15 Types of Influencer Marketing and How to Choose the Right Campaign

The main types of influencer marketing are giveaways and contests, brand ambassador programs, sponsored social media content, influencer gifting, and product collaborations which help brands build trust with target audiences and create authentic connections.

Giveaways and contests drive participation by allowing influencers to host prize-based promotions on behalf of a brand. Sponsored content, on the other hand, involves paid posts, videos, or stories where influencers highlight a brand’s products or services. Social media takeovers give influencers the temporary control of a brand’s account and allow them to create authentic, real-time content that resonates with followers.

Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that involves brands collaborating with influencers to promote their products or services. These influencers have their loyal audiences which help brands to increase their sales.

Choosing the right influencer marketing campaign means setting clear goals, understanding your audience, selecting influencers who align with your values, and planning the content strategically. Brands can refine their future influencer campaigns for a stronger ROI (Return-on-Investment) by measuring metrics like reach, impressions, and sales, and optimizing engagement.

The main types of influencer marketing are outlined below.

• Podcast Collaborations: Podcast collaborations involve influencers appearing on podcasts or hosting podcast episodes for brands to discuss topics related to a brand or product.

• Virtual Events and Live Streams: Virtual events and live streams are a type of influencer marketing where influencers interact with audiences on behalf of a brand to show products, answer questions, or host launches to increase the brand’s engagement and visibility.

• UGC (User-Generated Content) Campaigns: UGC campaigns involve encouraging influencers and followers to create and share original content about a brand.

• Giveaways and Contests: Giveaways and contests refer to influencer-led promotions where followers participate to win brand-sponsored prizes which increases engagement, reach, and brand visibility.

• Brand Ambassador Programs: A brand ambassador program is a long-term collaboration where an influencer regularly promotes a brand to represent its values and build brand loyalty among followers.

• Behind-the-Scenes Vlogging Access: Behind-the-scenes vlogging is an influencer marketing campaign where influencers share exclusive insights into events, product usage, or brand experiences.

• Exclusive Discounts and Pre-Release Access: Exclusive discounts and pre-release access involve giving influencers special offers, promo codes, or early product access to share with their followers.

• Unboxing Videos with Product Reviews: Unboxing videos refer to content where influencers open products on camera and provide reviews that help audiences understand product value.

• Special Influencer Affiliate Programs: An influencer affiliate program is a performance-based model where influencers earn commission through sales generated through trackable links or codes.

• Sponsored Social Media Content: Sponsored content means influencers are paid to post brand-related material on their social media platforms that promotes specific products or services to their followers.

• Influencer Gifting: Influencer gifting is a marketing strategy where brands provide free products or services to social media influencers with the expectation of gaining exposure through their platforms.

• Sponsored Blogging: Sponsored blogging refers to written content by influencers that shows products or services in detailed posts to inform and influence readers.

• Guest Blogging: Guest blogging means an influencer writes content for a brand’s blog that delivers expertise or personal stories relevant to the brand’s audience.

• Social Media Takeovers and Advocacy Perspectives: Social media takeovers mean influencers temporarily take over a brand’s social media account to provide content from a personal point of view.

• Product Collaborations: Product collaborations refer to partnerships where influencers co-create branded items that show their style and attract their follower base.

1. Podcast Collaborations

Podcast collaborations are a type of influencer marketing campaign where brands partner with podcast hosts to promote their products or services during an episode. These influencers promote the brands through sponsored interviews, host-read ads, product mentions, or full sponsorships. These hosts usually have loyal audiences who trust their opinions which helps brands to promote their products and share their brand messaging.

Podcast hosts act as audio influencers who use their voice and platform to engage listeners and shape opinions. They read ads, tell stories, offer personal insights, and promote the brand through their content. These podcasts help businesses build brand authority, gain new clients, and collaborate with other brands. 46% of podcast listeners say they have considered buying a product after hearing it advertised on a podcast, according to an article titled “The Podcast Consumer 2024” by Edison Research.

2. Virtual Events and Live Streams

Virtual events and live streams are real-time digital broadcasts where influencers interact directly with their audience on platforms like Instagram Live, YouTube Live, TikTok Live, Twitch, Zoom, or LinkedIn Events. These sessions include product demonstrations, live question and answer sessions, behind-the-scenes access, tutorials, or panel discussions.

Online events and live streams allow brands to use the influencer’s personality, reach, and engagement in an authentic and interactive setting. Live content creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity in the audience, unlike prerecorded posts. Audiences comment, react, and ask questions in these live streams and virtual events which builds a stronger emotional connection between the brand and its potential customers. 63% of people ages 18 to 34 watch live streaming content regularly, according to a research article titled “Who’s Watching & Creating Live Streaming Video in the U.S.” by Statista.

