Influencer marketing is evolving rapidly, and 2025 will bring new ways for brands to connect with their audiences. As per the latest report, by the end of 2025, the influencer marketing industry is expected to grow to $32.55 billion, which is a growth from 2023 at $21.1 billion.
Also, Gen Z generally trusts influencers more than celebrities. Today, success is not just about how many followers an influencer has, it’s about real results, data, and trust.
A performance marketing software like Trackier helps brands to run smarter influencer campaigns by making it easy to set goals, track performance, and measure ROI.
What is an Influencer Marketing Campaign?
Influencer marketing campaigns are a social media strategy for collaboration between influencers and brands. These campaigns are for promoting the brand’s products or services to the right audience.
The essential component of the best influencer marketing campaigns is:
- Identifying an influencer: Brands identify influencers who have followers who align with their target audience, brand values, their messaging, and marketing goals.
- Campaign goals and strategy: Brands define their goals, which could be increasing awareness, driving website traffic, or increasing sales.
- Quality content creation: Influencers create engaging content across various social media platforms, including posts, videos, blogs, and more.
Why is Influencer Marketing Important?
Influencer marketing is important because it helps brands to reach wider and targeted audiences, build trust and credibility, and improve engagement rate and conversions. Here is a more detailed look at why influencer marketing is necessary:
- Increased Brand Awareness: Influencers can increase your brand awareness to new audiences by posting content on their social media accounts.
- Building Trust and Credibility: 69% of consumers trust influencer recommendations before buying a product. When influencers talk about your brand’s product or service, consumers will trust your brand more.
- Improved Engagement: Engagement rate will increase after collaborating with influencers. As they have engaged followers on their social media platforms. Their followers will resonate with the content that will eventually improve your brand engagement rates.
- Higher Conversion Rates: If you have successfully collaborated with an influencer who really posts the content that is relevant to your product or service, your conversion rate will increase as they will be more likely to convert.
- Precise Audience Targeting: By partnering with the right influencer, you will be able to ensure that your brand’s message reaches the right audience.
Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Influencers are very creative when it comes to making engaging social media content. That is why you could see a variation of campaigns that fall into different categories. Here are the common types of influencer marketing campaigns:
- Sponsored posts
- Contests and giveaways
- Account takeovers
- Brand ambassadorships
- Affiliate marketing
- Unboxings and reviews
- Pre-release content
Let’s understand these different types of campaigns in detail.
1. Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts are paid promotional content on social media where influencers create and share posts about a brand’s products or services.
They can produce as many sponsored posts as they want, however, they have to disclose that they are doing paid marketing collaboration.
This can be through adding a hashtag like #ad or #collaboration, or adding a label like “includes paid promotion,” which you have seen in the YouTube video above at the top left corner.
2. Contests and giveaways
Contests and giveaways are the best for brands that want to increase their social media engagement rates.
These types of collaborations can often be seen on YouTube, where many influencers do a giveaway of a product that is often provided by brands to promote the product.
To get the giveaway, followers must have to do some activities like commenting or sharing the post or video.
3. Account takeovers
Social media account takeovers mean influencers can directly post the content on the brand’s account until the collaboration timeframe, usually from one day to a week.
Account takeovers are win-win situations for both sides of the partnership. Brands get:
- Increased reach and visibility
- Authentic engagement
- Fresh content and perspective
- Boosted credibility and trust
- Improved follower growth
While influencers get:
- Expanded audience reach
- Content collaboration opportunities
- Monetization
- Increased credibility
4. Brand ambassadorships
Brand ambassadorships are beyond the general collaboration between a brand and an influencer.
When brands sign up an influencer for the brand ambassadorships, it means making them a spokesperson of the brand, featuring them in ad content for all of the social media platforms.
5. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is the best way to boost sales. The content is available in different formats such as blogs, videos, case studies, and landing pages.
Social media influencers provide a special discount code for their followers that helps them to get the product or services at a discount, and the brand focuses on coupon tracking to evaluate which of the influencers are generating most of the sales.
