The ultimate guide to influencer marketing for FMCG and CPG brands

Industries like travel, beauty, and fashion have long been promoted through influencer marketing.

However, until recently, other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), or consumer packaged goods (CPG) as they’re sometimes known, have mainly been promoted using traditional advertising. 

Brands are now recognizing that influencer marketing can be an extremely effective way of driving sales for most FMCG, including food & beverages, toiletries, stationery, and supplements. According to Zemfo, FMCG brands now spend more money on influencer marketing than any other sector does.  

What is influencer marketing? 

Influencer marketing is the process of collaborating with a person who has a relevant, prominent, and engaged following on social media, so that they promote your brand to their audience.

An influencer creates their own content. They are often happy to devise campaigns in collaboration with brands in return for a fee. The advantage of this kind of marketing is that influencers have highly engaged audiences who trust the influencer’s opinions and recommendations.

Influencer marketing is an effective strategy for FMCG brands of all sizes. Some of the smaller (or ‘nano’ influencers) charge relatively little per post – usually a few hundred pounds. They don’t have the follower count that celebrity or mega-influencers do, but their audiences are often highly engaged. 

Specific challenges for FMCG/ CPG marketers (and how influencer marketing can help) 

The FMCG market represents a huge chunk of the global economy and with it comes specific challenges that marketers need to navigate. 

Shifting consumer tastes 

Consumer preferences evolve constantly, so it’s important to stay ahead of market trends, keep an eye on health news, and monitor sustainability issues. For example, where single-use plastic was once perfectly acceptable for FMCG goods, things have changed and it’s now enough to stop some consumers from buying a product. 

How influencer marketing can help

When it comes to consumer preferences, influencers have got their fingers on the pulse. They’re engaging with their audience on a daily basis so have a pretty solid idea of what they find acceptable, what they don’t, and what the current trends are. 

Competition

There’s intense competition in the fast-paced world of FMCG, with a huge number of brands vying for a share of the market. To survive, brands need to differentiate, innovate, and market effectively.

How influencer marketing can help

This is where influencer marketing comes into its own. There’s a certain kudos that comes with being recommended by an influencer, even when, as rules dictate, social media users know that the content they’re viewing is sponsored. It’s usually assumed that influencers only work with brands they genuinely love. 

Cost of living

Raw material prices are spiralling upwards, presenting huge challenges for FMCG brands. Price point has become more relevant than ever, and if you’re marketing something that isn’t as competitively priced as other brands, you’ll need to give consumers a really good reason for choosing your product over cheaper versions.

How influencer marketing can help

By communicating with your target demographic in a highly personalised way, influencers can help inspire loyalty for your brand among their followers, and stretch your brand value far beyond price point.

Benefits of influencer marketing for FMCG/CPG

Below are just some of the many benefits of influencer marketing for FMCG brands: 

• Promoting sales online – Online sales for FMCG goods went stratospheric during the pandemic when everybody was forced to turn to the internet to shop for everyday essentials. Influencers are ideally placed to promote online sales channels and will often share discount codes with followers.
• Building trust – If you choose the right influencer, i.e. one who’s respected and aligned with your brand, then the relationship will build trust among consumers. According to Oracle, 37% of consumers trust influencers over brands. Because consumers tend to buy FMCG goods regularly, breeding trust and brand loyalty are a key way to drive sales.
• Feelings for your brand – Followers have an emotional connection to their favourite influencers. When those influencers promote your brand, consumers associate your products with that person so start to build the same emotional connection to your brand.
• Adding value – Influencers have their own style of content creation and can highlight aspects of your products that you’d struggle to convey with traditional advertising. They can demonstrate the benefits, offer tips, and show your product in use. Highlighting all the practical reasons why your product is one of their favourites adds value and establishes a point of difference, which is key in the busy FMCG landscape. 
• Niche targeting – While your target market may be broad, influencers can help you to reach niche groups. All you need is an influencer who speaks to the niche you’re hoping to appeal to. Influencers with small followings (nano-influencers) are ideal for this as they’re often niche orientated and have a highly engaged audience.

To learn more about how social media can boost your business, check out our guide to social commerce.

Does FMCG/CPG influencer marketing work?

Influencer marketing works, which is why 38% of FMCG marketers spend 20% of their marketing budgets on it. In fact, it’s so effective, some brands are appointing big name influencers to their internal teams – in 2022, Kate Moss was made creative director of Diet Coke ahead of the brand’s 40th anniversary. 

