Influencer marketing campaigns are a powerful way to build brand awareness online and connect with your target audience in an authentic way. A buzzy social media campaign is one of the fastest ways to get people talking about your products, but you need to choose the right influencers to create content that resonates with your audience.
Creating and managing an influencer marketing program is a significant undertaking, but it’s worth the effort. An effective influencer campaign can have a significant ROI for your brand, drawing in loyal and engaged new customers. Here’s your complete guide to building an influencer marketing strategy that drives real results.
What is influencer marketing and why does it matter in 2025?
Influencer marketing is when a brand collaborates with a social media influencer for branded or sponsored posts. An influencer is someone who has a dedicated online following. This could be a loyal group of a few thousand people or millions of engaged fans.
Influencer marketing works similarly to a celebrity endorsement. Many influencers have built their following by recommending products or services in a specific niche. When an influencer makes a recommendation, their followers trust their opinion, which can boost sales.
Consider the following influencer marketing campaign examples:
- Gifting an influencer products or services in exchange for an honest review
- Sponsoring a product giveaway for the influencer’s followers
- Having an influencer take over the brand’s social media accounts for a day
Influencers have saturated social media, podcasts, blogs, and review sites, and the types of influencers you find on influencer apps and platforms run the gamut.
Celebrities like Cristiano Ronaldo have more than 660 million Instagram followers, while a local influencer may have just 500. The “right” influencer for a campaign depends on your current market position and the target audience you hope to attract.
For this marketing strategy to be successful, you don’t want to choose influencers randomly. You’ll need to carefully select partnerships that align with your brand’s values and goals, and make sure your campaigns are consistent across platforms.
Types of influencers and how to choose the right ones
With various types of influencers currently posting on social media, you’ll need to decide which ones will be most effective for your brand goals and audience demographics.
Let’s break down influencer categories by following size:
- Nano-influencers: These influencers have a following of 1,000 or fewer. They have an incredibly close-knit community of followers who are highly engaged and invested in what they have to say.
- Micro-influencers: These influencers have a follower count ranging from 1,000 to 100,000. They may not have massive numbers, but they pack a punch where it matters most: engagement. The charm of micro-influencers lies in their authenticity and relatability.
- Macro-influencers: With follower counts of 100,000 to 1 million, these are the celebrities of the social media world. Macro-influencers have a broad reach, and their voices resonate with diverse audiences. When a macro-influencer endorses a product or brand, it gets noticed.
- Mega-influencers: These influencers boast a follower count exceeding 1 million. Mega-influencers are household names. They could be Hollywood celebrities, star athletes, or internet sensations who have ascended to mainstream fame. They shape trends, inspire lifestyles, and have every post scrutinized.
Not all influencers will be a good fit for every brand. A mega-influencer may get your brand in front of a vast audience, but not all of those followers will be highly engaged. However, a smaller nano-influencer could have a more loyal following, which can lead to a better ROI in the long run.
Take Glossier, a cosmetics brand born on social media. They leveraged the power of micro- and nano-influencers to build a fiercely loyal customer base and a brand synonymous with inclusive everyday beauty.
These hyper-targeted campaigns are an effective way to attract a niche audience. Don’t be afraid to get creative with different platforms. For example, Snapchat influencer marketing is an effective way to reach your customers directly with lighthearted, buzzworthy content.
How to set goals and define your influencer marketing budget
The first step in building your influencer marketing program is to decide what you want to accomplish and set clear, measurable objectives. You might want to expand your social media following, reach new audiences, or boost online conversion rates.
When setting these goals, select specific KPIs to track. Helpful influencer KPIs include:
- Engagement rate by platform and overall
- Click-through rates from social media to other platforms, such as your website or newsletter sign-up
- Conversion rates
- ROI of influencer spend
- New followers and customers by location
Next, you’ll need to decide how much you want to spend on your influencer marketing program. Keep in mind that you’ll need to pay influencers for their efforts, plus you’ll need to invest in digital tools like Bitly Analytics, influencer discovery, and creative production.
The price for a sponsored post can vary significantly between influencers based on their following and engagement levels. Influencers also have different financial goals and needs that can affect their pricing. The average cost of a TikTok video is around $2,700, but it can range from $50–$10,000, depending on the individual influencer.
Finding and vetting influencers for your brand
Now it’s time to find influencers who can help you achieve your goals. One way to do this is by following hashtags relevant to your industry to identify influencers posting about them. You can search for your brand name, product types, or the keywords your brand targets for SEO.
While you can hand-pick influencers to work with, you can also use influencer outreach and discovery platforms to make the process faster. Upfluence, BuzzSumo, and CreatorIQ are top choices with this feature.
