In a stunning announcement, Unilever's CEO reported that the company is increasing its influencer marketing investment by 20x and allocating 50% of its media budget to social channels. He explained that Unilever is moving away from traditional brand messaging. Instead, they’re making creators the focus of their marketing strategy.
This move reflects a broader industry trend. The influencer marketing industry is set to reach $32.55 billion in 2025, reflecting an increase of 33.11% over the past ten years. More than 80% of marketers feel their influencer marketing campaigns drive meaningful results.
Influencer marketing has evolved beyond a mere brand awareness tool. It's now a performance-driven strategy that influences (pun-intended) conversions, customer engagement, and long-term brand loyalty. Brands that include influencers at every stage of their marketing funnel are seeing much better returns. In contrast, those who use them as a one-time tactic are missing out.
If you’re looking to build or refine your influencer marketing strategy, this guide will walk you through actionable steps to create high-impact partnerships in 2025. But first, let’s uncover just how powerful influencer marketing can be for your brand.
Influencer Marketing Has Become the Foundation of Any Strong Marketing Strategy
In 2024, social media became the world's largest advertising channel, with continued growth expected in 2025. Here’s how:
Social Media Reach Is Harder to Achieve Without Influencers
With platform algorithms prioritizing user-generated content, brands struggle to gain organic reach on their own. 80% of impressions on social media now come from users who DO NOT actively follow a creator. Even large brands need creator-driven content to break through and get noticed.
Influencer-Led Ads Perform Better Than Traditional Brand Ads
Consumers trust people more than brands. This is why influencer-generated content consistently outperforms brand-produced ads. 92% of consumers trust influencer recommendations more than traditional brand ads. Brands integrating influencer content into paid ads see a 4x higher click-through rate than standard ads.
Brands That Invest in Long-Term Influencer Partnerships See Higher ROI
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, community-building is a significant focus area for 47% of brands leveraging influencer marketing. This shows a strategic shift to prioritizing long-term value-driven relationships. Some brands are experiencing up to 3x higher ROI with these types of campaigns compared to one-time campaigns.
Identify and Create Relationships with the Right Influencers for Your Brand
Influencer marketing is most effective when your brand collaborates with creators who share your values, resonate with your target audience, and align with your marketing goals.
Clarify Your Brand Values, Goals and Assets
Before reaching out to influencers, take a step back and clarify:
-
What is your brand? It’s amazing how many leaders don’t understand the importance of identifying their brand before generating any marketing campaign. Read more about this critical step here.
-
Who is your target audience? Are your customers business executives, busy moms, Gen Z-ers looking for the hottest night club, or exercise enthusiasts? Create a comprehensive customer persona for more targeted marketing. Read more about customer personas on our blog.
-
Where do your customers consume online content? Are they more likely to engage with TikTok influencers, Instagram content creators, or LinkedIn industry experts? If you don't know, go back to the basics. Start a listening campaign to connect with your customers.
-
What’s the purpose of your influencer campaign? Every successful campaign starts with a detailed set of goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive product sales, develop a community, or foster credibility?
-
What assets can you provide to enhance influencer content? Protect your brand's integrity by delivering a complete brand guide and branded assets to your influencers. Do you have high-quality product samples, exclusive video content, or brand visuals they can use?
Read more about aligning your brand values with an influencer in our recent blog.
Understand Follower Count (But Don't Fixate on It)
You don't need a celebrity like Ben Affleck (Dunkin') or Ryan Reynolds (Mint Mobile) to boost your brand. The best influencer partnerships focus on shared values and matching audiences, not reach only. However, it's essential to understand the intricacies of any influencer's following. Here's a breakdown:
Nano-Influencers (1k-10k followers)
Nano-influencers made up 75.9% of Instagram's influencer base in 2024. Nano-influencers' average engagement rate across all channels was 1.73%, significantly higher than influencers with a larger following.
-
Advantages:
-
High Engagement: These influencers often have a personal connection with their audience.
-
Cost-Effective: Partnerships are typically more affordable.
-
-
Considerations:
-
Limited Reach: Their smaller audience means reduced overall exposure.
-
Professionalism: They may lack experience in collaborations, requiring more guidance.
