Convenient for both influencers and brands, influencer marketing has proved to be a very efficient model of digital marketing. The users respect and admire influencers so their recommendations are acknowledged and followed.
As long as influencers make honest recommendations, this is a win-win-win situation. Influencers get paid to promote the products they use and love, brands get more customers because of the influencers, and users learn about great new products.
The popularity of influencer marketing has encouraged many brands to start using it. Some of them made less successful campaigns while others truly overdid themselves.
If you are thinking about entering the influencer marketing community, having some examples to look up to can help you a lot. Here are a few amazing influencer marketing campaigns that will motivate you to make the first step.
1. Oakley
The eyewear and sports performance equipment company knows how to use influencer marketing in the best way. Their “What do you see?” influencer campaign is inspiring, original, and motivational.
This campaign was aimed at promoting their new Prizm lenses and Oakley recruited athlete influencers to help them out. The influencers’ task was to post an Instagram picture wearing Prizm lenses and to state what they saw clearer through their Prizm lenses.
The athletes justified the trust as their captions varied from motivational ideas to funny description. Allowing influencers to show their personality is what made this campaign impactful.
The Oakley managed to generate an engagement rate of more than 7%. One of the reasons why the campaign’s engagement rose to such a level is because of the question format.
Showing interest in influencers’ and users’ experiences is what motivated people to become a part of this campaign.
2. Hilton Hotels
Hilton hotels came up with a legendary way of using influencer marketing to their advantage. They leveraged travel influencers to visit their location all over the world. The cooperation was mostly with micro-influencers which makes it more relatable to people.
The campaign gained an attractive name “Seven Urban Wonders of the World.” The name was inspired because the campaign focused on their seven locations around the world:
- Sydney
- London
- Vienna
- Abu Dhabi
- Shanghai
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo
To collect user-generated content they encouraged influencers to use @hiltonhotel and hashtags #SevenUrbanWonders and #RightHere.
Influencers had a very simple task – to introduce their followers to the best food and drink locations and attractions within the walking distance of the Hilton hotel.
The campaign was fun, informative, and influencers rose to the occasion with attractive posts.
3. Gymshark
TikTok is becoming more popular among users, brands, and influencers. The research shows that TikTok ranked as the most downloaded app in Apple’s iOS App Store for Q1 2019. Currently, the app has over 500 million users.
The video-based platform provided brands with a new possibility for unique campaigns. Gymshark seized that opportunity to promote their “66 Days | Change Your Life.”
The brand made a partnership with several fitness influencers. They posted videos of workouts synced to music and fitness dance routines.
Of course, they wore Gymshark clothes. Not only did Gymshark use the rising popularity of TikTok and dance videos, they also promoted their fitness clothes in non-aggressive ways.
4. Fiji Water
The choice of influencer is crucial in influencer marketing. The brand needs to choose a social media personality who advocates the same message as the brand. That’s why Fiji partnered with influencer Danielle Bernstein and personal trainer Eric Johnson.
Danielle is a fashion blogger who runs We Wore What blog. As someone who takes care of her appearance, works on looking fit and healthy and has lots of followers, she was chosen to be the brand ambassador for Fiji.
The #Bodyworewhat campaign focused on exercising and hydrating your body by drinking Fiji water. With this campaign, Fiji promoted a healthy lifestyle that is supported by their product.
“Sharing a positive message through influencer marketing campaigns is admirable.
What I liked about Fiji #bodywearwhat campaign is that they simultaneously promoted their product and a healthy lifestyle,” said Sharon McKinney, a digital marketer and contributing writer at Subjecto.
5. Headspace
Promoting an app that can help out with mental health can sometimes be tricky. That is any topic that concerns mental health can come across judgment and disagreement.
Headspace, the app that helps with meditation, mindfulness, and overall mental well-being found a way to share their message.
They teamed up with influencers who wanted to try out the app and experience the change through mindfulness and meditation. As this isn’t a lifestyle choice for everyone, they needed to team up with people who genuinely want to give the app a try.
The influencers who collaborated with Headspace were very open and vulnerable about how the app changed their life.
For example, Stephani shared her personal story on how Headspace “helped her deal with the stress & chaos of motherhood.” This isn’t a confession that every mother is willing to make.
Tackling sensitive topics that people want to talk about but don’t have the courage and sharing true stories about the app’s impact is what makes this campaign special.
Tips for starting an Influencer Marketing campaign
The above-mentioned brands do have marketing teams and big budgets to flaunt around. However, that doesn’t mean that your influencer campaign will be any less successful.
There are a few crucial lessons that these campaigns have taught us:
- Be original and creative in your campaign
- Know your target audience and adjust the campaign to them
- Collaborate with micro-influencers (a study by SocialPubli showed that micro-influencers generate 7x more engagement than the average generated by macro-influencers)
- Choose an influencer that fits your brand
- Allow influencers to be honest and personal
- Use a catchy slogan
- Collect user-generated content by encouraging users to use your unique hashtag
Final thoughts
Use another brand’s experience to have a strong start in your influencer marketing campaign. Now that you know what made these campaigns successful, you can use that information to create the perfect influencer marketing campaign for your brand.
Brand owners, digital marketers, and influencers can learn something from these companies who managed to promote their products and provide interesting content to the audience.
The key principles that need to be a part of every campaign are originality, creativity, and honesty. Pick the influencer who can contribute to your company’s reputation and set off to an exciting influencer marketing adventure.
Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors. Now she works as a contributing writer at TrustMyPaper and GrabMyEssay. You can find her on Facebook.