3. User-Generated Content (UGC) Campaigns

UGC (user-generated content) campaigns are influencer marketing strategies where micro or nano-influencers usually create and share original content such as photos, videos, testimonials, or reviews to show a brand’s products or services.

UGC campaigns help influencers give authentic and relatable content that feels more like a recommendation than an advertisement. Audiences trust and engage with content created by real people rather than polished brand ads. 92% of consumers prefer content created by users over traditional advertising, as per the latest report of Nielsen titled “Global Trust in Advertising Report.”

Influencers act as trusted voices for the brand, who make a brand feel more human and accessible to its audience. UGC campaigns help businesses build trust with customers, increase their conversion rate and revenue, build strong social proof, increase brand credibility, and do not require in-house content production. There is an 8.5 percent increase in conversion rates for website visitors who are served user-generated content and a 100.6 percent conversion lift if they interact with the user-generated content, according to research titled “The Conversion Impact of User-Generated Content: The Complete Breakdown for 2022” by Power Reviews.

4. Giveaways and Contests

Giveaways and contests are prize-based influencer campaigns where participants complete specific actions, like following a brand or tagging friends, to win a reward. Influencers promote the contest to their audience, increase the brand’s reach, and encourage user engagement in exchange for a chance to win the gifts.

Giveaways and contests help businesses increase their brand awareness, grow social media followings, and even increase email subscriptions. They help influencers to increase their engagement and follower count, while brands gain more recognition with less advertising expense. Instagram giveaways get 3.5 times more likes and 64 times more comments than regular posts, according to research titled “How to Do a Giveaway on Instagram Successfully (+Ideas!)” by Tailwind.

Most brands run either a collaborative giveaway, where the influencer and brand co-host the contest and share visibility (e.g., “follow both accounts to enter”), or a sponsored promotion, where the brand runs the giveaway and the influencer promotes it with custom content and stories.

5. Brand Ambassador Programs

A brand ambassador program is a long-term influencer marketing strategy where a selected influencer regularly promotes and represents a brand over an extended period. The influencer actively becomes a trusted and recognizable face of the brand, rather than doing a one-off post or campaign.

Brand ambassador programs help businesses build stronger relationships with their audience through consistent and authentic messaging. Influencers who repeatedly endorse a brand create a sense of trust and familiarity among their followers. These programs help businesses increase brand recognition and improve customer loyalty. Only 14% of ambassadors generate 80% of brand impact across small, medium, and large programs, according to a research article titled “How the 80/20 Rule Shapes Ambassador Marketing” by SocialLadder.

Brands usually choose ambassadors who have already shown strong performance in previous campaigns. These agreements mostly do not allow influencers to promote other brands or direct competitors throughout the collaboration. Brand ambassadors receive compensation in various forms, such as cash bonuses, free merchandise, or discounts, depending on the agreement.

6. Behind-the-scenes Vlogging Access

Behind-the-scenes (BTS) vlogging access is a form of influencer marketing where content creators give their audiences an exclusive and unfiltered look into the processes, people, and environments involved in creating a product, service, or brand experience.

BTS vlogs build stronger relationships between the brand and the audience. A behind-the-scenes video shows the authentic side of your company or product to your audience. Influencers film their experience with a company to help audiences develop a deeper emotional connection with that company. For example, they might record a tour of your office, take followers through the process of attending a brand event, or give early access to a product before its official launch.

89% of businesses use video in marketing, and 95% of them consider videos an essential part of their marketing strategy, according to a research report titled “Video Marketing Statistics 2025 by Wyzowl.”

7. Exclusive Discounts and Pre-release Access

Exclusive discounts and pre-release access refer to influencer marketing campaigns where creators offer special promotional codes to their audience, early product launches, or VIP entryto sales before they go public. These incentives are usually reserved for an influencer’s loyal followers.

This influencer marketing campaign is executed through VIP discount campaigns where influencers share time-limited discount codes or pre-launch product access. These discounts create a sense of urgency in the audience, and 60% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from brands that offer exclusive deals or early‑access promotions.

Brands use these influencer marketing campaigns for product launches, seasonal promotions, or building hype around a limited-edition offer. Businesses benefit from increased engagement, more conversions, and improved ROI because influencers promote their products through exclusive discounts and pre-release access.

8. Unboxing Videos With Product Reviews

Unboxing videos are a popular type of influencer marketing that are created byinfluencers or content creators to unpack new consumer products on camera by showcasing their features, branding, and packaging for the first time.