Here’s a few examples of successful FMCG influencer campaigns:

Dove expanded its influencer marketing in 2022 in a bid to spread its brand values of body confidence and inclusivity. It ran several micro-influencer campaigns using #DetoxYourFeed to highlight toxic beauty values, and #OneRealPressure to encourage people to share their stories of early motherhood. The campaign garnered 1 million impressions across social platforms, and engagement went up by 20%. It’s the perfect example of how influencer marketing can build trust, engender emotions, and demonstrate strong brand ethics.

Vlogger Logan Paul was chosen to launch the energy drink Prime in 2022 along with fellow YouTuber KSI. The campaign was such a success that stores ran out of the £1.99 sports drinks. A bottle of it was listed on eBay for £10,000, and even more shockingly, teens were getting up at 6am to queue outside supermarkets for it. 

Cadbury’s worked with influencers to drum up awareness of the new Cadbury Dark Milk Chocolate. The campaign attracted more than 20,000 likes and follows. 

Want to know how your brand is being received online? Find out with our rundown on social listening. 

How to find and work with FMCG/CPG influencers

It’s possible to find influencers organically by searching competitors and using hashtags, but it will take up a lot of your time. The easiest and most effective way to find FMCG influencers is to use a platform such as Vamp, where you can find the right influencers, manage all your projects, and  scrutinise analytics all in one place.

Vamp will connect you to genuine influencers (our rule is one of invite only) and enable you to generate campaigns that will spark conversation, drive brand awareness, and create engagement. The platform also provides you with real-time metrics on how your campaign is performing. 

The best channels for FMCG/CPG influencer marketing

The following social media channels are the best for FMCG/CPG influencer marketing:

• Instagram – 72% of marketers work with influencers on Instagram. 70% of consumers come to the platform looking for new products
• YouTube – 63% of consumers have bought a product after seeing it on YouTube
• TikTok – 83% of marketers plan to increase investment on the kind of short form videos that are popular on TikTok
• Facebook – 18% of marketers say it’s easiest to work with influencers on Facebook
• Pinterest – Most users are women

You can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach with influencer marketing, as you need to show up where your target audience is hanging out. 

Social media demographics

According to Sprout Social:

• 82% of Millennials use Instagram
• 90% of Gen Z flock to YouTube
• 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z
• 92% of Baby Boomers are on Facebook
• 76.2% of Pinterest users are female

Social media platforms and popular topics

• Facebook – best for pet foods, food & beverages, cleaning products, and health & beauty products
• YouTube – best for food & beverages, magazines, and household products
• Instagram – best for beauty products (great for how-to videos), food & beverages, health & wellness products, and cleaning products
• TikTok – best for books, food & beverages, and beauty products (with an emphasis on sustainability and ethics)
• Pinterest – best for art and food 

Meta’s Hot Topics will keep you informed of the latest trends and talking points on Facebook and Instagram.

Learn more with our comprehensive piece on social media for businesses. 

How to build a strategy for FMCG/CPG influencer marketing 

When building your FMCG/CPG influencer marketing campaign, these are the factors you need to consider:

• Goals – Set your goals before you begin as these will inform which metrics you need to track, for example, website visits, sales, social media followers, etc
• Budget – Decide on your budget
• Influencers – Choose influencers who align with your brand, are trusted, and whose content you like
• Guidelines – Influencers already have their own style, but you’ll need to explain what your goals are and outline any guidelines, such as deliverables, dates, non-negotiables, etc
• Metrics – Decide on the metrics you’ll use to track the campaign’s progress. It should become clear what these are when you outline your goals
• Choose the campaign type – What sort of campaign do you want to run? Are you considering how-to videos? Will you give the influencer discount codes for followers? Are you looking to launch new products? Might you run a competition? Are there hashtags and mentions you need factoring in? 
• Find influencers – Use Vamp to find the right influencers and run your campaign from one easy-to-use platform
• Run your campaign – Find out how your influencers usually run their brand campaigns and then onboard them with Vamp’s help

For a more in-depth dive into strategy, take a look at our guide to influencer marketing strategy. You’ll also find our article on the difference between influencers and creators of interest.

How to measure influencer marketing 

It’s vital that you track your FMCG influencer campaign, so that you know what’s worked and what hasn’t. You can then use these findings to influence subsequent campaigns. The metrics you can choose to track include: 

• Engagement – This includes likes, comments, and shares
• Website sign-ups
• Sales – You can use discount coupons to see which influencer has generated the most sales
• Content – You can often share content created by your influencers

Drill down into the metrics so that you get a clear vision of all the variables. For example, did an Instagram post drive more traffic than a reel? What was the conversion rate of a specific discount code?, etc. 

Get started

Are you keen to launch an effective FMCG influencer campaign? Get started with Vamp. There’s a budget to suit all businesses and we have all the expertise you need to create a killer campaign.