Influencer marketing
Also called creator marketing, influencer partnerships
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing where a brand partners with social media creators who have an engaged audience to promote its product or service. The creator features the product in their own content and voice, and the brand gains reach and credibility with an audience that already trusts that person.
Partnerships take many forms: paid sponsored posts, free products in exchange for honest reviews, affiliate deals that pay a commission per sale, long-term brand ambassador roles and paid usage rights to run a creator's content as ads. Creators range from micro-influencers with a few thousand followers to celebrities with millions.
Paid partnerships must be disclosed. Platforms provide paid partnership labels, and advertising regulators such as the FTC in the US require clear disclosure that a post is sponsored.
Why influencer marketing matters
A recommendation from a trusted creator often carries more weight than a brand's own ad. It puts a product in front of a ready-made, relevant audience and borrows the creator's credibility.
Influencer content can also be reused. With the right rights, a strong creator video can become an ad, a website asset or UGC ads, stretching the value of one partnership.
How to start influencer marketing
- Define the goal: awareness, content, sales or a launch.
- Find creators whose audience matches your customers, not just those with big numbers.
- Check their engagement rate and the quality of comments.
- Agree in writing on deliverables, dates, disclosure, payment and usage rights.
- Give a short brief, then let them speak in their own voice.
- Track results with codes or links and keep working with those who perform.
Influencer marketing FAQ
How much does influencer marketing cost?
It varies enormously by audience size, platform, niche and usage rights. Small creators may work for product or modest fees, while large creators charge much more. Agree on rates per deliverable.
Do influencer posts need to be disclosed?
Yes. In the US the FTC requires clear disclosure of paid or gifted partnerships, and platforms offer paid partnership labels. Other countries have similar rules.
Related terms
A micro-influencer is a creator with a smaller, focused following, often about 10,000 to 100,000, and usually close ties with their audience.
A brand ambassador is a person who represents and promotes a brand over time, often a customer, creator or employee with a long-term arrangement.
The creator economy is the industry of independent creators who earn money from content, audiences and brand deals, plus the tools that serve them.
User-generated content (UGC) is content made by customers or fans, not the brand: photos, videos, reviews and posts about a product.
Engagement rate is the share of people who interacted with a post, usually engagements divided by reach or followers, shown as a percentage.
Social proof is the tendency to follow what others do. In marketing it means reviews, testimonials, customer counts and endorsements that build trust.