-
Micro-Influencers (10k-100k followers)
Micro-influencers make up about 8% of the influencers on TikTok and 13.6% on Instagram. Experts believe this group will gain even more traction in 2025.
-
Advantages:
-
Balanced Reach and Engagement: They offer a good mix of audience size and interaction.
-
Niche Communities: Often cater to specific interests, allowing precise targeting.
-
-
Considerations:
-
Variable Quality: Content quality and professionalism can vary.
-
Macro-Influencers (100K - 1M followers)
The average Instagram engagement rate for this category of influencers is .61%. TikTok nets about 7% engagement.
-
Advantages:
-
Wide Reach: Suitable for campaigns aiming for broad visibility.
-
Content Quality: They typically produce more high-quality, polished content.
-
-
Considerations:
-
Lower Engagement: Larger audiences can lead to reduced personal interaction.
-
Higher Costs: Collaborations require a more substantial budget.
-
Mega/Celebrity Influencers (1M+ followers)
- Advantages:
-
Massive Reach: Ideal for global campaigns and brand awareness.
-
Strong Influence: Their endorsements can significantly impact brand perception.
-
- Considerations:
-
High Costs: Partnerships can be expensive.
-
Authenticity Concerns: Audiences may perceive endorsements as less genuine.
-
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 38% of brands prefer nano-influencers, while 32% collaborate with micro-influencers. Thanks to their authentic connections and high engagement rates, nano-influencers are especially effective for hyper-targeted campaigns. Their relatability makes them a strong choice if you're looking to build deeper trust with your audience.
Research and Evaluate Influencers for the Best Fit
In addition to prioritizing influencers with strong engagement and audience trust, find influencers whose content, audience, and values align with your brand.
How to Evaluate Influencer Fit
-
Content Relevance: Does their content style, tone, and topics complement your brand?
-
Audience Alignment: Are their followers similar to your target customers in age, location, interests, and behaviors?
-
Engagement Quality: Do they have an active, engaged audience, or is most interaction passive?
-
Past Collaborations: Have they worked with brands in your industry? Did their sponsored content perform well?
There are platforms and tools that can help you find and analyze influencers for marketing. Read more about tools and strategies to determine a good fit in our blog.
Tips for Running a Successful Influencer Campaign
In 2025, focus on quality over quantity, prioritizing depth, sustainability, and long-term impact. Success comes from thoughtful, engaging content and strategies designed for lasting connections. Here’s how to build impactful influencer collaborations that drive meaningful results.
Encourage Authentic Brand Storytelling
Authenticity is the cornerstone of influencer marketing. To foster genuine connections:
-
Empower Creative Freedom: Allow influencers to craft content in their unique voice and style so that it resonates with their audience while authentically representing your brand.
-
Collaborative Content Development: Work with influencers to create stories that work your brand into their everyday content, enhancing relatability and trust.
Set Clear Expectations and Deliverables
Defining precise guidelines is vital for campaign success. These guidelines should include:
-
Detailed Briefs: Share clear instructions that cover content themes, key messages, and compliance needs.
-
Definitive Deliverables: Specify content formats, posting schedules, and platforms to maintain consistency and meet campaign objectives.
-
Established Approval Processes: Set up a review system to ensure content accuracy and brand alignment before publication.
Follow All Regulations and Laws
Clear expectations also mean setting pay structures (paid, trade, or a combination) and following the current compensation regulations. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires influencers to disclose. any material connections to brands. This transparency is essential so that audiences are aware of promotional content. When structuring influencer campaigns, it's crucial to remember the legalities to ensure compliance and protect all parties involved.
Maintain Strong Communication
Effective communication with your influencers builds a strong relationship through trust and smooth execution. Don’t forget these critical elements:
-
Comprehensive Onboarding: Share all necessary information upfront to prevent misunderstandings and align goals.
-
Consistent Availability: Be accessible for real-time questions or support, strengthening relationships and facilitating prompt issue resolution.
-
Timely Follow-Ups: After content goes live, discuss performance, gather feedback, and explore improvement opportunities for future collaborations.
Authentic storytelling, clear expectations, and open communication foster powerful and successful influencer partnerships that resonate with audiences and achieve marketing objectives.
Don't Forget to Measure Results
Optimize your campaigns for the best results by understanding what success looks like. There are some tips and tricks for measuring results.
