The Top 10 Influencer Marketing Campaigns (Updated 2024)

Every business owner will tell you that marketing is tough, with so much noise in the world, it’s hard to get consumers to notice your brand, especially since 89% of millennials say they trust recommendations from friends and family more than brand advertisements. With an annual buying power of over $200 billion, millennials are the largest monetization opportunity for brands.

So, as a marketer or business owner how can you cut through the noise and solve these issues? Exactly how these brands have done it, Influencer marketing. The best part, most campaigns we'll discuss were started with little to no money. Here are the top 10 influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram and TikTok.

What is an Influencer Marketing Campaign?

An influencer marketing campaign is a time-bound advertising strategy that involves influential content creators. Such campaigns capitalize on the social media following and popularity of an influencer to drive higher brand awareness and achieve more sales for products or services. 

The types of influencers involved in these marketing campaigns don’t always need to have an extremely large following. While macro-influencers can help generate buzz,  nano-influencers, and micro-influencers are great at helping marketers tap into specific niche audiences and gain more trust for their brands. 

Different Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns 

Influencer marketing campaigns can come in many forms, so let’s take a look at the different types that you can consider. 

1. Sponsored posts

2. Brand ambassadorships

3. Contests and giveaways

4. Unboxing and reviews

5. Social media account takeovers

6. Collaborations

7. Affiliate marketing

Sponsored posts

A simple social media post from an influencer who aligns with your brand is a great first step to building trust and driving sales. Sponsored posts are promotional social media content you would pay influencers to create and post on their platforms. The influencer will need to clearly state that they are part of a paid partnership by including an “#ad” hashtag or “Includes paid promotion” label.

When considering influencers for sponsored posts, it’s best to choose those who create quality content and have high engagement and authenticity on their platforms. 

Brand ambassadorships

Brand ambassadorships are long-term influencer marketing campaigns where an influencer is seen as the “face” of a brand. The influencer would be paid to share any new products via photos, videos, tweets, or articles on their social media channels. 

With a brand ambassadorship, gaining genuine trust will take time. However, when an influencer’s followers see that their favorite content creator is sticking with your brand, they will be more inclined to believe in your products or services too. 

Contests and giveaways

 For these types of campaigns, you would provide the influencer with the products or services that they will then gift to one or a few of their followers. Instructions for followers to enter the giveaway should be relatively simple and can include: 

• Liking the influencer’s post

• Commenting a reason they want to win, a specific phrase or hashtag

• Tagging one or a few of their friends in their comments

• Following the brand’s page

• Posting a story, photo, or video as an entry to be looked at by the brand

Contests and giveaways are an amazing influencer marketing type for brands that want to gain brand awareness and increase social media engagement. Everyone loves a giveaway because your brand benefits, the influencer benefits, and so do their followers. 

Unboxing and reviews

With this type of influencer marketing campaign–also referred to as product seeding–a brand will gift its products to an influencer so that they can record an unboxing video to showcase to their followers. The idea behind it is that the influencer is discovering the product at the same time as their audience and testing it out for the first time on camera. 

In this type of marketing campaign, the influencer isn’t necessarily paid to do the unboxing and give their honest opinion. So it makes the content more authentic. However, because the influencer isn’t contractually obligated to share, you’ll need to make sure your products align with the influencer’s niche and are of amazing quality. 

Social media account takeovers

This influencer campaign type allows influencers to post directly from the brand’s social media account instead of their own. Beforehand, the influencer would have announced that they’d be taking over the brand’s social media account for a particular day. This can help with bringing more followers to the brand’s account as their favorite content creator will be producing their own content from there. 

This method doesn’t only benefit the brand. Influencers can also gain a new following from the audience that the brand has already built. 

Collaborations

Collaborations can sometimes get confused with brand ambassadorships, but they are quite different. A collaboration highlights an influencer’s creativity when it comes to promoting your brand. For example, the chosen influencer will be given creative freedom in creating content for the brand or invited to design their own special edition of a brand’s products. 

Apparel brands, such as PrettyLittleThing have made use of this campaign type by allowing influencers to create their own personal clothing collections with the brand. This way, an influencer’s followers will be more inclined to purchase if the collection is directly related to their favorite influencer. 

Affiliate marketing 

In this type of influencer marketing campaign, the brand will provide influencers with a special discount code to share with their followers. This is an effective way to generate sales for your products or services because it encourages an influencer’s following to make a purchase. Affiliate marketing also benefits the influencer as they can earn some commission from every sale that comes from using their discount code. You can see this in the example below. Lindsaysiib partnered with Ritual, a heath brand that sells vitamin capsules. The influencer includes some information on the brand, before highlighting the discount code ‘LINDSAYS’ at the bottom which gives users a 10% discount on products. 

