If you’ve ever sat in a Monday stand-up and heard “let’s work with creators” without a plan, you’re not alone. I’ve run enough campaigns to know this: influencers increase brand awareness when the partnership is built properly, measured properly, and briefed like you mean it.
This post is a straight-talking walkthrough of what works, what wastes budget, and what to check before you spend a penny. I’ll keep it practical, with UK-specific notes (because ASA and CMA rules are not optional).
Table of contents
- Influencer Marketing Basics for Busy Teams
- Ways to Increase Brand Awareness Without Wasting Budget
- Expanding Reach: Reaching New Audiences Outside Your Bubble
- Measuring Brand Awareness in the Real World
- UK Checks: What This Looks Like for a UK Business
- Frequently Asked Questions
Influencer Marketing Basics for Busy Teams
Let’s put a sensible frame around influencer marketing. It’s not a magic tap you turn on. It’s a structured collaboration where a creator’s trust and distribution does the heavy lifting, and your job is to make it easy for them to deliver.
Here’s how I explain it internally:
- The creator brings credibility, format know-how, and a ready-made community.
- You bring a clear offer, a tight brief, and quick feedback.
- Together, you create content that feels native, not bolted on.
If you’re still weighing formats, Kurve has a helpful read on the difference between our breakdown of UGC vs influencer marketing: https://kurve.co.uk/blog/ugc-vs-influencer-marketing
A Bit of Research Beats Guessing
The quickest way to waste budget is to choose partners based on follower count alone. Do your research like you would for hiring a freelancer.
Look at:
- Comment quality (real questions and opinions beat emoji spam)
- Content consistency (tone, topics, and posting rhythm)
- Past collaborations (do they disclose properly, and does it feel natural?)
- Audience location (UK heavy, EU heavy, US heavy, or mixed)
If you want a simple overview of options, here’s Kurve’s guide to the main types of influencers: https://kurve.co.uk/blog/types-of-influencers
Matching Content to Your Target Audience
You only need one sentence here, and it’s worth repeating in planning docs: choose creators whose audience already looks like your target audience.
That means:
- Similar interests and buying intent
- Similar price comfort (a luxury skincare creator is not a fit for bargain basics)
- Similar geography if you sell locally (London-only offers need London-heavy communities)
And if you want a grounded perspective on size, have a look at how many followers you need to be considered an influencer in 2025: https://kurve.co.uk/blog/how-many-followers-to-be-an-influencer-in-2025-kurve
How to Increase Brand Safely With Clear Disclosures
You can have brilliant creative and still get pulled up for unclear labelling. In the UK, ads must be obviously identifiable, and both the ASA and CMA have published guidance that’s very clear on disclosure expectations.
In practice, that means:
- Clear labels like “Ad” or “#ad” where they’re easy to spot
- No burying it in a sea of hashtags
- No vague “thanks to…” when there’s a commercial relationship
This is also where relationship management matters. If your creator is unsure what to write, you help them get it right early, not after the post is live.
Ways to Increase Brand Awareness Without Wasting Budget
The goal isn’t just “reach”. It’s recall, trust, and a repeatable system. If you want to increase brand awareness in a way that lasts longer than a 24-hour spike, focus on three levers.
1) Make the Creative Feel Like It Belongs
People can smell a stiff script. Give clear key points, then let the creator speak in their own voice. You’re paying for their format skill.
A simple method that works well:
- One hook that matches what their audience already cares about
- One genuine use-case (not a laundry list of features)
- One call to action that doesn’t sound like a billboard
Done well, you’ll build brand awareness through familiarity, not pressure.
2) Use Repeat Exposure, Not a One-off
A single post can work, but it’s less predictable. Two posts spaced out, or one post plus stories, often performs better because the audience gets a second chance to notice you.
This is where campaign management matters. You need basic pacing, a content calendar, and fast approvals so momentum doesn’t die.
3) Treat It Like a System, Not a Punt
If the first run is decent, don’t start from scratch. Improve the brief, tighten the creative, and run again with what you learned. That’s how you increase brand recall without constantly increasing spend.
Reaching New Audiences Outside Your Usual Bubble
The most common reason teams come to Kurve is simple: they want new audiences without throwing money at broad targeting.
There are a few sensible routes:
- Product seeding (sending product without guaranteed posts) can work if your offering is genuinely worth talking about. It’s lower cost, but less controlled.
- A structured paid collaboration works best when you need predictable delivery and consistent messaging.
- Ambassador marketing can be a smart move when your product has high repeat purchase or strong community potential.
