Real and Creative Examples of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Product Gifting and Affiliate Marketing

Product gifting is a great way to promote products authentically. By sending influencers free products to review or recommend, brands inspire them to create content across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and podcasts. These reviews showcase the product’s features and benefits and provide potential customers with relatable, firsthand experiences that build trust and drive sales. It's a low-cost approach, making it a great way to start influencer marketing.

The downside? The brand has little control over content, and the influencer may choose not to create any content about the product at all.

Below is an example of content @caitlynvanbeck posted on her Instagram account after Holland and Barrett gifted her a product.

In combination with gifting, brands can launch affiliate marketing campaigns in which influencers earn commissions through referral links or discount codes. This allows brands to maximise reach and conversions with little risk. Kolsquare's research indicates that 53% of UK brands run affiliate campaigns.

Let's explore an example. A TikTok creator might showcase a gifted product in an unboxing video, link to the item in their bio, and offer a promo code. This dual approach amplifies awareness and provides measurable ROI, making it a favourite for brands aiming to tap into authentic influencer audiences.  

These strategies often lead to the creation of user-generated content (UGC)—content made by influencers and their followers that feels organic and relatable. A survey by Nosto found that 81% of marketers believe visual UGC resonates with customers more effectively than professionally produced photos or influencer-created content. However, it is often a byproduct of good influencer marketing.

Brand Ambassadors

Alternatively, brands can opt for long-term collaborations, such as hiring influencers as brand ambassadors. These long-term relationships often benefit both parties as they build trust with people. However, brands must be careful and ensure they choose the right influencers. It's best to trial influencers with short-term collaborations before entering a long-term partnership.

When the collaboration goes well, brands may want to co-create products with influencers. The products in these collaborations carry the influencer’s signature style and can be promoted through both the influencer’s and the brand’s channels. This strategy generates hype among the influencer’s followers and creates a sense of exclusivity.

One example is Dunkin' Donuts' collaboration with Charli D’Amelio, a hugely popular influencer with 155 million TikTok followers. They worked together to co-create special edition drinks. It was a successful influencer marketing campaign for Dunkin' Donuts, as they sold hundreds of thousands of limited-edition drinks within five days of its launch.

Due to the success of the campaign, D’Amelio also creates videos to showcase new products, as seen in the TikTok video below.

6 Steps to Success: How do you run an influencer campaign?

Regardless of your niche, there are a series of necessary steps that will shape your strategy and direct you to the most relevant campaign style.

1. Define objectives to run a top campaign

The first step is to pinpoint your goals. Do you want to increase brand visibility, generate sales, capture leads, reach new generations, or build customer loyalty?

Examine your expectations to make objectives as specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound as possible (SMART).

For example, a legacy brand may want to increase awareness in the Gen Z market, or a start-up may want to boost sales in their target audience.

2. Analyse your target audience

In-depth research into your target market will teach you their needs, preferences, and behaviours.

This data should underpin your campaign. It will tell you which social media influencers, marketing channels, and content types will generate a high level of engagement.

3. Select the right social media influencers

Once you understand your audience, you can pinpoint the best influencers for the campaign. While choosing influencers may seem like it should be as easy as scrolling through niche-relevant profiles, it’s much more challenging.

Ideally, you want to find people who share your brand values, create content that compliments your brand identity, and have highly engaged audiences. In addition, choosing influencers who are fans of your brands (or could grow to be) builds authenticity. There are many questions to answer: Who makes up their audience? Is the audience engaged? Are their followers real?

Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all here. You can work with different types of creators, from nano-influencers to mega-influencers, for different elements of the campaign.

One example of influencer marketing using diverse influencers is Gymshark's influencer campaign. Gymshark has built long-term partnerships with a range of influencers, referred to as "Gymshark athletes," who regularly promote the brand across various social media platforms through affiliate marketing. This approach has enabled Gymshark to maintain a consistent brand presence and foster a sense of community among fitness enthusiasts.

When Gymshark first started influencer marketing, It sent its products to influencers, asking for their honest thoughts. This began to build relationships, which resulted in the company naturally finding the right influencers to collaborate with. Now, with a large profile, Gymshark asks influencers to apply to join its affiliate program.

Above, micro-influencer @_fitnesswithkals, who has 57k followers, showcases her gains in an Instagram Reel featuring #gymsharkwomen. In her Instagram bio, she shares a 10% discount code for the brand.

