Influencer

14 Examples of Influencer Marketing Campaigns for 2023

By Tinuiti Team

Influencer marketing is a great way to grow your business by increasing brand awareness, showcasing use cases for your product or growing your audience. It’s a popular marketing approach that can cost significantly less than traditional advertising and garners impressive results – if you do it properly. 

If you want to begin your own influencer marketing program but don’t have any ideas, then we can help. We’ve compiled a list of the best influencer marketing examples available for you to learn from. 

 

What is Influencer Marketing?

 

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing where brands collaborate with individuals who have established credibility and a strong online presence to promote their products or services to a target audience. These influencers, often recognized as experts or trendsetters in specific niches, leverage their social media platforms and online influence to create authentic content and engage their followers, ultimately driving brand awareness, product recommendations, and potential consumer conversions.

“Now more than ever people look for trusted opinions when considering a new brand or product. Influencers are trusted within their community and have the ability to change perception and provide social proof.”

— Kelsey Abell, VP of Influencer Marketing at Tinuiti

 

Best Influencer Marketing Examples

 

The examples below cover a variety of industries, strategies, tactics, and outcomes. Collectively, this list illustrates just how much room there is for innovation in influencer marketing and how you can introduce it into your own brand.  There are two very important things that all of these influencer marketing campaigns have in common: they know their audience, and they know which influencers their audience likes. Throw in data and an influencer management platform, and you’ll have the building blocks for a fantastic (and profitable) campaign.

 

1. OTBT Starts Small with Micro Influencer Partnerships

 

Two micro influencers partnering with OTBT for Instagram campaigns

 

OTBT (Off The Beaten Track) designs and sells women’s casual and travel shoes. It’s a young, vibrant brand that has quickly grown in popularity despite only launching a few years back. Much of this success can be attributed to their influencers and their influencer marketing strategy.  OTBT’s Instagram officially launched in January 2015, but its actual influencer program only began in 2017. The team chose to focus on micro-influencers with accounts of 5000 followers or less. Since beginning the program, they grew their influencer community from a handful to over 400.

“Social media accounts for approximately 44% of our gross e-commerce revenue, with influencers providing an estimated annual reach of 750,000 potential customers. They generate the majority of our lifestyle and content, while also creating brand exposure across the country, especially in the southeastern US states.” 

Kristina Petrick, Creative Director for OTBT

 

2. Highlights for Children Cultivates a Lifestyle Brand on Amazon

 

Highlights influencer marketing campaign results

 

Tinuiti recently worked with Highlights to support a new lifestyle product launch. The goal was to raise awareness of Highlights’ new, “Do Great Things” lifestyle product line (backpacks, lunch totes, pencil cases, & water bottles), drive traffic to Amazon, ultimately leading to new Amazon sales. To do this we partnered with Parent Influencers to create content across Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to promote the new lifestyle product line on Amazon during the back-to-school shopping season

The results:

 

3. LMNT Makes Waves & Drives Conversions on TikTok

 

LMNT influencer marketing campaign results

 

Tinuiti also worked with LMNT, an electrolyte drink mix, to encourage new ways of hydration through trendy and authentic Influencer content. LMNT needed a strategic way to generate awareness and authentic storytelling on TikTok during the summer. Given the already competitive landscape of the platform, a pilot Influencer program was created targeting an audience interested in fitness and wellness. The content spoke to the benefits of hydration during the summer. 

With the help of our Influencer Marketing team, LMNT partnered with 16 influencers, from Mid to Micro, to create 24 TikTok videos that led with a fitness routine or day-in-the-life format that naturally tied in LMNT hydration benefits. Content was leveraged as awareness ads and further targeted towards health and wellness enthusiasts that were looking for ways to hydrate. 

Midway through the program, the campaign was shifted to focus on conversions through the use of retargeting. The campaign also was the first program to test TTCM through creator credit. Through these efforts, LMNT generated 53K clicks for engaged users who were inspired to convert.

 

4. BMW Taps TikTok Stars for a Hashtag Challenge Campaign

 

When BMW launched its new 1 Series sedan, it decided to break its own mold and conduct its very TikTok influencer campaign. The car manufacturer partnered with prominent influencers Falco PunchSky & Tami, and PatroX as part of a #hashtag challenge. 