Make a spreadsheet of influencers in your niche who use the platforms you want to target. In addition to mainstream platforms like Instagram and TikTok, check out influencers on emerging platforms as well, such as BlueSky, Threads, or BeReal.
Then create a spreadsheet with a list of influencers you’re interested in. This will help you compare them at a glance. Note key information like:
- Number of followers
- Topics they post about
- Average likes and shares per post
- Whether they’ve followed or interacted with your brand
Before reaching out to influencers, make sure their following is authentic. Tools like Fohr will break down how many of an influencer’s followers are bots, lurkers, or active users.
Then, do a deep dive on each influencer’s background and values, as well as the demographics of their audience. Thorough vetting can help you find past controversies or questionable posts that could affect your brand’s reputation.
Building and maintaining strong influencer relationships
Once you create a short list of influencers you’d like to partner with, begin building relationships. Start by reaching out on social media through direct messages.
Keep in mind that even nano- and micro-influencers are often overwhelmed with partnership requests. For your message to stand out, it should be straightforward, genuine, and personable. Plus, commenting on recent posts you’ve enjoyed will let them know that you’ve reviewed their profile.
You can also contact influencers via email. Many influencers have their email or agency contact information listed in their bios. If you use an influencer marketing platform, it can help you find updated contact information.
Once you create a connection, you can pitch the partnership. Provide as much detail about your campaign as possible, including the type of collaboration you’re interested in, the project timeline, and your budget per post. This helps the influencer determine if it’s a good fit.
If they decide to join your campaign, provide as many resources as possible to make a stellar post. In addition to sharing your products or services, you can also provide a detailed project brief, a brand messaging guide, and any other digital marketing assets that could be valuable.
Kind and respectful communication can lead to a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership; long-term influencer collaborations lead to more consistent and creative posts that drive engagement.
Now that influencer marketing has become an established practice, we’ve seen many successful long-term campaigns and how they keep brands relevant. For example, David Beckham’s partnership with Tudor watches remains as strong today as it was in 2019!
Cultivating these relationships starts with fair compensation. Remember, influencers put considerable effort into creating content and building their audience, and they deserve to be compensated for it.
It can also help to give influencers some creative freedom when developing their sponsored posts. Influencers have a deep understanding of their audience and how to engage them, so giving them creative freedom can lead to more successful posts and a better return on investment. Once you build trust with an influencer, you could even offer total creative control in exchange for an exclusivity contract.
Top influencer marketing strategies to maximize ROI
The social media landscape is constantly evolving, so brands need to be creative and adaptable to build an effective influencer marketing strategy. Try the following strategies with your influencer partnerships to drive sales and make an impact.
Leverage nano- and micro-influencers for authenticity
Many nano- and micro-influencers have highly engaged followers, so you can leverage them to reach a niche audience directly. If an influencer only has 10k to 50k followers, but a large percentage of those followers act on their recommendations, you could make a huge splash by partnering with them.
There are also plenty of nano and niche influencers to choose from, so you can find partners who are perfect fits for your brand. For a little perspective, Instagram has around 2 billion active users, of which 75.9% (or 1.5 billion) are nano-influencers.
Users tend to trust these influencers due to their authenticity. While mega-influencers may seem unapproachable to the average social media user, nano- and micro-influencers are more relatable.
When working with these “smaller” influencers, consider partnering with several creators at once to maximize your impact. You can create unique Bitly links for each influencer post, which will help you track which creators and strategies are driving the most traffic. You can also use influencer engagement tracking tools to monitor engagement levels in real time.
Focus on video-first content
With the rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts over the past few years, it’s clear that video content is here to stay on social networks. Bite-sized snippets are fun, engaging, and easy to scroll through without the commitment of watching a long-form video or livestream.
When choosing influencers to partner with, look for creators who are comfortable with video content. Don’t be afraid to follow their lead when it comes to creative strategy. Your influencers probably know which background music or editing styles are most likely to catch their audience’s attention.
Integrate influencer campaigns with other channels
Social media is just one of many marketing channels you can use to reach new customers. Try aligning influencer content with your other marketing strategies to keep things cohesive. Your influencer content should align with the messaging in your blogs, email newsletters, and podcasts.
Identify creative ways for influencers to amplify your brand values while staying true to themselves. For example, if your brand is both sustainable and affordable, an environmentalist influencer could promote your brand’s fair labor practices in their Substack posts. Along the same line, a budget-oriented influencer could promote your consumer-friendly price tag on Instagram.
Encourage user-generated content (UGC)
User-generated content, or UGC, is any content that social media users create and share on their own. Instead of polished sponsored posts, UGC focuses on transparency and authentic recommendations.
