A recent report from InfluencerDB (a company that offers software solutions for managing and executing influencer marketing at scale) has revealed the best performing influencer supported brands and campaigns from the first half of 2018 and the results are very interesting. The study focused on brands that are implementing influencer marketing strategies at scale and these brands included Zara, H & M, Mercedes-Benz and Marvel.

Contrary to what one might think, it isn’t always the biggest brands with the biggest budgets that are making big waves in influencer marketing, quite the opposite.

Below are some of the results from the research, but if you’re interested in reading the full report, click here.

1. Start-ups and smaller companies are breaking through

The InfluencerDB report found that the brand that had created the most impact on Instagram was a brand called Fashion Nova, which employs 329 people. The report suggests that smaller companies and start-ups have found a way to break through the noise on Instagram, separating themselves from bigger brands and gaining wider reach. In contrast, H & M which employs upwards of 58,000 people ranked fourth on the list of brands that created the most impact on Instagram in the first half of 2018.

2. Instagram is still best for brands

The report showed that most top brands use influencers and social media to raise brand awareness and target customers with the focus being on goals, reach and engagement metrics. Instagram delivers on this.

3. Big spend does not always deliver top performance

When it comes to influencer associations, some brands invests in paid influencers, which can deliver great success in terms of exposure. Many other brands choose not to focus on paid influencers and rely on influencers choosing to share their products based on a personal interest in them, which delivers excellent organic coverage.

4. Unique campaign hashtags help to keep track of campaign success

Assigning a unique hashtag to an event, campaign or limited offer not only highlights the exclusivity of a product, service or event, it also allows brands to more effectively measure campaign performance and reach. Hashtags also help consumers to find and follow a brand, as well as creating a community around the company and communicating a clear brand image. Examples of some of these unique campaign hashtags include #mycalvins from Calvin Klein and #revolvearoundtheworld by fashion label, Revolve and the success is instantly visible if you search these terms on Instagram.

This is a really interesting report and well worth clicking through if you’d like to find out a bit more!