 

Falcopunch promoting BMW #THE1Challenge on TikTok

 

The hashtag challenge was named #THE1Challenge. In the campaign, the influencers performed dance moves specifically created for the campaign with the new 1 series and challenged other users to duplicate the moves.  As of this writing, Falco’s video has accumulated 243,000 likes and the hashtag itself has collected over 6 million views. 

 

5. Loki The Wolf Dog Drives Marketing Success for Mercedes

 

Influencer Loki the wolfdog next to Mercedes SUV in the snow

 

You don’t have to be a human to be an influencer. Just ask Loki the Wolf Dog This canine Instagram star has over 2 million followers who log on to see him and his owner, Kelly Lund, romp through the North American wilderness.  Mercedes invited Loki and Kelly to help create the #MCPhotoPass campaign, which involved driving through snow-covered Colorado mountains in a 2017 Mercedes GLS. The campaign was a mix of video, photography, and VR. Mercedes installed 3D cameras facing outside the vehicle so that viewers could experience running through snowy terrain alongside Loki, while internal-facing cameras showed the cabin of the 2017 GLS. Mercedes also invited prominent Instagram photographers to provide additional coverage. The campaign’s Instagram account generated 173 million impressions, 2.3 million likes and comments, and $4 million worth of earned media.

 

6. Lagavulin and Nick Offerman Create a Silent but Viral Video

 

Lagavulin and Nick Offerman promoting whiskey in Yule Log YouTube video

 

The Lagavulin campaign is what happens when fiction perfectly matches reality. Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman collaborated with Lagavulin Distillery to release the “Offerman Edition” Lagavulin Islay Single Malt Scotch Whiskey.  To publicize this launch, Nick Offerman tapped the personality of his fictional character Ron Swanson. In a bold yet character-appropriate move, released a 45-minute video of Nick/Ron simply sitting next to a fireplace while drinking the whiskey. There isn’t a single line of dialog or narration, or any background music asides from the title sequence. Just the crackling of the fire.  And yet the video has been viewed nearly 4 million times and been discussed across multiple articles from whiskey afficionados. This just proves that strong, silent types can make viral videos, too. 

 

7. Yeehaw Cowboy Grows with a Budding YouTuber

 

This campaign proves just how much niche businesses can profit from influencer marketing when they choose the right influencer. Yeehaw Cowboy is an online-only fashion retailer that makes and sells cowboy boots and apparel. 

 

Yeehaw Cowboy partners with new YouTuber Jeremiah Craig

 

In 2019, they partnered with budding YouTube creator Jeremiah Craig, whose videos about country music and cowboy boots drew their attention.  By 2020, this relationship resulted in over $58,000 of revenue for Yeehaw Cowboy through a combination of paid advertisements and collaborative content. 

 

8. Nike Collaborates with “What’s Inside?” YouTube Channel

 

Ralph Lauren influencer marketing campaign with Diana Silver on TikTok

 

This is a fantastic example of brands collaborating with established YouTube creators. In this campaign, Nike and YouTube channel “What’s Inside?” paired up to create a series of sponsored videos, including one where they sliced a pair of Nike Air VaporMax sneakers in half to see what was inside.  The campaign was a huge success, having been viewed over 6 million times and liked forty-seven thousand times. 

 

9. Ralph Lauren Runs a TikTok Hashtag Challenge with Diana Silvers

 

Ralph Lauren’s #WinningRL campaign was the first major successful influencer campaign to use TikTok’s Hashtag Challenge Plus. The campaign featured actress, model, and influencer, Diana Silvers. Users were to share a time they won a real-life challenge in a unique way that could only happen on TikTok. 

 

Ralph Lauren influencer marketing campaign with Diana Silver on TikTok

 

The US Open played heavily into the campaign, with Ralph Lauren being closely associated with the tennis tournament. Diana Silver’s initial video matched the theme, and the top three challenge winners received official Polo Ralph Lauren US Open apparel as additional incentive to participate. The Hashtag Challenge Plus allowed TikTok users to purchase Ralph Lauren products directly from a branded in-app store for the duration of the campaign, which greatly increased the company’s ROI. 