If you’re planning for short-form video, it’s also worth reading Kurve’s TikTok influencer marketing guide: https://kurve.co.uk/blog/tik-tok-influencer-marketing
A quick note from experience: if you’re pushing into a new segment, don’t ask for perfection on day one. Ask for learning. Then optimise.
Measuring Brand Awareness in the Real World
Let’s talk about measurement in plain terms. Brand awareness is partly numbers, partly signals. You’re looking for evidence that more people now recognise you, remember you, and talk about you.
What to Track That Actually Helps
You can keep this simple and still be rigorous:
- Reach and frequency (how many people saw it, and how often)
- Saves, shares, and meaningful comments (signals of intent and agreement)
- Branded search lift (more people typing your name into Google)
- Direct traffic and referral traffic spikes around posting days
Also, watch the “shape” of results. One post might spike and vanish. Another might be slower but steadier, which is often a healthier sign.
This is where the right network matters. A single creator can be a hit, but a small creator network with consistent style usually produces more stable learnings.
And yes, you can also repurpose the best performing content into paid placements. Just be clear on usage rights, and make sure disclosures still make sense for paid distribution.
A Word on Paid Amplification
Sometimes you’ll hear “just boost it”. Paid support can absolutely boost brand reach, but only after you’ve got creative that already performs organically.
This is where ads influencer content can shine, because you’re taking a proven format and scaling it carefully, rather than guessing with generic creative.
What This Looks Like for a UK Business
If you’re a UK business, the practicalities matter just as much as the creative. You’ve got platform rules, consumer expectations, and regulators who do pay attention.
The ASA’s guidance exists for a reason: lots of influencer advertising still isn’t labelled clearly enough, and the regulator has been open about monitoring and enforcement.
Here’s what I recommend before you go live:
- Write disclosure expectations into the contract (where the label goes, and what it should say)
- Build review time into the schedule so posts don’t get rushed
- Keep approvals fast, but don’t skip them
If you’re running a giveaway, be specific. I’ve seen too many campaigns fall apart because the basics weren’t written down. One simple line in the brief helps: have influencers enlist contest rules clearly in the caption, with entry dates and eligibility.
Planning Around a Product Launch
A product launch is where timing makes or breaks results. If you want impact, avoid posting everything on the same day at the same time. Stagger content, then hold back one follow-up piece for a few days later, so the campaign doesn’t vanish overnight.
This approach also helps your target audience see you more than once, which improves recall without you having to shout.
Don’t Forget the Human Bit
The best campaigns have one thing in common: they tell a clear story. Not a corporate narrative, just a straightforward “here’s the problem, here’s how I use it, here’s what changed”.
And keep your channels tidy too. I often say treat brand social like a shop window: if someone clicks through and it’s messy, you lose the warm attention you just paid for.
Finally, remember you’re not only dealing with creators. You’re dealing with people who influence people. That’s why speed, clarity, and decent management on your side are non-negotiable.
This matters for business outcomes, not vanity metrics. It’s how you increase brand trust over time without burning budget.
A quick note on scope: plenty of companies try to do this with a one-line brief and a hope. It rarely ends well. Two or three clear points and a simple review process get you much further.
And yes, “social media” can drive results, but only if the message is understood quickly. “social media” users scroll fast. Make the first second count.
Practical Checklist I Use Before Signing Off a Campaign
- Confirm the objective (awareness, clicks, sign-ups, or sales)
- Confirm deliverables, timings, and usage rights in writing
- Confirm disclosure wording and placement (UK rules)
- Confirm what success looks like and how it will be reported
Frequently Asked Questions
How do influencers increase brand awareness?
They do it by borrowing trust. When a creator talks about a product in a way that fits their usual content, more people notice the brand, remember it, and often go looking for it later. The best results come from a tight brief, content that feels native, and repeat exposure across a small set of well-matched creators.
How can brand awareness be increased?
Start with consistency. Make sure your message is clear, your offer is easy to understand, and your channels look credible when people click through. Then use creator partnerships to extend reach, and track signals like branded search, saves, shares, and direct traffic, not just likes.
How can social media increase brand awareness?
It works by repetition and recognisable formats. Short, clear messages that are repeated in different ways (posts, stories, short video, paid amplification) help people remember you. It also works best when the content feels like it belongs on the platform, not like it was copied from a billboard.
How do influencers affect brands?
They shape perception quickly. A strong creator partnership can make a brand feel more trusted and more relevant, especially with younger audiences. A poor match, unclear disclosure, or stiff creative can do the opposite. Treat selection, briefing, and compliance as seriously as you would any other marketing channel.
