Name: Speak C-Suite: The Key Metrics That Secure Budget
Uploaded: 2026-03-19T15:41:10.832Z
Duration: 25 min 8 s
Description: Speak C-Suite: The Key Metrics That Secure Budget

Transcript for "Speak C-Suite: The Key Metrics That Secure Budget": Hi, everyone, and welcome. Today, we're going to be discussing the key metrics that help your brand secure budget. My name is Emilia Semperban, and I am a product marketing manager here at Amplify. Now a couple housekeeping notes before I introduce our amazing guest speaker. Keep an eye out for a couple of polls that will be sent throughout the session. You know, your responses will be super helpful in ensuring that we can give you the best possible reporting experiences in our platform. And then if you do have any questions, feel free to put them in the Q and A section on the right hand side of your screen, and we will get to those questions throughout the session. Now, I am very excited to announce our guests today. We are joined by senior data analysts at Epic Games, Delina Rodriguez. You might have heard of a few of Epic Games games such as Fortnite, Fall Guys, and Rocket League, to name just a few. Welcome, Galina. Thank you for joining. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and about your role? Thank you. For over a decade, I've worked across social, marketing, and partnerships, helping teams translate social performance into insights that leadership can actually use to make decisions. A big part of my role is a bridge between data and strategy. It's not just about reporting numbers. It's also about answering what does this mean, why should we care, and what should we do next. The translation layer is where social data becomes truly valuable. Awesome. Thank you. So what does your day to day kind of look like? Can you walk us through that and then also kind of give us an insight into how Amplify plays a factor into that day? Sure. Yeah. Every day is a mix of dashboards, deep dives, and conversations with stakeholders across social marketing and partnerships. Amplify plays a crucial role in that workflow. It's where we monitor cross platform performance, track engagement, and audience growth. We identify UGC and community momentum, very important for any drops or any campaigns that we're launching. And then we spot shifts early before they show up in lagging reports. So we look for any signals that we get within Amplify, especially within the content dashboards to see how each of the content pieces are performing. Instead of pulling data from dozens of tools, Amplify lets me move faster when I'm performing those analysis and provide it into stakeholders, which is essential for all of the decisions that we make. As Galina mentioned, unified analytics really is the central hub for all things metrics in the Amplify platform. Search for specific metrics or widgets, and then use that data to export as it is, or add to a board. Awesome. Thank you so much. And now I'm sure one of the reasons that everyone wanted to join and and kind of listen in, a little fun question. Are you allowed to to let us know which of the Epic Games is your favorite? Are you is that not not something that you're allowed to disclose? Because I think I'm very curious to know. I would have to say I'm a little biased. Okay. But it's a pretty dangerous question, but I'd say Fortnite. It's a pretty social perspective. Fortnite is so creative, and we have a lot of different activations that we do. It's full of surprises, and the community perception and scale are so fascinating and interesting to watch. It's not just a game. I feel like it's a cultural movement, and that makes social insights incredibly exciting and rich. Yeah. No. I agree. And I think even personally, Fortnite's definitely a favorite of mine as well. And like you said, the social kind of aspect and that community aspect of Fortnite is just really, really cool to see. I mean, I feel like I still recite that one song that's about Fortnite that's like, number one victory royale, like, all the time. So, you know, I definitely relate to the cultural aspect of Fortnite, so that's really cool to get to hear. So let's jump into, I think, a little bit more of the nitty gritty questions kind of surrounding your role, what you do. So, essentially, let's say I'm a C suite member. I don't really understand, you know, why social media is important. I don't understand the impact of Epic Games social. How would you explain at a kind of high level why social is a critical part of what Epic Games does? Yeah. No problem. So at a high level, social is where culture shows up for our players. It's where excitement builds, communities form, and our games live beyond the screen. Social gives us a real time pulse check on relevance, sentiment, and audience correlation, also connection between the community. For executives, that makes social more than marketing. It's an early indicator of brand health. So when we do any any launches, we wanna make sure that the sentiment around Fortnite is positive. And if it's not, how can we answer those questions with content? Creative resonance resonance and long term audience value. So it's measuring success at scale, basically, and this helps reinforce how social performance ladders up to business visibility. Awesome. Thank you for that. So what would you say are those kind of key metrics that prove value to stakeholders? Oh, yeah. So we focus on metrics that answer real business questions, not vanity metrics. So reach and impressions to understand scale, engagement and shares to understand results, audience growth for long term value, and then UGC volume and velocity to measure community perception. Together, these metrics tell a story that leadership can trust, not just