6. Unboxings and reviews
For unboxing and reviewing collaboration, businesses send free products to the influencer to use. Then, the creator will make a video or blog on “unboxing” that product after using it personally.
The audience engages with this type of content because they feel that the influencer has already used it and will provide genuine feedback.
7. Pre-release content
This type of content means influencers post on their social media featuring a product or service that has yet to be launched. Brands offer influencers early access to their product or service, allowing influencers to make a post to build the hype for its release.
How to Create a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign?
Planning for a successful launch of an influencer marketing campaign is necessary to get a good ROI from it. However, there are so many steps out there that talk about different things. Here are the simplest and easiest steps for it:
- Set your goals on the key factor that you have to achieve.
- Determine your target audience and ensure the influencer aligns with them.
- Know your budget to build a plan to partner with different tiers of influencers.
- Choose your marketing channels (not every channel will deliver the same ROI).
- Make an agreement with your influencers.
- Compensate the influencers.
- Leverage a tool for tracking influencer marketing campaigns.
Top 10 Influencer Marketing Campaign Examples
Here are the top 10 influencer marketing campaign examples from Burger King to Gymshark. These top brands have leveraged influencer marketing effectively.
1. Burger King
Burger King has taken a different approach to influencer partnerships. To promote their ‘Whopper’ burger, they have launched #WhopperDance on TikTok, featuring popular creators like Loren Gray, Avani Gregg, and Nathan Davis.
Creators have made a video on tutoring a fun dance and told their followers to do the same dance and post it on their TikTok account.
In return, Burger King has promised to give a promo code to the participants that will get the Whopper burger at just $1.
Some stats:
- This collaboration made the #Whopper Dance a trending one on TikTok with more than 47 million views.
- Also, Burger King has seen a high curve in their AOV as customers were participating in the challenge actively.
Key takeaways:
- This collaboration helped Burger King gain a loyal customer base and fan following by providing participants with an offer code.
- They have also gained many followers and engagement on their TikTok account because of the UGC.
2. Maybelline Vinyl Ink
Maybelline launched their “Superstay Vinyl Ink lipstick”, backed by the collaboration between popular influencers and creators.
They have partnered with micro makeup and lifestyle influencers to create engaging videos of their product and showing its different variations and colors.
Campaign stats:
- Maybelline’s Vinyl Ink lipstick has become one of the highest-selling lipsticks and a trending product among makeup enthusiasts through influencer marketing campaigns.
- Their product hashtag #maybellinevinylink has more than 5K posts on Instagram with the highest engagement rate.
Key takeaways:
- Maybelline’s influencer marketing campaigns show micro-influencers are also highly influential individuals who can boost the brand’s sales.
- These collaborations helped brands to get engaging content from influencers, along with UGC.
3. Animalhouse Fitness
Animalhouse Fitness is an innovative brand. They have collaborations with popular fitness influencers to promote their ‘Monkey Feet’.
Influencers have participated in the campaign by showcasing the product in the form of video tutorials, unboxing videos, images, and more.
Campaign stats:
- Collaboration with fitness influencers helped Animalhouse Fitness grow the popularity of their product on social media and contributed to the revenue from it.
- Their product hashtag ‘#monkeyfeet‘ has more than 30K posts on Instagram.
- Their sales grow by 3X.
Key takeaways:
- Their influencer marketing strategy has helped their product reach a specific and targeted audience.
- UGC content from their customers in the form of videos, reviews, and images helped Animalhouse Fitness build customer trust and increase revenue.
4. HBO’s Euphoria
HBO’s Euphoria is the best example of organic influencer marketing. This teen drama’s release broke the internet because of its unusual makeup looks and recreations that increased the popularity of the show.
Campaign stats:
- Euphoria’s influencer marketing campaign was a huge success as it helped to gain mass popularity via social media and was named the second-best show by HBO with more than 16.3 million viewers.
- They have generated millions of UGC on various social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
- These partnerships also helped them gain millions of followers and gain the most from the engagement rate.
Key takeaways:
- Euphoria’s influencer marketing strategies are the best examples for the entertainment industry.
