	Share of marketers citing this challenge (%)
Determining the ROI	71%
The time it takes to run programs	50%
Content quality	48%
Selecting the right creators	46%
Working with less budget	46%
Consistency in influencer rates	35%
Scaling my influencer program	35%
Internal hurdles (leadership support, legal and regulatory)	25%
Brand safety	10%
Choosing the right agencies	8%

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Only 30% to 40% of education leads are qualified on average, so a cheap lead can end up costing more per enrolled student than an expensive one

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