Brands use this influencer marketing campaign to promote all their products, such as video games, beauty items, mobile phones, toys, innovative gadgets, and tech products. An unboxing video posted by the right influencer helps new customers discover the products of a brand, establishes trust in the brand, and provides the extra push for indecisive customers to make a purchase. 62% of people view unboxing videos when researching or planning to buy a particular product, according to a Think with Google study titled “The Magic Behind Unboxing on YouTube.”

Unboxing campaigns improve brand awareness, increase audience engagement, and influence buyers’ purchasing decisions. They are especially beneficial for new product launches or e-commerce brands trying to build trust without a physical store presence. As Steve Jobs once said, “Packaging can be theatre. It can create a story,” because these videos highlight the design, branding, and packaging experience, which influence a viewer’s perception of the product and the brand.

9. Special Influencer Affiliate Programs

Special influencer affiliate programs are a type of brand-influencer partnership where influencers earn a commission for each sale or action generated through their customized referral links or promo codes. These special influencer affiliate programs are created exclusively for influencers and include higher commission rates, exclusive offers, and dedicated support.

These programs help businesses partner with influencers who promote products or services on social media platforms, blogs, or other channels by using personalized affiliate links. When followers make purchases through these links, the influencers earn a percentage commission. 69% of consumers trust influencers, friends, and family over information coming directly from a brand, as per the report titled “Consumers Continue to Seek Influencers Who Keep It Real” by Matter.

Affiliate influencer marketing is a cost-effective way for brands to partner with creators and influencers because brands only cover the cost of product samples and sales commissions instead of paying flat fees upfront.

10. Sponsored Social Media Content

Sponsored social media content refers to promotional posts created by influencers on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Twitter (now X) in exchange for compensation. These posts are usually labelled with tags like #sponsored or #ad, and they showcase a product, service, or brand in the influencer’s unique voice and style.

Sponsored post ads on social and traditional media platforms help B2B marketers connect with their target market around brand-related issues, promote expert content, and increase reach via social and traditional media. They position brands as thought leaders while driving traffic to e-books or webinars which generates qualified leads through targeted landing pages and professional network sharing.

These promoted posts help brands capture a target user’s attention directly in their social media feed, achieve main B2B marketing objectives, gain audience insights, and achieve a measurable ROI (Return-on-Investment).

11. Influencer Gifting

Influencer giftingis an influencer marketing strategy that involves brands sending free products or services to influencers with the expectation that they will share their experience with their audience. These influencers promote that product for a brand through organic content without doing a paid contract.

Influencer gifting works by establishing a mutually beneficial relationship between brands and influencers. Brands provide their products to influencers for free, and in return, influencers showcase the products on their platforms by creating organic content that resonates with their followers.

This influencer marketing campaign helps businesses gain authentic exposure, generate user-generated content, and build trust through social proof. It is a cost-effective way to reach new audiences, increase engagement, and create long-term relationships with influencers, especially if the influencer has high engagement and strong audience trust. 92% of marketers agree that gifting products has increased their brand awareness, and 76% say it has led to sales, according to an article titled “BEST INFLUENCER GIFTING CAMPAIGN STATISTICS 2025” by Amra&Elma.

12. Sponsored Blogging

Sponsored blogging is a type of influencer marketing where brands pay bloggers to write posts that feature their products or services. These posts include personal experiences, product reviews, tutorials, or recommendations and are published directly on the blogger’s website, sometimes with backlinks to the brand’s site.

Bloggers act as niche influencers with loyal and trust-based audiences. Audiences can discover blog content through search engines long after it is published, unlike social media posts that have shorter lifespans. Sponsored content provides brands with exposure to new audiences, increases brand awareness, and drives more traffic. 47% of B2B buyers read 3 to 5 blog posts or content pieces before talking with a salesperson, according to a report titled “2016 Content Preferences Survey: B2B Buyers Value Content That Offers Data And Analysis” by Demand Gen.

Sponsored blogging impacts brand visibility, authority, and conversions of brands. It is especially important for targeting specific demographics or interest groups. Blogs also help in organic traffic growth and domain authority because they are optimized for search.

13. Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is a type of social media influencer collaboration in which brands write and publish articles on someone else’s website or blog, usually within the same industry or niche. Brands partner with credible influencers or thought leaders who already manage a high-authority blog or platform to co-create long-form content.