Utilize Tools to Monitor Campaign Performance
The same platforms that assist you in sourcing your influencers can also help track and analyze campaign metrics. Here are the benefits you'll experience using these solutions.
-
Centralized Data: Consolidate metrics from various social media channels into a single dashboard for streamlined analysis.
-
Real-Time Tracking: Monitor campaign performance as it unfolds, allowing for timely adjustments.
-
Audience Insights: Gain detailed information about the demographics and behaviors of the people engaging with the influencer’s content.
Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track
Focus on actions that drive your business objectives. These metrics offer a more accurate assessment.
-
Reach and Impressions: The number of unique views and the total number of times the content is displayed.
-
Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, and saves to gauge audience involvement.
-
Conversions: Actions taken by users, like clicking a "Buy Now" button or completing a purchase
-
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on links in the influencer's content.
-
Return on Investment (ROI): The revenue generated relative to the campaign's cost.
Leverage Influencer Feedback for Future Improvement
Don't forget to tap into the deep knowledge and insights your influencers bring to the table. Incorporating their feedback can help you refine your strategies and enhance your future partnerships. In addition to regular communication during the campaign, host debriefs after each campaign. Discuss what worked, what didn't, and how to improve.
Read more about measuring influencer campaign success here.
Navigating Challenges in Influencer Relations
The impact of the influencer market has created unique challenges for brands. It's crucial to avoid the pitfalls while maintaining authenticity.
Addressing Potential Authenticity Concerns and Audience Trust
Today’s audiences are quick to detect insincerity, which can erode trust in both the influencer and the brand. Here are two areas where these risks most often occur.
Influencers with Larger Platforms
Influencers with national or global followings face increased scrutiny, making them more susceptible to public backlash for any offensive content. For instance, Chiara Ferragni, a prominent Italian influencer, faced significant criticism and legal action due to misleading charitable promotions, leading to financial losses and damaging her reputation.
Non-Disclosure of Sponsored Content
As mentioned, the FTC mandates clear disclosure of material connections to prevent such issues. Failure to disclose sponsored posts transparently can harm the influencer's credibility and, by extension, the associated brand. In February 2025, Cognosphere, the maker of the popular game Genshin Impact, agreed to a $20 million settlement over allegations related to promoting "loot boxes" to children under 16. In 2021, the company paid Alia Shelesh (known online as SSSniperWolf) more than $100,000 to make two videos of her opening loot boxes. Audiences value honesty, and undisclosed promotions can lead to perceptions of deceit. Your influencers must openly disclose your sponsored content to uphold audience trust.
Handling Negative Feedback or PR Risks
Negative feedback or publicity is inherent in influencer marketing. Proactively managing these situations is vital to mitigate potential brand damage. When they occur, we suggest these critical steps.
-
Prepare Crisis Management Plans: Develop a comprehensive strategy to address potential issues swiftly and effectively BEFORE they happen.
-
Listen and Acknowledge: Respect your audience’s feedback and ensure they feel heard, fostering a positive relationship.
-
Stand With Your Partner When Appropriate: Not all negative feedback is rational or appropriate. A notable example is Adidas' response to criticism over its 2019 women's sports bra advertisement. The campaign faced backlash for being perceived as objectifying. In response, Adidas collaborated with BDY positivity advocate and yoga instructor Jessamyn Stanley. By aligning with an influencer who resonated with their core values, they shifted the narrative towards body positivity and inclusivity, reinforcing their commitment to these principles.
-
Learn from Missteps: Analyze past challenges to refine future campaigns.
Proactive preparation for potential challenges cultivates successful and resilient influencer partnerships.
Embrace Influencer Marketing Today
Unilever's bold move to increase influencer marketing investment by 20 times and allocate 50% of its media budget to social channels signals a seismic shift in how brands approach marketing. Brands that embrace creator-led content see stronger connections with their audience and higher marketing performance. Collaboration with influencers has become the foundation of successful brand marketing. Through authentic partnerships, clear success metrics, and a well-structured strategy, you can shape sustainable, high-performing influencer marketing campaigns that generate real business results.
The PR team at Phase 3 understands the ins and outs of successful influencer marketing. We'll keep your customers engaged and elevate your brand above the competition. Schedule a discovery call with us today.