what happened, but why it matters. Awesome. And what was the discussion or the kind of decision making factor that helped determine those metrics? So what was it that said, okay, these are the metrics that we really want to continue to focus on as we build out our social strategy? I think it's was it worth the investment? Right? So did that skin work? Were was the skin mode performing correctly? We make sure the metrics directly support those questions. And that means less tracking everything, more tracking to the right things, and then clarity always beats that complexity. I really like that clarity versus complexity. I think that's a really good kind of rule of thumb to focus on. So it sounds like for you that a lot of it focuses on not just, okay, we're looking at these metrics, but we're also asking the questions, what are we trying to solve for, and how do the metrics that we're looking at kind of answer those questions without having to do, like, 800 different dashboards and things like that as well? Exactly. I mean, that's the best way to determine your goals when you're launching any of these campaigns, and that should be the first thing you're doing is what should this campaign do? What should it say? How should people feel when they react to it? And you answer those questions with these metrics, and that's helpful when it comes to telling the story of whether it was successful. Awesome. No. That's that's really great insight to hear. So you mentioned UGC, and I definitely wanna touch on that because I think, you know, especially now as we look at social strategy for brands in 2026, UGC really is a pretty critical part of of strategy. So how does UGC play that really large role for Epic Games, and what metrics are you focusing on for UGC? If you could dive a little bit deeper into those. Oh, yeah. UGC is huge for us because it signals intent. Anyone can scroll, but creating content means the audience is emotionally invested. We look at UGC volume. We look at engagement quality and then momentum over time. Where where we see any drop offs, if any, any gaps, and and how can we fill those with some sustainable content. And then Simplify helps us spot those patterns early so we can act while it still matters, not the moment not after the moment has passed. Mhmm. Awesome. And when you're looking at that UGC, when you're looking at the rest of the metrics that are kind of available to you through the Amplify platform, are there particular social platforms that are most critical for you and that are kind of where you're trying to to win the most and and have the most success? Oh, yeah. Instagram is probably our higher player base and audience platform where they are engaged and participating the most in our content. Good news. But then we have TikTok, and TikTok is a new audience. We wanna bring new audiences to the game game, so that always helps when TikTok is performing well. Good news. And so those are the metrics that we look at, especially when we're launching a new mode. In this day and age, it's never been more critical for any brand, not just Epic Games, to ensure that they're creating and maintaining user generated content. Within the Amplify platform, you can automatically curate and collect user generated content and then publish it. You can select different media types and then publish it automatically to the sites that are most critical for you. Mhmm. Okay. Awesome. So let's move into the kind of practical application of Amplify and, you know, again, really diving into the metrics that you're using, and how not just you you kinda look at those metrics, but also how are you sharing them out. Right? So when you're gathering and sharing those insights, how how do you feel like is the best way to share them in a way that your team understands? You know, I know, obviously, you're in platform a lot of the time. So for you, it's kind of second nature, like another, you know, just another extension of of what you're always kind of focusing on. But for, let's say, like, a new member of the team or somebody who might not understand as well, what kind of format are you using? How are you kind of explaining the value of these metrics? Yeah. I tailor the metrics to the audience. Mhmm. As a data analyst who finds data extremely interesting, I wanna throw everything at everyone because I think it's great. Yeah. But it doesn't always work very well, especially when executives, they don't have a lot of time and they need those high level metrics. Good news. So we get a clear narrative and trend direction using those top line metrics that we mentioned previously. On social teams, they get tactical takeaways, so it it informs those content decisions. Mhmm. That's the metrics that we wanna give them. And then partners get proof of impact. They wanna see whether or not their campaign worked, and the partnership with Fortnite made any impact on their audience. And with this, consistency is key. So when stakeholders know audit insights are coming and they're clear and reliable, that quickly builds trust. Great. So when you think about that trust and that kind of consistency, how often do you feel like is the kind of rule of thumb to share? What like, how often are you giving these updates, and, you know, are you doing it in, like, a PowerPoint or in you know, you're just sending them a dashboard directly? Usually, a PowerPoint to tell the story is a little bit easier. Sometimes it could be some data points over Slack, so three bullets. It it helps them to decipher the data, and so they don't have to do a lot of digging for the information that they need. And then how often do guys go to the campaign? Like, we'll have campaigns that will launch, like, let's say, for example, the kill