8 Influencer Marketing Campaign Examples for Inspiration

If you’re active on social media, you’ve likely heard of influencer marketing. Simply put, influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing that promotes products and services, and ultimately drives conversions, through partnerships with influential people online.

When done right, influencer marketing campaigns can offer brands many advantages over traditional marketing channels. On top of being cost-effective and time-efficient, influencer marketing campaigns can help you reach your target audience much more effectively than traditional advertising, SEO, or email marketing.

In this article, we will go over some of the most successful influencer marketing campaigns by major companies and explain what makes each one so effective.

Top Influencer Marketing Campaign Examples

• Microsoft
• Audi
• McDonald’s
• Nescafe
• Levi’s
• PlayStation
• Google
• Nike

Microsoft

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Like many tech companies, Microsoft has committed to improving diversity and inclusivity in the industry. As part of the company’s outreach effort, the “Make What’s Next” campaign aims to address the pipeline problem by encouraging young girls to pursue STEM careers.

Microsoft teamed up with National Geographic, which itself has a strong social media footprint, and also has on-staff women working in STEM who have their own social media presence. These female photographers, explorers, and scientists hosted Facebook LIVE events, attended in-person conferences, created inspirational content, and took the time to mentor young women on-site at Microsoft stores around the U.S.

The campaign kicked off on International Women’s Day with National Geographic sharing 30 photos that depicted prominent female scientists and adventurers across its social media accounts. The images generated over 3.5 million likes on Instagram alone in just one day.

Takeaway: The high engagement rate that the Instagram posts generated indicates that the campaign was effective in disseminating brand messaging and increasing awareness of the issue of diversity and representation in STEM industries. Beyond the campaign, working with top influencers and high-quality content creators like the women who work with National Geographic helped improve Microsoft’s overall image, with brand sentiment hitting an unprecedented 83%.

Audi

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Audi is one of many automotive companies using influencer marketing to target potential customers across social media platforms. Their approach consisted of striking an influencer partnership with Indian cricketer Virat Kohli to promote the AUDI Q8. As one of the most popular athletes in India, Kohli has a substantial following on Instagram and sponsored content on his account can broadly reach millennial fans on the subcontinent.

Takeaway: Since luxury brands often refrain from traditional advertising, this influencer marketing strategy helped Audi introduce a new product to one of the largest markets in the world in a targeted and cost-effective manner. Audi didn’t simply enlist a popular influencer to promote the Q8. In fact, the company made Virat Kohli the first customer of the car, which drew a considerable amount of attention right before the official launch. Videos of Kohli driving the car circulated widely on social media, increasing Audi’s visibility in the country and drumming up interest in the new SUV model.

McDonald’s

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Fast-food chains have long relied on trusted brand ambassadors for both organic marketing and paid advertising. Traditionally, these individuals were mainstream celebrities from film, music, and sports with the aim of reaching the widest audience possible.

In 2020, McDonald’s took this approach a step further and embarked on a large-scale collaboration with rapper Travis Scott. The partnership spanned many areas, including fashion, food, and community efforts. As part of this collaborative partnership, the fast-food franchise added a signature Travis Scott meal on its menus across all U.S. locations.

Takeaway: Unlike previous celebrity partnerships, the McDonald’s and Travis Scott collaboration had a specific target demographic in mind: young consumers between the ages of 11 and 24. Partnering with a popular musical act allowed McDonald’s to improve its image among younger consumers and helped bring the company up to speed with newer marketing trends that its competitors had successfully leveraged in recent years.

Nescafé

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Taking a more ground-level approach to influencer marketing, Nescafé launched a campaign featuring various coffee drinks made by different Instagram influencers. Nescafé featured the images on its Instagram account and tagged them with trending hashtags like #dalgonacoffee. The campaign attracted thousands of impressions and likes in a relatively short time.

Takeaway: While many companies ramped up their digital marketing efforts during the lockdown, few managed to leverage existing trends to maximize their results. Nescafé capitalized on both the lockdown and the ongoing Dalgona Coffee trend to put its brand in front of a large and highly engaged audience.

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Levi’s

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Levi’s influencer marketing strategy centers around Gen Z activists and influencers. Dubbed “Buy Better, Wear Longer,” this campaign enlisted prominent Gen Z personalities from all walks of life. The list includes rapper Jaden Smith, professional soccer player Marcus Rashford, YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, and climate activist Xiye Bastida—just to name a few. The campaign consists of a series of ads that carry messages of sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Takeaway: Studies show that Gen Z shoppers are acutely aware of environmental problems and are more likely to demand sustainable products from retailers. By focusing on this crucial issue, the campaign’s messaging has a good chance of resonating with younger audiences, which could boost the company’s sales to pre-pandemic levels.

PlayStation

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A good example of a successful influencer marketing campaign is PlayStation’s collaboration with gaming YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie. To celebrate his birthday, PlayStation sent PewDiePie a cake with a game controller hidden inside. Felix revealed the cake’s content in a video watched by over 3 million viewers.

Takeaway: As the most-viewed gaming channel on YouTube, PlayStation could not have picked a better influencer to partner with than PewDiePie. PewDiePie’s audience and PlayStation’s customer base align perfectly and the influencer’s immense fan base guaranteed that millions of gamers would see PlayStation’s product—at negligible cost to the company.

Google

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Since its inception, tech giant Google has explored a plethora of marketing strategies, from affiliate marketing to influencer-driven strategies. A good example of the latter is the campaign to promote the Pixelbook laptop.

As part of this strategy, Google collaborated with The Sorry Girls, two micro-influencers in the DIY niche. The campaign consisted of a single sponsored post with a giveaway offering a Pixelbook laptop to one lucky entrant. To participate, users were instructed to like the post, follow The Sorry Girls Instagram account, and leave a comment explaining how they would use the Pixelbook if they were to win the contest.

Takeaway: While micro- and nano-influencers are not as far-reaching and authoritative as macro-influencers, their endorsements can prove fruitful even for large companies. This type of influencer marketing tends to generate an exceptionally high level of engagement as the link between these individuals and their audience is quite strong. In Google’s case, a single sponsored post attracted over 7,000 entrants and generated upward of 10,000 likes.

Nike

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Another great influencer marketing example worth highlighting is Nike’s partnership with the popular YouTube channel What’s Inside. The channel’s content is family-oriented and features father-son duo Dan and Lincoln Markham as they cut various objects open to see what’s inside.

To promote the 2017 Air Vapormax, Nike teamed up with Dan and Lincoln to give viewers a close look at what’s inside the sneaker. The duo dug into the seams to reveal the unique design elements and materials that went into the making of the shoe.

Takeaway: As far as a digital marketing strategy is concerned, Nike’s partnership with What’s Inside yielded great results. The channel’s large number of subscribers offered Nike the ideal marketing platform to introduce the newest edition of one of its most iconic products to millions of people. The video received over 7 million views and made headlines across various media outlets.

Get some help with your influencer marketing campaign

Partnering with the right influencers can do wonders for brands and businesses. With the continued growth of platforms like TikTok and the constant emergence of new social media apps, it’s safe to assume that influencer marketing will become an even more fundamental part of every company’s marketing efforts.

If you don’t have any experience in influencer marketing, consider hiring a professional social media marketer to help you create your first campaign. Upwork’s Talent Marketplace streamlines this process by giving you immediate access to a large pool of talented professionals with specialized skills in a full range of marketing services. You can also purchase a predefined influencer marketing project from Upwork’s Project Catalog.

If you are a skilled social media marketer and believe you can help companies leverage influencer marketing to its full potential, start exploring the work opportunities available to you on Upwork.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyse and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.