Influencing the Masses on TikTok: How Creative Campaigns Drive Successful Influencer Marketing

In today's age, influence is powerful and has become somewhat of an art. In this article, we’ll be looking at creative TikTok influencer campaigns for a few well-known brands. 

Influencer marketing works as it connects brands with audiences through a trusted third party. Influencers nurture their audiences and have reached a point of advocating for brands selectively. Whether they have a niche reach or a mega-following, they are recognised for their ability to successfully influence in a way that affects the bottom line. Because of this, influencer marketing has become an important part of the digital marketing mix, with both marketers and influencers pushing the bounds of creativity. 

Influencers often work with other creatives like photographers and videographers to create quality content, or have experience in producing this themselves. While less polished or ‘flawsome’ content works well on TikTok, it still requires a lot of time and thought to produce. There are different ways to roll these campaigns out, be it a series, a hashtag challenge, or an ongoing partnership to name but a few. Like all other marketing, storytelling, aesthetics, and creative concepts play an important role in this type of content. 

Let's take a look at 5 influencer campaigns on TikTok that have yielded successful results.

Gymshark embodies an active lifestyle

Gymshark climbed its way to become a household name in fitness apparel. Their rise to the top included working with influencers, which helped them reach significant amounts of followers on social media. This began on Instagram and then moved over to TikTok, which is a shift many brands are making. 

Their campaign 66 Days: Change Your Life was driven by a partnership with 6 influencers in the sports and fitness industry. These influencers helped raise awareness to an audience of 19.8 million users between them. The campaign posed an open challenge to track their personal journey towards reaching a fitness goal. There was a competitive element, with one participant winning merchandise. The campaign resulted in an engagement rate of over 11% with #Gymshark66.

@swolericketts let’s get right together !! #gym#fitness#workout#gymtok♬ Lil Uzi Vert SHELLS JUNE MIX - JUNE! (fka Shawn May)

Converse is for the culture

Converse has challenged TikTok users to participate in a number of challenges including the Creative All-Star Series in London. The brand collaborated with 4 TikTok creators in the UK who had a combined following of 12 million. This campaign included an event in which the public could win an entry by customising a pair of Converse sneakers and sharing their creation with #ConverseAllStar. 

Part of this campaign's success was the multi-faceted aspect, which included a play on interaction from the audience, the exclusivity of attending the event, digital marketing driving a physical interaction, and a limited span of just 6 days. With over 24 million views and 2,900 artists and creators in attendance at the event, it was a resounding success that resulted in over 9% engagement rates. 

@mmasenwamadi went to the @converse CX Artist Series in Braam yesterday and it was so lovely. 🥺🤍 i love being a part of this group of amazing people. 🫶🏾 #fyp#foryou#converse#converseallstar#cxartistseries#southafrica#tiktoksa♬ Massive - Drake

PixPax embraces humour

PixPax is an app which lets users easily print photos into 18 retro-style prints. The only cost involved is the delivery (and any extra photos ordered), hence their tagline "too good to be free". Their TikTok campaign encouraged creators to print PixPax and share videos explaining the concept in a funny and relatable way. All of the videos showed the photos - immortalised memories - to inspire by the possibilities of how people can use them (hanging them up as art or using them in sentimental scrapbooks), and why they should get them (with close-ups to show the quality and retro details.)

This goes to show that a homegrown brand can achieve impressive figures in reach and engagement when they effectively use humour.

@katiejlinz Get 18 FREE Prints and only pay for postage! Link in bio! #pixpax#ad#friends#fyp#retroprint#picturetime#chandlerandmonica♬ original sound - KatieJLinz 🦋

Ferrari puts their drivers front and centre

While many brands source influencers for each campaign, some brands have in-house ambassadors. A prime example of this is Ferrari. Their brand account is filled with behind-the-scenes content, trends, interviews, and clips of their drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. 

While this is a unique case, and not strictly a campaign but rather an ongoing endorsement, the brand has recognised the influence their drivers have and keeps F1 fans engaged with this content to strengthen the public's relationship with the brand. This concept may not be widely applicable, but there are insights which can be gained from this, be it in the form of ambassadors and mascots, or how to introduce personality to a brand and create unique content that is trendy yet on-brand. 

@ferrari Walking into race week 😎🇸🇬 #F1TikTok#Ferrari#F1#CharlesLeclerc#SingaporeGP♬ original sound - ferrari

Barbie centres on connection

The Barbie movie is arguably one of the most anticipated films of 2023. While it is not strictly influencer marketing as we know it, we could view Barbie herself as an influencer who is getting a lot of reach through a worldwide marketing campaign to generate awareness and excitement ahead of the movie premiere. This has included various links with complementary brands, from a Barbie dream house with Architectural Digest to shoes with Aldo. 

On TikTok, we've seen the sponsored promotion of the "Barbie World" song by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, and Aqua. The search term has over 8 million views and has spurred a TikTok trend in which people plan their outfits for the launch of the movie and style "Barbie core" outfits. This is a great example of the way a campaign on TikTok can transcend and how brands can exploit a trend when it comes to integrating campaigns and extending their lifespan on a platform which is constantly evolving. 

@archdigest This dreamhouse may look vaguely familiar #archdigest#barbie#barbiemovie#barbiedreamhouse#dreamhouse♬ original sound - Architectural Digest

Based on the above, it's clear to see that influencer marketing on TikTok is loaded with opportunities for both brands and creators. With creative campaigns and the right influencer partnerships, brands can successfully tap into new audiences. 

Creative agencies help brands partner with influencers that suit their brand with suitable terms for all parties that fall in line with industry best practices. They can conceptualise campaigns and monitor performance on behalf of brands using both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure their effectiveness. 

Learn more about the campaigns that the team at Imperial Leisure has worked on as a creative agency that partners with the likes of: 

TikTok for Business campaigns, Swatch influencer marketing campaigns, and Chelsea FC's Stay All Together influencer collaborations.