 

10. Prada Partners with Lil Miquela for Unreal Fashion

 

Who says your influencer has to be human?

 

Virtual influencer Lil Miquela promoting Prada’s Fall 2018 collection

 

In 2018, fashion giant Prada made a bold move and enlisted virtual influencer Lil Miquela to help promote their Fall 2018 collection.  The virtual celebrity released multiple pieces of content to help Prada increase visibility, such as animated GIFs, Instagram videos, and a virtual tour of the event’s Prada booth–all the while decked out in virtual recreations of iconic Prada designs. 

 

11. Morphe Creates Products with Influencer Jacklyn Hill

 

Some influencer and brand partnerships are so strong they go beyond simply promoting a product. In Jacklyn Hill’s case, Morphe gave her the opportunity to create her own product using Morphe’s resources. They collaborated and eventually released the Morphe x Jacklyn Hill eyeshadow palette.

 

Influencer Jaclyn Hill showing her palette of Morphe eyeshadow

 

This was more than a throwaway product cashing in on an influencer’s popularity. A lot of thought and effort went into designing the eyeshadow palette, and Jacklyn’s pride and excitement was obviously genuine.  The result? A product that sold out in 45 minutes. The product and campaign were so successful that Morphe and Jacklyn Hill are currently working on a second version of the product, unofficially dubbed the “Jacklyn Hill Palette Vol II.” 

 

12. Tom’s of Maine Makes a Big Impact with Microinfluencers

 

Tom’s of Maine microinfluencer marketing campaign with Pavana Yoga

 

Tom’s of Maine manufactures personal care products and decided to approach their influencer marketing strategy in a different way. Their products are made using only natural ingredients, and wanted to be absolutely sure they were talking to people who valued this information. So Tom’s of Maine approached micro-influencers and offered them product and brand-related rewards in exchange for advertising. This led to incredible amounts of engagement, bringing in over 4.4 million new clients in the first three months. 

 

 13. e.l.f’s Eyes. Lips. Face. TikTok Campaign

 

e.l.f. was eager to activate millennial and Gen Z segments where they lived most: social media. Tinuiti created an integrated strategy across the social platform ecosystem. Part of this strategy included launching three new channels for the brand—Snapchat, Pinterest and TikTok—as part of their “e.l.f.ing Amazing” brand campaign. With this launch, Tinuiti helped e.l.f. become the first-ever beauty brand to advertise on TikTok.

 

Influencer James Charles promoting e.l.f on TikTok

 

Our efforts resulted in 31M video views and 548,000 new users to elfcosmetics.com in just 90 days. This campaign ultimately helped lead to a greater engagement with TikTok—which included the viral #EyesLipsFace campaign.

 

14. Think Goodness Uses Influencer Marketing to Boost Awareness of Their Products

 

Think Goodness influencer marketing campaign results

 

The challenge Think Goodness was facing included increasing brand and product awareness of Think Goodness, while also providing social proof and inspiration to new audiences that would engage with the brand.

As part of our strategy, Tinuiti partnered with influencers on TikTok and Instagram to connect with Think Goodness’ target audience. The 3-month campaign was divided into three “waves”; each wave consisting of 20 influencers. The waves allowed content to be shared consistently with audiences, eventually pointing out the top engaged audiences.

As a result of these efforts, influencers generated 88 pieces of new content highlighting the brand.

After determining the most engaged influencer audiences, Think Goodness repartnered with those influencers. While there was a slight decrease in impressions, there was a 232% increase in meaningful engagement rates.

 

Conclusion

 

Influencer marketing allows brands to tap into the trust that influencers have built with their audience, which can significantly enhance brand credibility and reach. By partnering with relevant influencers, brands can effectively target niche markets and engage with receptive audiences. It gives brands the opportunity to create authentic and relatable content all while facilitating genuine connections with consumers and fostering long-term brand loyalty. 

If you haven’t considered influencer marketing for your brand, what are you waiting for?

Visit our Performance Influencer service line page for more information on how we can help you reach more customers or contact us today.

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