Below, macro-influencer @kayleighhjaynefit, who has 167k followers, adds her promo code in the caption of a workout video on her Instagram account. This content is a different style, featuring a pilates home workout rather than a gym.

In addition, Gymshark launched its #gymshark66 campaign, in which social media users transform their lives for 66 days. The hashtag continues to inspire UGC content and is linked in over 800k Instagram posts.

If the influencer selection process sounds overly time consuming, consider using an influencer marketing platform that gives you useful insights into influencers and streamlines outreach

"Tools like Kolsquare make it easier to understand. If you know who your target audience is and then go with specific keywords, a specific age range or something that you’re really looking for, tools can definitely help." - CurrentBody Senior Partnerships Manager Andra Dorolti

4. Develop a unique value proposition

Your influencer content should highlight what makes your product or service unique. This will differentiate you from the competition, make you stand out in the market, and show your value.

For example, influencers sponsored by meal-prep delivery brand HelloFresh describe how it makes meals quick, easy, and varied. Below is macro-influencer @olivia_hammond's Instagram Reel showcasing the unique benefits of HelloFresh while remaining relatable and entertaining.

5. Create relevant and engaging content for your influencer strategy

Even with influencers who tick all the boxes, you still need to reach out to the influencer and collaborate to develop authentic content that resonates. Depending on the platform, this can include blog posts, videos, photos, infographics, guides, or tutorials. Wherever you post, ensure content is valuable, informative, entertaining, and aligned with your audience’s interests and needs.

It's equally important to give influencers the freedom to be creative. Influencers know their audiences best—they understand what engages their followers and what drives interactions. By trusting them to craft content in their unique style, you increase the chances of authenticity and connection, making the campaign more impactful.

Also, consider the content formats that perform best on each platform. For example, Instagram currently favours Reels—short, engaging videos that help brands reach new audiences effectively. Letting influencers adapt to these trends with their own creativity ensures your campaign feels fresh and relevant.

6. Measure and analyse results: Influencer campaign management

Use analytic tools to measure the results of your marketing campaign and check that you're on the right track. Pay special attention to key metrics such as reach, engagement rates, conversions, and return on investment (ROI). Highlight key takeaways that match your initial goals. This will make it easier to communicate campaign benefits to stakeholders.

What are the elements common in the best influencer campaigns?

Each influencer marketing campaign is unique and should be adapted to your objectives and brand. However, there are key takeaways that will improve any campaign, such as:

• Clear and measurable objectives: Always start with clear and specific goals—do you want to increase brand visibility, generate sales, improve product recognition, or promote a new product launch?
• Authentic Collaborations: Create content that feels genuine rather than overly promotional or flashy. For example, a clothes company with values of inclusivity should focus on influencer activations with inclusive lifestyle bloggers from diverse backgrounds.
• Prioritise long-term relationships: Short-term campaigns can be effective and are a great starting point. However, marketers who establish long-term relationships with high-performing influencers can generate greater impact and build stronger relationships with audiences over time. Long-term collaborations also feel more authentic and trustworthy to audiences.
• Include calls to action: Feature a clear call to action so followers know how to interact with your brand (for example, buy, subscribe, or visit your website).
• Contracts and law: To protect both you and the influencer, ensure you use contracts and abide by local laws--in the UK, promotional content must be clearly tagged as such.

Influencer marketing ideas from four successful campaigns

Influencer marketing campaigns come in many forms, from creative product launches to long-term brand partnerships. Effective campaigns often merge multiple approaches creating a bespoke roadmap with additional touchpoints.

Here are some standout examples of influencer marketing campaigns that highlight the versatility and impact of influencer marketing.

CeraVe conquering TikTok and Instagram

The CeraVe brand, part of the L’Oréal group, is a leading skincare brand. It has used networks such as Instagram and TikTok to promote various products. The marketing strategy focuses on working with macro, mega, and micro-influencers to show the benefits of their skincare products, depending on each user's skin concerns.

Much of the campaign's success lies in excellent influencer selection. CeraVe opted for professional influencers with proven authority in the niche. One example is Dr Aamna Adel, a consultant dermatologist who debunks myths about skincare and with whom the brand has carried out several campaigns to promote products from different lines.

Adel has more than 1.6 million followers on her TikTok profile and 650K followers on Instagram. Her audience credibility score is rated at 75, and her average engagement on Instagram is 1.13%. In the post below, Adel wears her doctor's uniform while explaining how CeraVe can help manage strawberry skin.

Kolsquare estimates that her TikTok post above gained €175k in earned media value. It had 6m plays and 12k likes.