bill activation. Mhmm. Bloody affair was a in person event, realized event. So we wanted to make sure that we provided metrics for the first hour and then the twelve hour and then twenty four hours to see if it was impactful. Awesome. Very cool. So we've talked about this a little bit, but, okay. You've shared all your insights, but let's take a step back. How does Amplify kind of put all of those insights together? What kind of tools are you using in our platform to be able to execute on on that reporting? Unified analytics, 100%. That's probably my my holy grail right now. I love to hear that. That always that that makes me happy. Oh, great. I go in there and make a dashboard and usually look at what whatever I need when it comes to analyzing trends. A lot of the times, we like to compare our campaigns year over year or month over month. And it's very, very helpful to put those, widgets into, you know, unified analytics and see those different we can, identify those different outliers when we are doing those comparisons, especially when it comes to impressions year over year and engagements. Awesome. Yeah. And I I think some of the things that, you've mentioned, especially with DOGC as well, I think, it's been really cool to see how your team has been able to use Amplify to pull those insights out and also do it quickly. I think that's one of the big things. You know, you've mentioned I mean, obviously, you're busy. You you have a lot of different campaigns happening all at once, so it's really exciting to hear that, you know, we're able to help you out with that. You know, that's always the goal is to not just help you move, but help you move faster and to help you be accurate in your data. So, can you share an a kind of example or of a specific set oops. Sorry. Words are hard today. Can you share an example of a specific situation where the reports and insights that you analyzed were kind of critical to a key decision or to a strategic shift? Yeah. So there have been moments when early engagement and unity signals validated the creative direction of signals that we need to adjust mid campaign. Notably, for the Simpsons campaign, we noticed that some of the visibility was going down, the engagements, and we just realized we needed to release a new piece of content, something that had a fresh pair of eyes so that we could increase that visibility. And we did that day on the spot, and it was able to drive, you know, 2.3 times the performance just with that content piece alone. So that helped us getting those insight early getting those insights early really helped us double down on what was working or refine our messaging, but then optimize that distribution. Instead of waiting for, you know, that report at the end of the campaign, those insights became a real time steering mechanism for the campaign to move forward. Awesome. So it really is about, okay. Let me proactively take a look at, you know, what's what's doing well, what's not doing super well, and then kind of shifting accordingly. Yeah. Do you feel like that's something that happens frequently where you're, you know, oh, okay. We have to kind of pivot our strategy halfway through or something like that, or do you feel like maybe you get insights ahead of time that have been helpful in steering the activity that makes it so that you don't have to kind of make those shifts? I would say it's a little bit of both. Mhmm. We are very fast moving here. I think that we like to make sure that everything is performing good from the beginning. Yeah. And then perhaps we like to set ourselves up for success before that. You never know. Social shifts. You never know, you know, what's gonna happen. And I think that Amplify has helped us to combat any of those challenges and answer any of those questions that we need to answer when it comes to content and driving the campaign forward. Mhmm. So I'd say it's a bit of mix. Yeah. Awesome. So let's kind of dive into I know we've touched on, okay, some of the key metrics, things like that. But what when you think about the future and kind of pivoting towards looking at strategy for the new year, What are some of the goals that you've set up for yourself and for your team at Epic Games in 2026? Okay. We're continuing to mature how we use social insights and really moving from reactive reporting to proactive reporting. Social insights are a newer thing, I feel, for a lot of businesses and tying those names to to metrics and being able to quantify any of that performance, and that's something that we are looking to do. Just take those reporting metrics and quantify those to to end game and see how those metrics compare to our social audience. So that includes stronger UGC analysis, better trend forecasting, and then tighter alignment between social signals and business outcomes. Awesome. First of all, I love the idea of memes to metrics. I think I might have to steal that That is so good. Think I need that on a T shirt or something. That's got to be branded everywhere. So if you don't copyright that, we might have to on our side. That's our collab. That's the collab that we're doing. So you you mentioned the idea of tying these signals to business outcomes. For you, what are some of the business outcomes that social really helps drive? Is it sales? Is it awareness? Does it kind of fall into multiple buckets? I think social is a will awareness. I always think that it's a I think of it as the billboard. Right? We we launch campaigns and content. We hope people really enjoy them, and that gets them into the game. But, also, we have the shop, where we have the skins and the different cosmetics and other things that we want to push on social and then be able to track the performance of of that