This type of influencer marketing campaign is especially beneficial for B2B companies, SaaS products, or high-consideration purchases, where educational content influences buyers’ purchasing decisions. Guest blogging helps businesses reach a niche, engaged audience that already trusts the influencer. It also increases a brand’s online presence by improving domain authority through backlinks. As Neil Patel points out, “If your post gets a lot of traffic, social shares, and comments, the blog owner will most likely accept guest posts from you again. Plus, you can use that post as a reference when pitching other blogs.” This shows successful guest blogging drives immediate results and also helps build long-term credibility and visibility.

14. Social Media Takeover and Advocacy Perspective

A social media takeover is a short-term campaign in which an influencer temporarily takes control of a brand’s social media account, typically for a day, a weekend, or during an event. The advocacy perspective refers to a long-term influencer-brand relationship where the influencer acts as a genuine supporter or ambassador of the brand without taking control over its social channels.

Social media takeovers and social media advocates help brands expand their reach, increase brand awareness, drive engagement, and generate a return on investment (ROI) from their online campaigns. The influencer creates and shares content directly on the brand’s platform, interacts with followers in real time, and offers behind-the-scenes experiences with the brand.

15. Product Collaborations

Product collaborations refer to a type of influencer marketingwhere a brand partners with an influencer to co-create a product. The influencer is involved in the design, development, or branding of the product, rather than simply promoting it.

This marketing campaign connects the influencer’s personal brand with the product itself. The audience perceives the collaboration as genuine and authentic when an influencer is actively involved in creating a product. 67% of consumers think the key to the best brand and influencer collaborations is being honest and unbiased, according to a report titled “The State of Influencer Marketing Report: In Influencers We Trust” by Sprout Social.

Product collaborations are also helpful for businesses because they increase trust, encourage engagement, and improve sales outcomes for the business. These influencer marketing campaigns are especially popular in industries such as fashion, beauty, wellness, and consumer electronics. They help businesses reach a targeted audience through an influencer who already has credibility in that specific niche.

How to Choose the Right Influencer Marketing Campaign?

To choose the right influencer marketing campaign, define your campaign goals, understand your target audience, select the right influencer, set a clear budget, develop a content strategy, track performance metrics in real-time, optimize content and engagement, measure success, and learn from the data.

The ways to choose the right influencer marketing campaign are given below.

1. Define Your Campaign Goals: Clearly define the objectives you want to achieve for selecting the right influencer marketing campaign, such as brand awareness, lead generation, or product sales. Specific goals help you with your entire strategy and determine the best influencer fit, content type, and platform.
2. Understand Your Target Audience: Identify your ideal customer’s demographics which include their age, interests, values, and preferred social platforms. This step helps you create relevant content and messaging that resonates with your audience. It increases the chances of genuine interaction between the brand and customers.
3. Select the Right Influencer: Choose the right influencers for your marketing campaign whose values, content style, and audience align with your brand. Evaluate their engagement rates, follower authenticity, niche expertise, and past collaborations. The right influencer should be trusted by their followers and able to communicate your message authentically.
4. Set a Clear Budget: Determine how much you are allowed to spend on influencer fees, content creation, and paid amplification for your influencer marketing campaign. A defined budget helps you choose between micro and macro influencers and determines the scale of your campaign. Allocate funds properly on influencer campaigns to get a better ROI and keep both production and promotion on track.
5. Develop a Content Strategy: It is also important to plan what type of content will be created to choose the right influencer campaign, such as videos, stories, reviews, or giveaways, and where it will be posted. Make sure that the content shows your brand’s voice while using the influencer’s unique style.
6. Track Performance Metrics: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like reach, engagement, conversions, and click-through rates after your influencer marketing campaign is live. Use unique promo codes or UTM links for each influencer to see how much traffic or sales they are driving.
7. Optimize content and engagement: Use performance data to refine content, improve visuals, adjust messaging, or tweak posting times. Encourage influencers to interact with their audience through comments and direct messages. Active engagement builds stronger relationships between the brand, influencer, and followers.
8. Measure Success and Learn From the Data: Analyze the quantitative and qualitative metrics after your influencer marketing campaign ends, such as sales, leads, and brand sentiment. Note down the insights and lessons from that campaign to improve future influencer collaborations and campaigns.

What Is an Influencer Marketing Campaign?

An influencer marketing campaign is a strategic marketing partnership in which a brand partners with individuals who have a dedicated and engaged following on social media or other online platforms, known as influencers, to promote its products or services. Brands use influencer marketing campaigns to take advantage of the influencer’s credibility, audience trust, and reach to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales.

Influencer marketing campaigns work by identifying the campaign’s goals, selecting influencers, developing a content strategy, launching the campaign, and monitoring the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to evaluate the campaign’s success.

