10 interesting influencer marketing case studies to get inspired by

As the word 'influencer' continues to seep into the mainstream, more and more brands are looking to implement this new wave of social leaders into their strategies.

This type of marketing is for everyone, and this year saw some fine campaigns across every sector. With 65 per cent of companies looking to boost their influencer marketing spend in the next year, its time to get thinking creatively.

Get inspired

Here's our pick of some of the most interesting campaigns from the past year and how they went. Whether its viral video games, million dollar sports cars or selling a book, influencer marketing can do it all. 

Working With Brands month is brought to you in association with Nevaly. We bridge the gap between your brand objectives and the social landscape by delivering creative solutions that resonate with audiences through content and activations they know and love. Find out more here. Click here to view the list »

• How to target millennial women: Society6 dorm decoration YouTube campaign

  

  Online marketplace Society6 collaborated with a number of YouTube creators in order to promote their brand. 

  The aim of the campaign was to showcase Society6's unique designs to millennial women, which was achieved by advertising through the fanbases of young female YouTubers. 

  To further entice, the creators were given promo codes that gave their fans discounts on the website.

  Each creator had a different style and chose to showcase different products depending on their tastes. Society6 gave the YouTubers creative freedom which meant each piece of content came back unique. 

  Society6' trust in the influencers meant that the campaign resulted in high engagement rates, and it left the brand with an air of authenticity as a trusted go-to style name. 
  
  Check out the full campaign analysis here.

  
  

• Building your product around influencers is a great route to engagement

  

  This campaign saw games company Space Ape Games partner up with a bunch of YouTubers in order to promote Fastlane: Road to Revenge.

  This campaign involved 18 YouTube gaming creators with a combined audience of over 20 million. Their individual subscriber counts ranged from 8 million to 100k, hitting multiple demographics along the way.

  Space Ape didn't just get these influencers to promote the game - they put the influencers in the game as well. Each creator was designed and placed as an in-game boss that players could challenge.

  Doing this meant that Space Ape had to nurture close relationships with each creator to really nail down their likeness. In turn, the creators put a lot of care into promoting the game. 

  The campaign generated over 21 million views and was dubbed a success by the Space Ape team. Check out the full campaign analysis here!

  
  

• How Universal Orlando nailed Gen Z appeal by giving teen influencers full creative freedom

  

  In order to target the fickle Gen Z, Universal Orlando ran a UGC campaign with a handful of teenage social media stars. 

  The aim of the campaign was to boost awareness of the Florida-based resort in the most genuine way possible. Universal wanted positive reinforcement without the force. 

  The company teamed up with 17 creators, including TikTok star BabyAriel and YouTuber Weston Koury. These influencers were then let loose to create vlogs of themselves experiencing the theme park.

  Universal was intent on giving the influencers as much creative freedom as possible. BabyAriel was told by the brand: "you are the influencer. You figure out what you want to do and what is going to work best for your audience." 

  That approach resulting in 40 million impressions across social media and a great boost of awareness for Universal Orlando. Check out the entire case study here. 

   

  
  

• How Traplight used influencers to build Big Bang Racing awareness

  

  Games company Traplight enlisted the help of a bunch of YouTubers to promote their mobile title Big Bang Racing. 

  Seven gaming creators with a combined reach of 6.5 million to create content about the title. Traplight gave the YouTubers total creative control which produced great results. 

  Traplight managed all of the influencer relations in-house with the help of fellow games company Space Ape Games. The company said that this method took more time, but this method resulted in better relationships and better content.

  The campaign generated around 2.5 million, with approximately 150k-250k additional downloads for the game. 

  Check out the full case study here.

  
  

• Selling stories: what marketers can learn from book influencer Bronte Huskinson

  

  Writing a book is incredibly taxing and thanks to digital publishing, almost anyone can write and release one. However, like all digital creations, many are lost to poor marketing.

  This campaign involved a collaboration between Amazon Publishing and 'bookstagrammer' Bronte Huskinson. 