content into the shop and see if that's really increasing purchases. But then it's also player engagement. So did this piece of content drive more players into the game? And if it did, are we able to identify any of those signals of where players stopped up? And if we can, how can we rectify that with content and social? So I think bridging the gaps between those two are something is our main focus for the for that point. Awesome. Thanks for sharing that. I think I like what you've said about, you know, social as awareness. I think it is a really good point. Right? I think sometimes brands get hung up on, oh my gosh, everything needs to be, you know, like a this, like, a click into our store, etcetera. But I think, yeah, when you look at, okay, you know, we are we are creating this community on social that really just fosters, you know, awareness and drives, you know, loyalty, I think that that's something to really to kind of emphasize for brands as well. Yeah. Now we talked about your goals, you know, tying some of those social strategies to business outcomes, being very proactive about reporting. How do you feel like Amplify will play a part in the advances that you'll be making with your strategy with Epic Games this year? Yeah. By helping us scale those insights without adding that complexity. I think that's very important to focus on the insights that matter, and Infamply helps us distill all of the insights that we can have out there into the ones that we know we need to make sure that our campaigns are performing properly and our programs are happy. And as campaigns and communities grow, having a platform that supports smarter analysis, not just more data, becomes very critical. As Galina highlighted, 2026 is the year for smarter analysis and next level execution. Amplify Fuel is designed to bridge the gap between social signals and business outcomes by simplifying how you manage and scale strategy. Instead of getting lost in data complexity, FUEL allows you to push content and insights directly between paid and organic workflows. It's about helping you work smarter with key objectives, and close the loop between understanding what your audience craves and delivering high impact content that fuels real growth. Awesome. No. I like smarter analysis, I think, is something that we are really leaning into, And I think it's really cool to get to hear that, you know, from what it seems like, our futures are very aligned for 2026. You know, I think that's one of our big goals. And, you know, hopefully, we will be able to continue to kind of help kind of guide that for you. So I know there's a lot of metrics that matter. There's a lot of and you said it definitely depends on, let's say, you know, the team that you're talking to, the team that you're sharing these reports with. If we were going to say, okay, Galina, you can only report on these three metrics, and these are the most important ones, what are you choosing in your, like, all star roster of metrics to share? Impressions Mhmm. Reach engagement rate Mhmm. And media views. Okay. Yes. Yes. Impressions are how many eyes have seen your content, but reach engagement rate are how many people have actually resonated with your content. So they actually engaged and viewed it. It's a very important metric, especially when you're launching new campaigns. Mhmm. And then media views, that's going to show you who's looking at the actual video and the digital content, but they are also engaging with it too. Like, they're looking at it longer than the video view. So it's really more valuable than the video view you might put in. But those are the three metrics that I think you can determine whether the campaign's successful pretty early on. Mhmm. Awesome. Alright. So we've talked a lot about, you know, Amplify, about, you know, analytics, all of these different things. But let's, you know, take a step back and and think more about okay. For you, if you were gonna give any other, you know, analyst advice on kind of what to focus on, how to proactively kind of do that reporting the way that you do, what advice are you giving somebody who might be, you know, new into social reporting or is trying to move more into proactive reporting from reactive? Yeah. Don't wait for leadership to get insight. You can practically proactively tell a clear story with the data, especially one that connects social performance and business. And the stakeholders are really excited about those things. Quantifying physical has been pretty interesting since I've been in marketing, you know, so it's very new. But when you can do it, it makes it look so much valuable, and it is valuable to your audience. And it makes budget conversations lots lots easier. So metrics don't secure budget. Stories powered by the right metrics do. Mhmm. I love that. I think that should be again, we have a lot of things that could go on T shirts, I feel like, on this. This is like pull quotes for T shirts, poll quotes for, you know, like, blog headers. I I think that you have put out a lot of great advice, and I I really appreciate it. You've given us a lot of great insights, Galina. I'm really appreciative that you've been able to join us to chat through, you know, some of the most critical metrics for you, for your team, and kind of what really helps secure budget and what is the kind of north star for social reporting. Do you have any kind of final thoughts on reporting, on Amplify, or any other advice that you'd want to give? Yeah. Just keep on reporting. I love it. Yes. I agree. Keep on reporting. Yes. I think I mean, great advice. So I appreciate it. So thank you so much for joining us today. I can't wait to see what else you'll be able to do with Amplify. Thank you for having me.