By Influencer
21 Mar 2024
Influencers are endlessly creative when it comes to making social content (that's their job!), so there are many kinds of influencer campaigns out there. Still, most fall into a handful of different categories.
The different types of influencer marketing campaigns include:
Unfamiliar with some of these examples of influencer marketing types? Let's take a quick look at each one.
Sponsored posts are promotional social media content that brands pay influencers to create and post. They can include many of the below examples of influencer marketing campaigns and — in many markets —they must clearly disclose that they are part of paid marketing partnerships. This can be via a distinct hashtag like #ad or a label, such as the "Includes paid promotion" ones that appear above at the top left corner of sponsored YouTube videos.
Contests and giveaways are perfect for brands looking to increase their social media engagement rates. In these kinds of campaigns, brands provide influencers with free products or services that they can then gift to one or a few of their lucky followers.
In sponsored posts for giveaways, influencers will usually lay out what their followers must do to win, such as interacting with a particular branded post by leaving a comment or sharing it on their own accounts. These types of posts don't just promote your brand to the influencer's audience, they can also recruit that influencer's followers to promote your brand, too.
Tip: Learn how to do influencer gifting, understand influencer marketing pricing and rates, and download our influencer rate card.
Unlike the other campaign types on this list, social media takeovers let influencers post content directly to brand accounts. For the length of the campaign, usually a day to a week, influencers essentially become a brand's guest stars by lending their voice, image, and style to their social media accounts.
Account takeovers offer a unique win-win scenario for both sides of the partnership. Brands get a cost-effective, but temporary, shake-up of their social media channels that they can then use to inform future campaigns and strategies. At the same time, influencers get the chance to speak to an entirely new, and sometimes larger, social media audience and score some new followers.
Speaking of takeovers - looking for more inspiration for your social content? Check out these innovative social media content ideas.
Brand ambassadorships take influencer marketing partnerships a step further than one-off posts with long-term campaigns. When companies tap influencers to be brand ambassadors they are essentially making that person a spokesperson for the brand, featuring them in ad content across all of the social media platforms they use.
And while using brand ambassadors helps grow brand awareness, it also requires a higher level of commitment in a marketing partnership. Since the influencer you choose will be the face of your brand, you have to make absolutely sure that they are a good fit for representing your brand and reaching your target audience.
Tip: Learn everything about brand ambassadors in this blog.
Adding affiliate campaigns to your influencer marketing strategy is a great way to generate e-commerce sales. Affiliate marketing content comes in various types and forms, such as case studies and landing pages. Influencers, however, rely mostly on social media posts for their affiliate campaigns. In these kinds of posts, social media influencers offer their followers a special discount code for a brand's products or services. The exclusive discount motivates consumers to make a purchase. In turn, influencers earn money for every conversion from their campaigns. The results of this kind of influencer marketing can be clearly measured by related sales.
For these types of influencer content (popular across many channels but especially on YouTube and TikTok), brands send influencers free products to use and interact with. In unboxing videos, influencers open or "unbox" brand packages to capture their initial, real-time reactions to the products inside. For reviews, influencers take time to use the product or service and then share their experiences with their followers. As a result, unboxing and review influencer content can get more in-depth on the qualities of a product or service, making them perfect for long-form videos and blog posts.
Pre-release content is any kind of influencer marketing post that features products or services not yet available to the public. For these posts, brands give influencers early access to a product or service so they can build anticipation and hype for its release.
Collaborations highlight an influencer's creativity and how well they mesh with your brand. These kinds of marketing partnerships can take many forms but often involve brands inviting an influencer to design or create content featuring their products or a special edition of the products themselves.
For example, many apparel brands have invited influencers to design limited-edition clothes and shoes.
Of all the marketing activations on this list, events are the only ones that offer consumers real-life engagement with influencers.
Usually reserved for big-name influencers, event activations can be anything from in-store appearances to hosting brand experiences at large events, like music festivals. Event activations require big investments of time and money, but with the right influencer, they can also have big returns.
Your marketing strategy and goals will always dictate what kind of influencer campaigns you use. But no matter what, your influencer marketing campaign's success always depends on partnering with the right influencer who can deliver the results you're looking for.
11 Jan 2024
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