 

Why Influencer Marketing Works

Many marketers are often interested in why influencer marketing works and how it differs from celebrity endorsements. Influencers tend to be trusted public figures for their different audiences, and unlike celebrities, are more connected to their followers. This closer connection and engagement enables influencers to add a sense of authenticity and trust to marketing campaigns. 

Essentially, a campaign that involves influencers tends to be pretty effective because it helps you achieve the following goals: 

• Build brand awareness and recognition

• Gain brand trust and credibility

• Improve your online reputation

• Reach your desired audience

• Attract new visitors to your website

• Generate high-quality social media content for your brand

• Increase sales 

The Top Influencer Marketing Campaign Examples

Now, let’s take a look at successful influencer marketing campaigns in action.

1. HiSmile - Instagram

In 2014, HiSmile was born when childhood friends Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic spotted a gap in the market and invested $20,000 of their savings into producing a one-size-fits-all LED teeth whitening kit. Of the initial $20,000 investment, all of it was either spent on inventory, or on the product that was being sent out to influencers in relevant niches. Now, they didn’t give free products to just anyone, Nik and Alex were very strategic about their influencer strategy as they only had a small sum of money to invest in marketing. The duo focused small first, only targeting the Gold Coast and surrounding suburbs; advertising outside of Australia at this point was out of the picture. By focusing on a specific city and surrounding suburbs, HiSmile was able to saturate the Instagram feeds of locals with their product. After all, the key to influencer marketing is repeat exposure, so focusing on specific hubs is the ultimate path to success.

Read the Full HiSmile Influencer Marketing Case Study

2. FashionNova - Instagram

Fashion Nova was started in 2006 by Richard Saghian, but it would be over a decade later when the company would experience explosive growth, over 600 percent in 2017 to be exact, all thanks to their massive network of influencers.

Back in 2013, Instagram was still very new on the scene and customers were posing with their Fashion Nova clothing and tagging Fashion Nova without them having to ask. The company only had around 60,000 followers on their Instagram account at the time, a number that seems tiny compared the nearly 20 million followers they boast today. Although it seems hard to fathom, back in 2013 Fashion Nova didn’t even have a website to sell their clothes, Richard Saghian didn’t feel they were prepared enough to launch it.

Eventually, Saghian bit the bullet and launched the first-ever Fashion Nova website, they sold out of everything over the course of a weekend. Although they may have not known it at the time, the fact that people were posting on Instagram and tagging Fashion Nova had a profound effect on their growth early on. As we’ve seen time and time again with brands that followed a similar trajectory, Fashion Nova began by using micro-influencers, the terminology around influencer marketing back then was not nearly as mature, so it is likely that the brand used these micro-influencers without even knowing what a micro-influencer was.

Read the full FashionNova Influencer marketing case study

3. Nerdy Nuts - TikTok

A small business based out of South Dakota was able to turn an initial investment of $2,500 into over $500,000 a month in sales, all by leveraging the power of TikTok Influencers.

Craig Mount and Erika Peterson started their peanut butter company, Nerdy Nuts, out of their home in the summer of 2019. The idea stemmed from a feeling of uncertainty when Peterson’s go-to peanut butter plug shut down, that’s when Craig Mount purchased an Olde Tyme PN1 nut grinder for $870 on Ebay. The grinder was eventually forgotten about until Peterson put it to use in the summer of 2019, and just like that, Nerdy Nuts was born.

The growing company was experimenting with different marketing approaches when they decided to try out influencers on TikTok. Mount reached out to Ali Grace Morsell and Hailey Peters, both of which had around 500,000 followers on the platform at the time. He offered both influencers free products, “they were just so flabbergasted that anyone would want to send them something for free.” said Mount. Aside from offering them the product for free, Mount also promised the influencers a 10% cut of all sales.

I think it’s safe to say that things went better than expected. The influencers posted about the product and racked up over a million views, which ultimately resulted in 5,947 sales. The hashtag #nerdynuts currently has just under 2 million views alone, definitely a contributing factor to the $165.2k in sales during the month of July, not too shabby for a small peanut butter company out of South Dakota.

Read the full Nerdy Nuts Influencer marketing case study

4. GymShark - Instagram & TikTok

Ben Francis founded GymShark back in 2012 when he was just 20 years old. Now worth over $1,000,000,000, a big attribution to its success is its community of athletes and influencers. To get the business off the ground, Francis recruited a small number of social media stars and laid the foundations for what is now known as the Gymshark ‘athlete’ community.

What started as sending a number of fitness influencers free Gymshark sportswear to wear and promote the brand in a bid to attract consumers and reach a larger audience across social media, proved to be a highly effective strategy as many of these influencers are now highly recognised ‘Gymshark Ambassadors’. Now, those influencers such as Nikki Blackketter and David Laid, are well-known representatives of the brand.

