How are brands doing influencer marketing in the UK? 

Currently, there are three ways to go about influencer marketing: 
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1. Manual Execution: Starting from finding influencers through a manual search on Google and social media platforms to managing the entire campaign with the help of an in-house team – brands take up endless man-hours or extra workforce to run the influencer marketing campaigns. The challenge lies in bulk outreach and measuring the overall campaign. 
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2. Agencies: Various digital and social media marketing agencies have a network of influencers or use proprietary tools for influencer discovery. As a part of the campaign, brands engage with agencies to leverage their network of influencers.

3. Automated Tools: Many influencer marketing tools automate the entire campaign from beginning to end. These are Software as a Service (SaaS) tools that give access to many influencers, manage bulk outreach, and track engagement and sales driven by each influencer. 
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Top Influencer Marketing Platforms in the UK 

‍1. Affable.ai
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Affable.ai has a database of 6M+ influencers, ranging from nano to micro and celebrity influencers. The tool has more than 20+ filters to select the right influencers based on their brand affinity, total engagement rate, estimated reach, age, location, audience interests etc. Brands like BlendJet, Lenovo, Shopee and others have managed their entire campaign by sending out invites in bulk, product gifting, and payments in one place. Affable.ai collects real-time data like sales, engagement rate, estimated media value, sentiment analysis etc.  
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2. Klarna
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It is an influencer marketing platform with a database of 500k influencers. You can collaborate with influencers directly as you access their contact details. It allows you to incentivise creators through commission or by-product giveaways. To measure the campaign, Klara collects data through influencers' posts, channels and products and looks at web traffic and sales drawn by the influencers. It has partnered with brands like Shopbop, H&M, Mantle, Arket etc. ‍
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Top Influencer Marketing Agencies of the UK

1. RedPill 
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Redpill is an influencer agency that has worked with brands such as Volvo, Hugo Boss, Slack, Oculus, and NatWest. It has a network of influencers, in-house scriptwriters, and technicians to manage end-to-end video production. It uses certified distribution and measurement strategy and does social outreach and organic trending as a part of earned and paid media.
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2. Upload Agency 
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Upload Agency runs influencer marketing campaigns by connecting brands with content creators who can create authentic content through unboxing, road test, or natural product review. It has partnered with some leading brands like BBC, Microsoft, Adidas, Amazon Prime, and Chelsea Football Club. 

The agency also invites influencers to be part of brand events so that they create buzz about products among its followers. The agency has a network of YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and famous social media talents for all these activities, and it helps them create compelling and engaging video content. 

‍Read more about:  Top 20 Influencer Marketing Platforms And Agencies In The UK [2022] 
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Successful Influencer Marketing Case Studies of the UK 

1. Stride Gum: Mad Intense Gum
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Source: Wieden+Kennedy

Stride Gum, a sugar-free chewing gum, roped in DJ Khaled, a Snapchat superstar, to create a buzz about Mad Intense selection of the brand. The hip-hop artist and producer is known in the UK influencer marketing sector for promoting several brands through social media takeover. He takes over the corporate social media account of the brand to post stories that could engage audiences. 

Khaled took over Stride Gum's account for two days and created an exclusive track for the brand. He shared the track on Snapchat and met his friends and followers during the campaign to create cool and funny content, which he posted live. His Snapchat videos received an average of almost 3 million views. 
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2. Maserati
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Source: Maserati Instagram Account

Maserati smartly used its influencer marketing strategy to attract and engage car enthusiasts by handing over its Instagram account to a new influencer each month. It included known names like photographer Darryll Jones, Marck Pickering and chef Francesco Mazzei. These influencers posted their pictures to document their experience with Maserati in daily life.  

Despite being a luxury brand, it onboarded people from different niches to expand its outreach. This approach gave new and unique content based on an influencer's perspective, and it helped the brand expand its outreach and engage with the new target audience.  
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3. British Airways  
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Source: YouTube

British Airways worked with technology experts or influencers, artists, musicians, or people from diverse industries, popular in the USA and the UK, to gain media attention while launching its Ungrounded innovation lab. During their flight from San Francisco to London, almost 100 influencers talked about how to create a platform that would enable technologists to address the social sector issues faced in different countries. 