In addition, in 2024, CeraVe launched another campaign featuring TikTok influencers Hayley Kalil, Caleb Simpson, and Bobbi Althoff to promote its brand with comedy content featuring actor Micheal Cera. This campaign won The Grand Prix for Social & Influencer award in Cannes.

Below is Kalil's comdeic TikTok post featuring Micheal Cera signing CeraVe bottles.

These creative campaigns have also led to extensive UGC. On platforms such as TikTok, the Hashtag #cerave has been linked in more than 7.8 billion videos, followed by other hashtags of its most recognized products that have been widely publicized on the social network, #ceravaskincare (725.8M) #ceravemoisturizer (30.0M) and #ceravemoisturizer (30.3M). The brand also has over 1M followers on its own account.

Learn more about how to turn influencers into your brand ambassadors.

Mindful Chef's Expert Approach

Mindful Chef, a UK-based healthy recipe box delivery service, has effectively used influencer marketing to strengthen its brand and connect with health-conscious consumers.

According to co-founder Giles Humphries, Mindful Chef has experienced remarkable growth in recent years. “We call it the great Covid unwind,” Humphries explains. “After a period of enormous growth, [there] was a normalisation.” The company’s turnover grew from £16 million in 2019 to a peak of £67 million in 2021 before settling at around £60 million. Despite this adjustment, Humphries notes that the business now operates with its “healthiest” profit margins to date, reflecting a strong foundation for sustainable growth.

Part of Mindful Chef's success is rooted in its large-scale influencer campaigns. By partnering with influencers who share its focus on wellness, Mindful Chef has showcased the benefits of its meal kits to a wide audience, leveraging authentic testimonials to build trust and engagement.

Influencers play a key role in demonstrating how easy and enjoyable it is to prepare nutritious meals using Mindful Chef's recipes. Campaigns like their collaboration with Nature’s Bounty, which included distributing 9,000 health supplement samples to meal kit subscribers, further highlight the brand’s commitment to promoting a holistic approach to health and wellness.

Influencers are provided with affiliate codes offering discounts to incentivise shoppers to start a subscription, combining authentic promotion with measurable results.

For example, Happy Skin Food, with 413K followers on Instagram, achieved 318K plays on a single video, generating an estimated Earned Media Value (EMV) of €1.8K.

Similarly, Bettina’s Kitchen, a chef influencer, contributed significantly to the campaign’s success, with her post delivering an impressive EMV of €9.3K. These figures highlight the effectiveness of using influencers to drive engagement and conversions through relatable, high-impact content.

Bloo's Creative Award-Winning Influencer Campaign

Toilet cleaning product company Bloo (along with agency Burson) launched "The Great Loo Review," an innovative campaign to promote toilet rim hangers. They partnered with TikTok content creators Cal and Therese Ryan, challenging them to travel the UK reviewing the best and worst public restrooms, sprucing them up with Bloo.

Therese Ryan, known on TikTok as @thereseryan12, has over 830k followers and 30 million likes. Her engagement rate is 0.96%, and 72% of her audience is women. Callum Ryan (@thatonecal) has 1.1 million TikTok followers and 48 million likes. His engagement rate is 0.31%, and 75% of his audience is UK-based.

This engaging approach generated high-performing content across TikTok and Instagram. The campaign's success was further amplified by a news segment featuring the influencers' content and the inclusion of statistics exploring British attitudes toward public toilets.

The collaboration was so effective that it was recognised with the "Best Use of an Influencer(s)" award at the PRWeek UK Awards 2024.

You might be interested in: Engagement rate on Instagram: definition, calculation, and tips to improve it.

"Carbon Footprint" BBVA Spain

According to the World Bank, a person emits half a ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere every month in Spain. In response, BBVA Bank launched an initiative to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment. The company uses data analytics to calculate its customers' carbon footprints, a feature that its users can access from its App.

To publicize this tool, the agencies PS21, Mindshare, 2btube, and BBVA Creative for BBVA created a campaign in which they distributed giant, 28-meter-long footprints between the province of Lugo (in Palas de Rey), Barcelona (Barceloneta neighbourhood), and Madrid (next to the Las Ventas bullring).

In addition to these actions, they decided to carry out an influencer marketing strategy to publicize their action and expand the reach of the novel idea. For the first part, they used as a channel the Ac2ality account, the largest Spanish media outlet on TikTok whose audience is mainly made up of Generation Z. Ac2ality has more than 229K followers on Instagram and more than 4.4 million on TikTok and an average engagement of 1.25%. The credibility of their audience is 87 points, and the average engagement of their posts on Instagram is 3.5%, and on their Reels, it is 5.2%.