Over time, other popular influencers such as Saffron Barker have begun working with the brand and regularly posts photos and uploads YouTube videos wearing the clothing.

Whilst influencer marketing is a very well-used marketing method these days, it was a risky tactic to use over eight years ago. However, it was a risk worth taking as it is a move that got Gymshark to where it is today.

Read the full GymShark Influencer marketing case study

5. Dior - Instagram

In 2020 luxury brand Dior launched an influencer campaign called “67 Shades of Dior”. This campaign had the aim of promoting their inclusive Forever Foundation, which comes in 67 different shades to match a multitude of complexions. 

Dior partnered with 67 different makeup influencers who each matched a specific shade of the foundation to emphasize inclusion and diversity. The influencers involved were sourced from all over the globe, and Dior made sure to run content for 67 days. 

In their influencer selection process, Dior’s marketing team didn’t only choose influencers based on their skin tone but also their engagement levels, target audience, and past performance. As a result, the 67 Shades of Dior influencer campaign was the Gold Winner for the Best Beauty Campaign at the Influencer Marketing Awards in 2020 and reached an audience of about 2.6 million. 

Dior’s campaign showed that no matter how long your brand reputation has been established, you can always benefit from a tactical influencer marketing strategy. You would think such a well-known brand would go for the most popular beauty influencers, but no. To match their theme of inclusion, Dior chose to incorporate micro-influencers with impressive engagement and a genuine passion for makeup and beauty. 

6. The History Channel -  TikTok

The History Channel developed an influencer marketing campaign with the primary goal of gaining a new audience on TikTok. The prominent channel debuted its official TikTok account in September 2021 and immediately sought the help of NeoReach to make sure it caught the attention of the wide audience it needed. 

NeoReach helped The History Channel come up with the Curiosity campaign. The campaign involved 7 influencers in different niches, and the overarching theme was “history”. Each influencer was tasked with creating an engaging video talking about the history of their particular niche or a product related to their niche. 

The campaign was a major success because, with just 7 videos, The History Channel amassed over 12 million views and reached over 21 million TikTok accounts in a few weeks. The inclusion of various influencers, from foodies to intellectuals, showcased what history is all about and helped The History Channel establish a strong and engaging presence on TikTok. 

The Curiosity campaign shows us that starting your journey on a new social media platform by leveraging the power of high-quality influencers can help you reach your desired audience. 

7. HelloFresh - YouTube and TikTok

HelloFresh is a well-known U.S. brand that provides meal kits for every type of person. The reason the brand is so well known is because of its widespread influencer marketing strategy on YouTube. The brand’s meal kits make it easy for influencers to film demonstrative content such as unboxings, reviews, and “cook with me’s”. 

When sending influencers their packages, HelloFresh doesn’t just stick to food content creators but also lifestyle influencers and influencers who share vlogs of their life. HelloFresh found that their service can seamlessly fit in with "A Day in My Life" content that lifestyle influencers create. No matter who the target audience may be, food is always an important part of anyone's daily routine.  To fit their products into different niches, the brand made sure to research the lifestyle of the different influencers they sent meal kits to. This included whether they were vegan, vegetarian, too busy to properly plan meals, and more. 

HelloFresh’s success can also be attributed to the way they let influencers create review content in their own authentic way. For example, a mom influencer would promote it differently than a fitness influencer would. 

While HelloFresh’s YouTube sponsorships piqued short-term interest in their products, they have managed to maintain long-term collaborations. They’ve done this by tailoring the products they send to the specific niche an influencer is part of. 

8. Daniel Wellington - Instagram

Daniel Wellington is a luxury watch and accessories brand that takes an interesting approach to influencer collaborations on social media. Brands commonly call out influencer partnerships in their social media posts. However, Daniel Wellington takes a more subtle approach by showcasing their influencer-created content as an integrated part of their digital marketing. 

For example, the brand created a series of collaborative Instagram Reels featuring content from cocktail-making nano-influencer Kelly Pettit. While her posts are focused on creating elegant cocktails, the content showcased a Daniel Wellington watch on her wrist. Such collaboration is a win-win for both parties because Daniel Wellington can portray how their watches can be worn for any occasion, and Kelly Pettit is able to gain a larger following because of her unique and high-quality content. 

What we can see from Daniel Wellington’s example is that your influencer marketing campaigns don’t have to explicitly emphasize your product to be effective. If the content matches your brand aesthetic and is of high quality, you will surely get the attention you deserve. 

9. Levi’s - TikTok and Instagram

Levi’s is the biggest brand name in the denim jeans market, and in 2021, the company turned to popular Gen-Z influencers for their international spring campaign called “Buy Better, Wear Longer”. This campaign aimed to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of fast fashion production and consumption. Levi’s chose to target a Gen-Z audience as they are viewed as the largest fast-fashion consumers today. So, the brand’s message of wearing good quality clothing for generations instead of just a season is more relevant to this demographic.