Encourage your audience to create and share their own UGC with a branded hashtag. This approach builds social proof and generates buzz around your brand.
We’ve seen this strategy in action many times over the last few years. For example, LaCroix’s branded hashtag, #LiveLaCroix, encouraged everyone to post themselves enjoying the sparkling beverage. Fans had a blast color-coordinating the scenes with the bright packaging of different flavors.
Prioritize transparency and compliance
Over the past decade, many government bodies have enacted laws and regulations related to social media. These laws are designed to protect consumers and often require influencers to disclose when they’re posting sponsored content.
In the United States, the FTC requires influencers to disclose in their posts when they have a material connection to the brand. Many other countries have similar guidelines that influencers must follow to avoid fines.
Work with your influencer partners to make sure they’re aware of the disclosure requirements and are transparent in their posts. Review your sponsored posts before they go live to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Experiment with new platforms
Being an early adopter of a new social media platform is a great way to get noticed. You’ll have less competition on these new social channels, giving you more room to experiment and build authentic connections with your audience.
When a new social media platform debuts, evaluate its user base to see if it’s a good fit for your brand. New social media platforms that are currently picking up traction include BeReal, Threads, BlueSky, Substack, and RedNote, just to name a few.
Tracking, measuring, and proving campaign success
Once you’ve launched your influencer marketing campaign, be sure to track engagement levels to determine whether or not the campaign was a success. Key performance indicators to track include:
- Engagement rates: Likes, comments, shares for each post
- Click-through rate: The percentage of people who click on your affiliate links and visit your website
- Conversions: The percentage of people who take a designated action, like signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase, after interacting with your sponsored posts
- ROI: The return on investment for each post or partnership
You can track some of these metrics and optimize affiliate marketing with short links. Use Bitly to create a unique affiliate link for each influencer partnership. Then, monitor link activity to see which posts are getting the most engagement. You can also see where your audience is located and what devices they’re using to engage with your links.
You can use this information to fine-tune your future influencer marketing campaigns. You can also use Bitly alongside Google Analytics for more detailed traffic attribution. This will help you see where your web traffic is coming from, helping you calculate the ROI of your influencer marketing campaigns.
Common snags to avoid in influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is complex, and it’s easy to make mistakes as you launch your campaigns. Here’s why these influencer marketing mistakes happen and how to avoid them.
Over-reliance on follower count
- Challenge: When it comes to social media, more followers must be better for engagement, right? Well, this isn’t always the case. Many influencers have millions of followers, but not all of those followers are engaged, plus some of them might be bots.
- Recommendation: Instead of focusing solely on an influence’s follower count, consider their average engagement levels and the overall results they can deliver for your brand.
Poor influencer fit
- Challenge: If you want to partner with several influencers, it can be tempting to collaborate with anyone who’s interested. But not all influencers will be a good fit for your brand. For example, if your target audience is homeowning Millennials, but the influencer’s audience is Gen Z users who rent or live with their families, you won’t get much traction from the partnership. Additionally, if they’ve posted things in the past that don’t align with your brand values, you could inadvertently find your brand in the middle of a controversy.
- Recommendation: Do a deep dive on every influencer before launching a campaign.
Lack of a contract
- Challenge: Before starting a new partnership, have both parties sign a contract that outlines the terms of the project. This should include the number and type of posts expected, the timeline for delivery, and the payment amount and type.
- Recommendation: Having everything in writing will help you avoid confusion or conflict.
Non-compliance
- Challenge: If you and your influencer partners don’t properly disclose sponsorships, it could put everyone at risk of damaged reputations, fines, or legal consequences.
- Recommendation: Clearly disclose sponsorships, as today’s consumers value transparency.
Skipping post-campaign analysis
- Challenge: If you don’t analyze engagement levels after launching your campaign, you could end up making the same mistakes over and over again.
- Recommendation: Build time into your marketing calendar to track influencer performance and identify the types of posts that worked best.
Elevate your influencer marketing strategy with Bitly
A successful influencer marketing campaign requires creativity, patience, and cooperation. Put your brand on the map by experimenting with new platforms and niche influencers, as this can help you build more authentic connections with your audience. It takes some trial and error, but over time, you’ll build a strategy that gets you noticed online.
Bitly has the tools you need to take your marketing strategy to the next level and track engagement. With Bitly, you can add branded links and QR Codes directly to your posts and track them to see which ones perform best. You can also create custom branded landing pages that turn social media traffic into website engagement.
Get started with Bitly today to build an integrated social media marketing strategy that drives results.
