Influencer Marketing Strategy
8 min to read

The different types of influencer marketing campaigns

Explore various influencer marketing campaigns, from ambassador programs to product placements, and uncover effective engagement strategies.

April 19, 2024

The different types of influencer marketing campaigns

An Influencer Marketing Campaign, what is it?

An influencer marketing campaign is a collaboration between a brand and someone influential who promotes the brand’s products or services to his followers/community which represent a specific target group for the brand. Brands team up with content creators, experts, or social media personalities for reaching more people, getting noticed, or connecting with certain types of customers. These campaigns come in all shapes and sizes, from sponsored posts to product reviews, spreading the word through social media.

But these partnerships don't just happen, they need planning and the ability to roll with the changes in social media trends and user habits.

Most Popular Influencer Marketing Campaign Types :

Sponsored posts

A « sponsored post » refers to content published by an influencer on a social media platform like Instagram. In this content, the influencer endorses a brand's products or services in exchange for compensation or other perks. These posts are typically clearly labeled as "sponsored" or done "in partnership with", ensuring transparency for the influencer's followers regarding the paid collaboration.

Within a sponsored post, the influencer might present the brand's product through reviews, tutorials, demonstrations, or personal recommendations. The objective is to boost visibility and engagement for the brand within the influencer's audience. By leveraging the influencer's credibility and reach, the aim is to authentically and attractively promote the products.

🎯 Goals : Increase brand visibility and website traffic, generate leads, and introduce new products.

⏱️ Duration : Transactional or short-term campaign.

🔥 Difficulty : EASY. Brands can simply relay the main idea of the campaign to their content creators, specifying the captions, keywords, hashtags and mentions that need to be included.

💰 Payment details : Influencers is usually paid in  a single payment, the amount varying according to their audience and statistics. Favikon gives an estimate of how much each influencer could cost in their Favikon profile → Reachability. The brand may also give him a promo code that he can share with his followers.

Contests

Giveaways, or contests, involve brands sending complimentary items to influencers who then offer them as rewards to their followers for completing specific actions.

These actions may include subscribing to or following both the influencer’s and the brand’s social media accounts, liking and sharing posts, or tagging a friend in the comments.

For brands, giving away products on social media is an excellent method to enhance engagement and generate buzz about their offerings. Giveaway campaigns have the potential to stimulate user-generated content, particularly if reposting and utilizing specific hashtags or brand mentions are incorporated into the rules.

🎯 Goals : Increase reach, engagement and followers, and improve the brand's visibility.

⏱️ Duration : Transactional or short-term campaign.

🔥 Difficulty : MEDIUM. Social media contests should be transparent and have simple rules for participation. It's important to be aware of platform & location specific legal requirements regarding eligibility and disclosure.

💰 Payment details : The brand can combine monetary and non-monetary compensation, and also give a promo code that the influencer can share with his followers.

Influencer Affiliate Program

It's a marketing strategy in which influencers promote a brand's products or services to their audience and receive a commission for every sale generated thanks to their recommendation.

Influencers act as affiliate partners for the brand, using their influence to encourage purchases among their audience.

This approach enables brands to benefit from the reach and engagement of influencers to increase sales, while influencers can monetize their audience by recommending products or services they value and deem relevant to their audience.

🎯 Goals : Drive conversions, increase sales, and generate leads.

⏱️ Duration : Usually long-term collaborations.

🔥 Difficulty : HARD. Building a reliable and successful affiliate network takes time and dedication. Results take time.

💰 Payment details : Brands with limited spending options may choose to offer commissions after each sale. Commissions combined with flat-rate remuneration will provide an even greater incentive for creators to commit.

Gifting

Influencer gifting consists in sending free product samples to influencers whose followers are similar to the brand's target audience.

The aim is to attract the attention of influencers, who will then promote their product or service to their followers on social media.

Gifting campaigns are cost-effective  because influencers don't need to be paid, but they may not agree to promote products without being paid.

🎯 Goals : Increase brand awareness and visibility, generate traffic, create long-term relationships with influencers and acquire customers.

⏱️ Duration : Because of the need to establish a relationship with the influencer, campaigns of this type are considered time-consuming.

🔥 Difficulty : HARD. Influencer gifting is designed so that influencers feel compelled to share posts about the brand's products, without being asked to do so.

💰 Payment details :  There are no fixed costs, the brand offers free products or exclusive services to influencers as gifts.

Brand ambassadors

Ambassadors can be influencers, celebrities, customers who have been big fans of your product range, or content creators who have collaborated with you on previous campaigns.

An ambassador represents your brand consistently across multiple online platforms, and sometimes extends their role to offline events. They sincerely believe in the brand and its values. They love their products and recommend them based on their experiences.

Brand ambassador programs involve creating and maintaining long-term relationships with influencers. Ambassadors who are popular, trusted by their followers or experts in their field can help build a brand's reputation. Brand ambassadors can play an active role in product launches. The feedback and ideas they provide help companies improve their products and strategies. Thanks to their understanding of the brand's message and products, they can communicate with customers and address issues or answer questions.

🎯 Goals : Increase brand awareness, build trust and credibility, and expand the market.⏱️ Duration : Long-term collaborations.

🔥 Difficulty : HARD. It requires dedication and mutual trust on both sides. It takes a lot of effort to identify the right ambassadors. Ambassadors must avoid overexposing other brands.

💰 Payment details :  Influencers receive regular monetary compensation over a given period. In addition, they may receive personalized gifts, exclusive discounts or early access to products.