Three out of six of the popular Gen-Z influencers Levi’s chose for this special campaign included actor and musician Jaden Smith, fashion influencer Emma Chamberlain, and English footballer Marcus Rashford. The selection of influencers was not totally random, as each of these public figures often uses their platforms for their own activism. 

To supplement this campaign, Levi turned to four macro-influencers on TikTok who helped double their product views on the TikTok shop. These influencer campaigns were put into place at a time when the pandemic was affecting Levi’s sales. And now, Levi’s TikTok shop accounts for 15% of their total revenue, all thanks to Gen-Z shoppers. 

Levi’s is a great example of a huge brand with a large budget that was able to get the most out of celebrity influencers. What ultimately helped them succeed was how their sustainability messaging was a great fit for the mega-influencers they chose to promote it. 

10. Penguin Teen - TikTok

Penguin Teen is the young adult division of Penguin Random House, and of course, their target audience is quite prominent on social media. Hashtags on TikTok, such as “#BookTok” are where avid young readers receive most of their reading recommendations, and the publishing house thought it best to leverage this phenomenon to gain buzz for their new releases. 

In 2022, Penguin Teen tasked teen TikTok influencers to promote the book ‘All My Rage’ which centered around a South Asian-American teenager. The key part was that the publishing house made sure to partner with South Asian content creators from #BookTok in order to reach an audience that the book would best resonate with. 

The success of the campaign came not only from Penguin Teen gaining thousands of views on their TikTok but also because regular TikTokers were inspired to share their own reviews of the book. This ultimately created an exciting space for young readers to build community and keep an eye out for other interesting books Penguin Teen offers. 

How to Run an Influencer Marketing Campaign

After discovering these sensational influencer campaign examples, you probably have some campaign ideas brewing for your brand. But before you think about launching, you’ll need to know the steps required to run a successful influencer marketing campaign

Step 1: Define your campaign goals

Your goals are going to give your influencer campaign direction and also help you stay on track when making decisions. So, you must have these goals defined before you start planning your influencer campaign. 

Here are some potential goals you may consider: 

• Building brand awareness

• Establishing a consistent brand identity

• Generating buzz over new products or services

• Increasing sales and lead generation

• Attracting a new target market

• Encouraging customer loyalty

• Strengthening social media presence and engagement

Step 2: Establish your target audience

A very important question to ask yourself is, which type of customer do you want to attract through your campaigns? Knowing the answer to this question will help you identify the best-suited influencers who have access to your target audience. 

You can establish your target audience in a few ways: 

• Start by looking at your current customer base. Analyze demographics such as age range, gender, interests, and income level. 

• Analyze if there are other groups your products or services appeal to (e.g., foodies, beauty gurus, fitness enthusiasts, etc.)

• Look at the major platforms your customer base is most engaged on.

• Take a look at the audiences your competitors are targeting through their own influencer campaigns. 

Step 3: Choose your platform & find your influencers

Once you know your target audience, you’ll be able to select the perfect social media platforms to reach them. Every platform has its style, audience type, and marketing results. For example, Instagram can give you faster reach than YouTube, so it’s important to consider your campaign goals. 

After selecting the perfect platform for your influencer marketing campaign, you can start your influencer search. Fortunately, platforms like Collabstr have you covered. Collabstr is an influencer marketing marketplace dedicated to helping you find the right macro-, micro-, and nano-influencers for your brand campaigns. You can reach out to influencers directly through the platform and use the influencer price calculator to establish the type of budget you’ll be looking at. 

Step 4: Qualify your influencers

Before committing to any influencers for your marketing campaign, you need to make sure that they can help you achieve the goals you set out in the beginning. Instead of picking influencers based on the size of their audience, look at how engaged their audience is in the content they post. 

Instagram analytics tools such as trendHERO are useful to help you analyze and track the performance of influencer accounts, so you can verify their value before working with them. 

Step 5: Track and analyze your performance

Once you’ve launched your influencer campaign, the work is not over. This is when you need to measure your success by referring back to the marketing goals you set out from the start. You’ll know your campaign was successful if you’ve achieved all the goals you wanted.

Make sure to track metrics such as audience engagement, sales, lead generation, brand awareness, and return on investment to see if the influencers you chose have the potential for a long-term fruitful partnership. 

Collabstr Is Your Go-To  Influencer Marketing Marketplace

Are you looking to get people buzzing about your brand like our examples did? Collabstr can help you make this happen by helping you find the perfect influencers for your marketing campaigns. Our platform makes it easy to search through established content creators on top platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. 

The best part is you don’t have to worry about reaching out to find your perfect fit. Simply publish your requirements through an influencer campaign brief and have the best-suited influencers come to you!