  The aim of the campaign was to boost awareness of Amazon Publishing among an audience already keyed into the book scene in an authentic way. The Instagram creator focused on a fictional title by author Liz Fenton, and encouraged her followers to check it out via Amazon Publishing. 

  Huskinson's transparency paired with her enthusiasm for reading made for a great campaign that resulted in positive brand awareness for Amazon. 

  Take a look at the full case study here. 

  
  

• Influencer powerhouses: how The Rock spurred more iPhone owners to use Siri

  

  Last year, Apple ran a promotion to encourage more users to try Siri. The campaign starred one of the world's biggest movie stars - Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

  While it doesn't seem like Apple needs to utilise media personalities to sell something, this campaign focused on driving behaviour. Johnson is a popular and respected figure across multiple mediums and if he does something, his audience is sure to follow suit. 

  Johnson starred in a short film called 'Dominate the Day' which aired on YouTube. He also took to Twitter to promote the film. 

  The video racked up 217 million views and was one of the most watched advertisements of 2017. It also won a bronze lion award at Cannes Lions 2018.

  You can read the full analysis over here. 

  
  

• Yves Saint Laurent: How to sell a smell with influencer marketing

  

  Luxury brands are not always for the casual consumer, and so fragrance company Yves Saint Laurent looked to influencers to sell a smell. 

  The company brought Instagram influencers on board to recreate the classic, slick and sexy fragrance adverts that have been seen on TV for years. However, this campaign stuck to subtle product placement rather than all-out dramatic promotion.

  YSL wanted to target more millennials with this campaign but had to take into account that this demographic generally spends less on luxury items.

  The campaign was a success and it led YSL's follower growth to rocket by 70 per cent in 2017. 

  We've got a full analysis of the campaign right over here.  

  
  

• Fashion influencers done right: The Pink Macaron & Hackett London

  

  This campaign involved the fusion of blogging duo The Pink Macaron and British menswear brand Hackett London.

  Hackett partnered with one half of the blog in order to promote their christmas line. The collaboration choice seemed odd at first given that The Pink Macaron's audience is predominantly women. 

  However, the blog had a clever way around that. Steph from The Pink Macaron enlisted the help of her boyfriend to showcase the Hackett products on her Instagram and blog. 

  Hackett could have just used a male Instagram model, but Steph's posts revolving around how the clothes impact her combined with the illusion of 'couple goals' was a clever way to promote the items to her female followers. After all, every girl is crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man. 
  
  The full campaign is worth a read and you can take a look at that over here. 

  
  

• eBay spawns a new brand of 'seller' influencers

  

  We've all bought things we didn't really need on eBay, which makes it a ripe environment for influencers to market. 

  eBay's newly launched Influencer Network has created a way to turn influencers into well-equipped sales weapons. Instead of paying them to shout about the platform, eBay is giving influencers an additional platform. 

  Creators there can curate collections of items for people to buy, and then promote that collection on other social media such as Instagram and YouTube. eBay can also spotlight certain creators and collections on its site, resulting in promotion for both parties.

  eBay wants to generate sales whilst also creating an air of authenticity, and influencers adverts are more likely to resonate with a curated audience. The campaign is working well for the creators already on board and influencer content on eBay fits surprisingly well. 

  Read more about the campaign here.

  
  

• How Eden Games worked with Pagani and YouTubers to unveil the Huayra Roadster

  

  Influencer marketing at it's finest right here. Eden Games teamed up with sportscar manufacturer Pagani to unveil the Huayra Roadster.

  Eden Games wanted to put the $2.5 million dollar car into their racing title Gear Club. To do that, they needed to play around with the real thing. Of course, speeding around in a car like that is hardly classed as work. 

  To further promote the game, Eden flew a bunch of YouTubers out to test the in-game roadster, and let them vlog with the real thing also.

  Eden Games' CMO Pascal Clarysse wrote us a great analysis of the campaign and you can check that out here.