Content whitelisting

The combination of influencer marketing and paid social advertising has become essential as the organic reach of social media declines. To maximize impact, brands are using strategies such as influencer whitelisting.

Influencer whitelisting allows companies to use influencers' social media handles and content for paid advertising. This approach targets a motivated and diverse audience, while offering the possibility of tailoring ads to the tastes of each audience.

🎯 Goals : Increase brand awareness, expand reach and provide consistent content quality.

⏱️ Duration : Usually one-time collaborations.

🔥 Difficulty : MEDIUM. Although this is a short-term transactional partnership, the legal agreement between brands and creators preceding the execution of the campaign itself can take a long time. Brands need additional tools, such as ad management tools. For best results, they need to test different captions, texts and CTAs.

💰 Payment details : Brands can offer a fixed payment or a hybrid repayment that combines a fixed fee with complementary services or products. Influencers who work on a white-label basis generally charge higher rates.

Events

Brands use live events such as shows, sports and music festivals, and conferences to actively engage with their audiences. These events are prime opportunities for brands to showcase their products and services.

By featuring influencers in their campaigns, brands can enhance the impact of these events. Influencers play a key role in creating teaser videos, countdowns and behind-the-scenes content to build anticipation and excitement.

They can also provide live updates from the event venue, capturing moments in real time and sharing their insights and experiences with their followers. This collaborative approach enhances the overall experience for the brand and its audience.

🎯 Goals : Increase brand awareness and engagement, create buzz around new products, boost credibility and highlight unique value propositions.

⏱️ Duration : Event are one-time partnerships between brands and influencers.

🔥 Difficulty : HARD. The brand needs to find creators who fit with the event and connect with the target audience. Another challenge facing brands is the availability and schedule of influencers. Teaming up with mega-influencers requires a substantial budget.

💰 Payment details : Fixed payment. The bigger the influencer the brand chooses, the bigger the budget.

UGC campaigns

A User-Generated Content campaign is a marketing strategy where brands encourage their customers or followers to create and share content related to the brand's products, services, or campaigns.

Typically, brands launch UGC campaigns through social media platforms, websites, or dedicated apps, inviting users to contribute content such as photos, videos, reviews, testimonials, or stories. This content can then be curated, repurposed, and shared by the brand across its marketing channels.

UGC campaigns often leverage hashtags to aggregate user-generated content and make it easily discoverable. By involving their audience directly in the content creation process, brands can foster a sense of community, trust, and loyalty while also benefitting from the diverse perspectives and creativity of their customers.

🎯 Goals : Generate engagement, enhance brand credibility and authority, increase brand awareness and provide social proof.

⏱️ Duration : Can be either short-term or ongoing.

🔥 Difficulty : MEDIUM. Requires an easy submission method and adequate resources to manage the volume of content. Consumer-generated content is often used by brands across multiple platforms, but companies must obtain permission to do so. In addition, user-generated messages must be consistent with the brand's message.

💰 Payment details : Businesses can offer prizes, awards or products that are not commercially available.

But to conduct any of these campaigns, you need to find THE right influencer for you!

And that's where Favikon comes in!

⭐️ Read his article to know how to find influencers for your business : How to Find Influencers for Your Business: A Guide Using Favikon

Benefits for brands

👀 Expanded Reach and Increased Exposure: Partnering with influencers grants brands access to a broader and more diverse audience. Influencers' posts have the potential to reach thousands, if not millions, of people, amplifying the brand's visibility and extending its social media reach.

💜 Authentic Engagement: Influencers typically enjoy a trusted and close-knit relationship with their followers. When they endorse a product or service, it often sparks genuine engagement from consumers. Influencer recommendations carry a sense of authenticity and credibility, steering clear of the intrusive nature of traditional advertisements.

🪄 Creation of High-Quality Content: Influencers excel at crafting compelling content. By collaborating with them, brands gain access to top-notch content that resonates strongly with their target audience. Furthermore, this content can be repurposed across various communication channels, delivering exceptional returns on investment.

😎 Humanization of the Brand: Influence marketing enables brands to forge personal and human connections with their audience. By partnering with influencers whose values and persona align with the brand, companies can humanize their image and foster emotional bonds with consumers.

📈 Impact Measurement: Thanks to sophisticated analytics and tracking tools, brands can gauge the effectiveness of their influence marketing campaigns. This empowers them to evaluate the return on investment of their efforts and refine their strategies based on insights, continuously enhancing their influence marketing endeavors.

Benefits for influencers

💰 Remuneration and Revenue Opportunities: Collaborating with brands often means influencers can earn extra income through paid partnerships. Moreover, these collaborations can pave the way for other lucrative opportunities like sponsorships, long-term affiliations, or even launching their own product lines.

👥 Audience and Engagement Boost: Teaming up with reputable brands exposes influencers to fresh audiences, helping them grow their follower base. Collaborations also tend to spike engagement among existing followers, who are keen on products or services endorsed by their favorite influencer.

⭐️ Elevated Content Creation: Partnering with brands allows influencers to produce top-notch content. They get access to exclusive products or unique experiences to share with their audience, elevating the quality of their content and bolstering their credibility as industry experts.

Validation and Recognition: Being selected by a brand for collaboration serves as validation of an influencer's work. It also enhances their visibility and credibility within the industry, setting them apart in the crowded landscape of social media influencers.

🤝 Networking Opportunities: Brand collaborations open doors to networking with other influencers or industry insiders. This often leads to mutually beneficial partnerships and broadens an influencer's professional horizons.