5. Air Wick
Air Wick is a consumer brand that produces air fresheners and related products. They have collaborated with many big influencers and launched many campaigns.
Their campaigns focused on promoting the launch of their ‘Vibrant Scented Oils’ with the collaboration of lifestyle influencers.
Campaign stats:
- The influencer’s marketing campaign enhanced their product visibility and helped them to connect with their target audience.
- With this strategic partnership, their engagement rate has also improved by 39%.
Key takeaways:
- Air Wick’s influencer marketing campaign example shows how effective the collaboration with influencers can be.
- They have reached the highest level of engagement with their target audience by collaborating with small-scale influencers.
6. Daniel Wellington
Daniel Wellington is one of the best examples of how brands can improve their ROI through influencer partnerships. They have partnered with micro and nano influencers to achieve this.
With this partnership, they have seen a high number of posts of their brand’s hashtags on social media platforms that help them to improve their visibility and awareness.
Campaign stats:
- Their branded hashtag #danielwellington has more than 2 million posts on Instagram, which makes it the most popular accessory brand globally.
- They have collaborated with more than 10K content creators globally.
- This partnership has helped them to improve their brand visibility and awareness.
Key takeaways:
- Daniel Wellington’s influencer marketing strategy is one of the best examples of showing the importance of micro and nano-influencers.
- The partnerships have helped them to build trust among their potential customers through micro-influencers.
7. Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein (an American fashion and lingerie brand) has launched various campaigns and leveraged the power of influencer marketing.
In 2015, they introduced the hashtag campaign #MyCalvins, featuring celebrity influencers including Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner.
The campaign has leveraged many famous social media platforms, such as Instagram and X, where influencers and customers could share photos or stories wearing Calvin Klein products and promoting the #MyCalvins hashtag.
Campaign stats:
- The #MyCalvins campaign has more than 870K posts on Instagram.
- More than 1 million users have created content for Calvin Klein.
- With the collaboration of influencers, Calvin Klein improved their social media engagement rate by 5X.
Key takeaways:
- Calvin Klein campaigns focused on inclusivity and authenticity, which connect with a broader audience.
- This campaign encouraged customers to share their own stories with Calvin Klein, which helps them connect with the brand.
8. Barbie
Barbie’s movie has started collaborating with influencers way before releasing the movie. Their marketing campaigns started with featuring many global influencers, including Dua Lipa, where everyone has posted with a unique template, “This Barbie is”.
Many users have posted pictures with this trend using the movie’s hashtag #BarbieTheMovie, which makes the campaign a huge success.
Campaign stats:
- The hashtags #BarbieTheMovie and #BarbieMovie have more than 1.5 million posts on Instagram.
- More than 1 million users have contributed content for this campaign.
- With this campaign, the brand has generated hype for the upcoming movie, which makes it one of the top-earning movies.
Key takeaways:
- Barbie’s marketing strategy proves to be taking the early advantage of influencer marketing before launching a movie or product.
- This campaign has encouraged their global fans to share their own version of the Barbie recreations through every form of social media content. The brand has used this type of content for micro promotions and got lots of UGC. Embedding UGC through an instagram widget for website can further streamline how this content is showcased, leading to better engagement on online platforms.
9. Warby Parker
Warby Parker (a well-known eyewear brand) offers stylish and affordable eyewear to its customers. They often collaborate with micro-influencers to promote their eyewear collection on Instagram.
Along with micro-influencers, they have also partnered with big celebrities like Jimmy Fallon. To connect more with their customers, they also promise to give away a pair of glasses on every purchase to someone who needs them.
Campaign stats:
- Warby Parker has improved their social media presence through influencer marketing campaigns and reached 200X more audience, which helps to increase sales.
- Their branded hashtag ##WarbyParker has more than 250K posts on Instagram and is used by more than 180K unique users.
Key takeaways:
- By partnering with micro-influencers, Warby Parker identifies their most potential audience and their needs, improving its product to make it even better.
- The biggest advantage of influencer partnerships for Warby Parker was that they got brand awareness and boosted their sales.