This media outlet alerted its followers about the appearance of giant footprints in Spain. Several influencers, including La Pelo, Percebes y Grelos, and Spursito, echoed the news, prompting their followers to speculate who could be behind the event.

In the second part of the campaign, the same influencers received a mysterious letter inviting them to a secret event, which they shared with their followers on social networks. The marketing strategy ended with the event, during which it was revealed that BBVA was behind the giant footprints.

The central purpose of the influencer marketing campaign, which was developed on different Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook accounts, was to generate conversation about the impact of consumption on the environment and how BBVA’s carbon calculator could help reduce emissions.

After three weeks of campaigns, they reached more than 2.9 million unique users, generated more than 3.5 million impressions, and engaged more than 125,000 users with the published content. Most importantly, the BBVA app received more than 310,000 visits.

In fact, Publifestival recognised this influencer marketing campaign in the XVI Edition of the Social Company Awards in the categories ‘Best execution of a campaign in social networks’ and ‘Best effectiveness in a social project or action‘.

How much does an influencer campaign cost in the UK?

As the examples show, campaigns vary significantly--and so do costs.

For collaborations with sponsored posts, prices tend to average at these levels:

• Nano-influencer (0–5K followers): £10 – £100 per post
• Micro-influencer (5K-100K followers): £100 – £500 per post
• Macro-influencer (100K–1M followers): £500 - £5,000 per post
• Mega-influencer (1M+ followers): £500 - £5,000 per post

Working with social media influencers with smaller followings is generally cheaper and usually offers higher engagement rates. Brands like watch seller Daniel Wellington built their reputations with this type of influencer marketing campaign by sending free products to smaller influencers for review. This strategy brought a large ROI due to its low risk and helped grow its following. Daniel Wellington now has over 4.5 million followers on Instagram.

Conversely, collaborations with mega-influencers are similar to celebrity endorsements and can be costly yet provide prestige.

Campaign types also impact price. The key takeaway is that, depending on your budget, there are many ways to work with creators, from influencer gifting to partnerships.

However, brands should support influencers who contribute to their brand with their creative works. These creators often earn a living through their content and may collaborate with a competitor if they are poorly reimbursed.

What are the Benefits of Working With an Agency vs a Platform?

Without tools, your influencer marketing efforts will be time-consuming. Influencer marketing agencies offer brands personalised services, including influencer identification, campaign management, and content creation. These agencies often have established relationships with influencers and extensive experience. However, this tailored approach can be costly, and brands may have limited control over influencer selection.

Alternatively, using influencer marketing platforms like Kolsquare gives you direct access to a vast database of influencers, enabling in-house campaign management. These platforms offer data-driven insights, such as engagement metrics and audience demographics, facilitating informed decision-making. This approach is generally more cost-effective and offers greater control, but you need to understand how to run campaigns.

Which of the following is an example of influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing takes many forms, from collaborations with micro-influencers to partnerships with global celebrities. A well-known example is Fenty Beauty’s launch campaign, where PR packages were sent to influencers of all skin tones, encouraging them to share honest reviews. This strategy highlighted the brand’s inclusivity, driving sales and solidifying its reputation as a leader in diversity within the beauty industry.

While influencer campaigns and celebrity endorsements may seem similar, they are distinct in approach and impact. Influencer campaigns focus on relatability and authenticity, leveraging creators’ connections with their specific audiences. An example of influencer marketing is Gymshark’s 66-day challenge, which used fitness influencers to promote their activewear and inspire followers to adopt healthier habits. In contrast, celebrity endorsements rely on aspirational appeal. George Clooney’s partnership with Nespresso, for instance, aligns the brand with luxury and sophistication, while Beyoncé’s collaboration with Adidas for Ivy Park combines her star power with the brand’s sportswear ethos to create campaigns that elevate brand prestige.

Paid social media campaigns are yet another distinct approach. These involve brands promoting their products directly through targeted ads on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, often using influencer-created content as part of the ads. For example, a beauty brand might sponsor posts featuring influencers demonstrating their products, ensuring the content reaches a broader audience beyond the influencer’s followers. Unlike organic influencer marketing, paid campaigns provide brands with more control over who sees their content, thanks to precise targeting options offered by social media platforms. This method complements influencer collaborations, maximising reach and impact.