What Are the Most Effective Types of Influencer Marketing?

The most effective types of influencer marketing are sponsored posts, unboxing reviews, challenges or hashtag campaigns, and behind-the-scenes content, which help brands to promote their products to a large audience. There are some other types of influencer marketing as well, such as live shopping events, employee advocacy programs, long-term brand ambassadors, product launch campaigns, special influencer affiliate programs, and giveaways and contests.

What Is the Best Influencer Marketing Campaign for Small Businesses?

The best influencer marketing campaign for small businesses is product seeding with micro or nano-influencers to generate authentic and low-cost user-generated content.

What Is the Best Influencer Marketing Campaign for E-commerce?

The best influencer marketing campaign for e-commerce is special influencer affiliate programs, where influencers earn a commission for each sale they drive using trackable links or discount codes.

What Is the Best Influencer Marketing Campaign for Startups?

The best influencer marketing campaign for startups is a social media takeover, where influencers temporarily manage the brand’s account to create authentic and engaging content and build trust with new audiences.

What Is the Best Influencer Marketing Campaign for B2B Companies?

The best influencer marketing campaign for B2B companies is a thought leadership campaign, where industry experts or niche influencers create educational content, like webinars, LinkedIn posts and co-branded articles, that builds brand authority and trust.

What Is the Best Influencer Marketing Campaign for Nonprofit Organizations?

The best influencer marketing campaign for nonprofit organizations is livestream fundraisers. The influencer marketing campaigns for charity organizations also include challenge campaigns, micro-influencer collaborations, behind-the-scenes content, and repostable content kits.

What Is the Best Influencer Marketing Campaign for Luxury Brands?

The best influencer marketing campaign for luxury brands is influencer gifting. Networking events, launch parties, and loaning out the expensive products to influencers are also some of the best influencer marketing campaigns for high-end brands.

What Are the Main Types of Influencers?

The main types of influencers are nano, micro, macro, and mega influencers. Nano influencers have small audiences with 1,000 to 10,000 followers. Micro influencers have 10,000 to 100,000 followers, while macro influencers have 100,000 to 1,000,000 followers. Mega influencers have more than 1,000,000 followers and are also known as celebrity influencers.

What Are the 3 R’s Included in Influencer Marketing?

The 3 R’s included in influencer marketing are relevance, resonance, and reach. Reach means the number of followers the influencer has, relevance means how well the influencer’s content aligns with the brand voice, target audience, and marketing goals, while resonance is the level of meaningful connections an influencer’s content creates with their followers.

What Do the 4 M’s Represent in Influencer Marketing?

The 4 M’s in influencer marketing are make, manage, monitor, and measure. Making the influencers means selecting influencers who align with your brand and target audience. Managing the impact means coordinating the entire influencer campaign. Monitoring the relationships means tracking the performance of the campaign in real-time, while measuring the results means analyzing the data collected to determine the ROI (return on investment) and overall campaign success.

What Are the Main Advantages of Influencer Marketing?

The main advantages of influencer marketing are increased brand awareness, improved credibility and trust, more authentic campaigns, higher engagement rates, and access to niche audiences. It also offers benefits to brands like cost-effective marketing, improved SEO, increased conversions and sales, a variety of content creation, and stronger customer relationships.

What Are the Challenges of Managing Influencer Marketing Solo?

The challenges of managing influencer marketing solo are listed below.

• Finding the right influencers
• Measuring ROI and impact of an influencer marketing campaign
• Managing the budget
• Creating authentic content
• Building long-term relationships with influencers
• Staying updated and relevant

How Important is Strategy in Influencer Marketing?

Strategy is extremely important in influencer marketing because a strong strategy connects the right influencers, messaging, content formats, and distribution channels to the target audience. At Socially Powerful, we help you customize influencer strategies around your specific KPIs, using our proprietary tech (Aria), aligning content with your brand identity, activating niche communities, and turning influencer engagement into long-term brand advocacy.

When Should You Outsource Influencer Marketing?

You should outsource influencer marketing when you lack time, expertise, or resources to accurately manage campaigns. Partner with agencies or freelancers who specialize in your niche. At Socially Powerful, we connect you with vetted experts to maximize your ROI (Return on Investment).

Why Do Top Brands Hire Influencer Marketing Agencies?

Top brands hire influencer marketing agencies because they need strategic expertise, reliable influencer networks, and measurable results. High-end brands choose Socially Powerful for strategic and results-driven influencer marketing campaigns to connect brands with the right creators, audiences, and cultural moments.