10. Gymshark
Gymshark has partnered with many fitness influencers, athletes, and enthusiasts across various social media platforms, including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
These influencers have promoted Gymshark products like T-shirts, Hoodies, etc, and blended in their lifestyle to their followers and are known as ‘Gymshark Athletes’.
However, Gymshark ensures that influencers should only promote genuine feedback that they have experienced after using their products, which makes the brand an authentic one.
Campaign stats:
- Partnering with athletes has helped Gymshark to grow its brand popularity on social media and boost sales.
- The brand’s hashtag has more than 13 million posts on Instagram.
- With influencer marketing, Gymshark has improved its sales and revenue.
Key takeaways:
- Their unique influencer marketing strategy, “converting influencers into brand representatives,” has helped them to get 5X more UGC from popular influencers and genuine customers.
- Influencers and customers have created huge content, including videos, reviews, and images, that helped the brand to build trust and boost revenue.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Influencer Marketing Campaigns
There are some common mistakes that many brands make while collaborating with influencers, including choosing influencers based on follower count or a lack of clear goals. Let’s understand the mistakes with a simple solution.
1. Choosing influencers based on follower count
Many brands make the mistake of understanding the higher follower count as a greater influence. But, in reality high follower count does not mean you will get a higher engagement rate or more sales.
For instance, an influencer with 500,000 followers but has only a 0.5% engagement rate is less effective than a micro-influencer with 20,000 followers and a 6% engagement rate.
The solution: Focus on engagement, authenticity, niche relevance, and past performance. Nano and micro-influencers often have better engagement with their followers, which can drive more conversions.
2. Lack of clear goals
Launching a campaign without defined objectives is not a smart move. Goals define your strategy, influencer selection, content types, and performance indicators.
The solution: Create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) prior to reaching out to influencers.
3. Not researching the influencer’s audience
An influencer might seem perfect because of their follower count, but their audience demographic might not match with your product. Before collaborating with them, ask some simple questions like:
- Are their followers located in your desired region?
- Do they match the age, gender, and audience profile of your buyer persona?
The fix: Identify influencer’s audience insights, including their location, age, gender, etc.
4. Ignoring authenticity
Today’s audience is much aware of marketing tactics. If a collaboration feels it is a paid collaboration or an influencer is not sharing the right review, they will stop trusting on brand and influencer. So, building authenticity is much more important than marketing.
The solution: Give your influencer creative control. Let them promote your product naturally via their content that resonates with their audience.
5. Failure to disclose sponsorships
Regulators like the FTC (U.S.), the CMA (UK), and the ASCI (India) require disclosure of paid partnerships. If you or the influencer is not following the guidelines, it can result in heavy fines.
The fix: Always ensure your influencers disclose partnerships by using hashtags like #ad or #sponsored.
6. Overlooking performance tracking
One of the huge challenges of a brand is that after launching a campaign, they hope they will get the best ROI. But that is not the case.
If you do not know which influencer has brought sales or how your campaign impacted your ROI, you will never know if influencer marketing is for you or not.
Simple solution: Leverage a performance marketing software like Trackier to track every click, sale, and conversion to understand the top influencers for your marketing campaign.
Track. Convert. Win: Use performance marketing software today!Conclusion
In conclusion, influencer marketing in 2025 is all about data and reaching the right audience. As strategies continue to evolve, brands need smarter tools and the best strategies to run successful campaigns.
Some common mistakes, like partnering with the wrong influencers or setting unclear goals, can be avoided with planning and leveraging a tool for tracking. That is where Trackier offers a comprehensive dashboard, real-time data, and many more, so that you can focus on actual results.
FAQs
How to run an influencer marketing campaign?
To successfully run an influencer marketing campaign, define your goals, identify relevant influencers, and build genuine relationships.
What is the timeline for influencer marketing campaigns?
Influencer marketing campaigns run for two to six weeks, with an average of a month.
What are the KPI goals for influencer marketing campaign?
KPI goals for an influencer marketing campaign should focus on measuring reach, engagement, conversions, and ROI.