The brand was able to show the business value of aviation as influencers shared their experience through posts on social media. British Airways expanded its reach among business travellers through social media and coverage in the leading daily and magazines, which helped crowdfund the Ungrounded project. 
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Top Instagram Influencers of the UK

1. Nakita Johnson (983k followers)
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A fashion, lifestyle and beauty influencer, Nakita Johnson has 91% of her audience above 21 years. Her audience's interest mainly lies in exercise and fitness, music, travel, live events and photography etc. Johnson has endorsed products for Adidas, Samsung UK, Shein, Olay, Mac Cosmetics, Forever 21 and many more. Her engagement rate is almost 3.82%. She posted 26% branded content in the last three months, while the remaining was non-branded.
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2. Harrison Osterfield (956k followers)
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Harrison Osterfield is a fashion, lifestyle and entertainment influencer who has endorsed McLaren Automotive, Paul Smith, Tom Ford, Tag Heuer, Emporio Armani, Christian Louboutin, Dior and other niche brands. His engagement rate with his followers is around 12.96%, while his estimated reach is almost 192.89k. He is totally into branded content, and his audience mainly shows interest in travel, clothing, fitness and exercise. 
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3. Vogue Williams (973k followers) 
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A TV presenter, DJ and a model, Vogue Williams is a fashion, beauty and parenting influencer. Almost 40% of her audience are aged 26 to 32 years, with women contributing significantly. Her Instagram feed mainly comprises moments shared with the kids as she endorses some brands like The Baby Room at Smyths, Disneyland Paris etc. Her brand affinity lies with Gucci, Massimo Dutti, Dior, H&M, Zara etc. Her engagement rate is 1.94%, and the estimated reach is 193.26k. 
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Top YouTube Influencers of the UK 

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1. Lydia Elise Millen (906k subscribers) 
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Milen posts videos on fashion and lifestyle. At least 91% of her audience is female, mainly between 10-32 years. Our data shows that her total engagement per video is 0.45%, while the average likes per video are 3.53k. She has received, on average, 362 comments on every post. 
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2. Daniel Howell (6.23 million subscribers) 
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Dan Howell is a popular YouTuber from Berkshire, UK. He took up radio presenting and video blogging in 2011. The following year he won Supernote, a YouTube competition. His video series Becoming YouTube showcased what it takes to be an internet celebrity. He has won the British Online Creator Awards in various categories in 2016. 
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3. Olivia Grace (185k subscribers)
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Grace is a popular YouTuber who frequently posts on clothing haul, fashion lookbooks, hairstyles, and shopping experiences. She shares her personal experiences by posting videos on going to birthday parties, spa dates, picnics with friends, Halloween parties, cooking, etc. Her videos are popular among younger audiences. 
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Top Facebook Influencers of the UK 

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1. Tanya Burr (666k followers)
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Tanya Burr endorses Dior, Baileys, Molton Brown and other niche fashion and lifestyle brands. She shares her fashion styles and recent travels. Almost 72% of her audience is female, and the total engagement per post is 0.13%. Burr is also an actor and co-founder of Authored. 
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2. Helen Anderson (307k followers) 
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Helen Anderson likes to be called a mate, big sister or crazy aunt. She uploads her vlogs on Monday - Wednesday - Friday, sharing the latest fashion trends from glares to dresses, tattoos and accessories. Anderson flaunts unique clothing combinations and shares pictures with her friends. A large percentage of her followers are aged 26 to 39 years, primarily females. She gets at least 14 comments on every post, with a total engagement rate of 0.23%.  
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3. Rachel Atherton (323K followers)
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Rachel Atherton is an athlete who actively posts videos on motorbiking. She shares pictures of natural habitats and her riding the bikes. She even travels along with her nine-month-old baby and shares pictures. Atherton participates in various cycling events. Her follower base comprises 66% males. For every post, she gets an average of 45 comments. 
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Wrapping Up 

The UK influencer marketing space has become competitive and demanding. B2B, D2C, boutique agencies, and enterprises aim to run a successful campaign with influencers. After all, it can help brands get a genuine brand ambassador who can build a community of followers for a particular product or service. Affable.ai works at every step of influencer marketing, from finding influencers to tracking their stories on multiple social media channels and finally measures the campaign's success. 

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