What Is a Paid Partnership In Influencer Marketing
Paid Partnerships are the agreements between individuals and businesses in which influencers promote the company’s products or services on social media in exchange for payment.
Example of Successful Paid Partnership With an Influencer
Dunkin’ teaming up with Charli D’Amelio was a genius move. They went all in with TikTok videos, launched her signature drink, “The Charli,” threw in exclusive app deals, and even kept the momentum going with a follow-up campaign, “The Charli Remix.”
And the results?
Massive. Dunkin’ saw a 57% spike in app downloads, a 45% jump in cold brew sales on launch day, and even after the initial hype, cold brew sales stayed up by 20%.
They never shared exact revenue numbers, but estimates suggest they made millions. Meanwhile, Charli reportedly earned over $100K from the deal, and Dunkin’ got a flood of Gen Z engagement. Definitely a win for both sides.
4 Benefits of Paid Partnerships
Here you can check how paid collabs benefit businesses. They not only enhance brand visibility but also drive higher engagement and conversions, leading to measurable ROI growth.
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Engagement and Conversion Boost. Based on this review from a real IQFluence customer:
"I can't say enough good things about IQFluence! This company has completely transformed our marketing strategy. Their AI-powered platform is a game-changer. From the moment we started working with them, we've seen a significant boost in our client's brand's visibility and engagement!” -
ROI Boost. Businesses earn an average of $5.78 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
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Sales Growth. 61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations over traditional brand ads, leading to higher purchase intent and conversion rates.
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Improvement of Brand’s Reputation. Influencer marketing significantly enhances a brand's reputation by leveraging trusted voices to promote products or services.
A study analyzing 200 social media endorsements found that such campaigns led to a 50% improvement in cost-per-action and click-through rates 17 to 21 times higher than non-endorsed advertisements.
According to Edelman's 2024 Trust Barometer, 81% of consumers stated they needed to trust the brand to buy from them.
These findings underscore the effectiveness of influencer collaborations in bolstering brand reputation and driving consumer engagement.
Types of Top Paid Collabs
Here, you can find the best types of paid collaborations for influencers that drove ROI, sales, engagement, and brand’s reputation in 2025. Apply and mix them depending on what strategy would work best for you.
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored content is the most popular type of partnership, where an influencer posts static images or videos in exchange for money.
In 2025, influencers marketing continues to thrive, with influencers achieving remarkable success through sponsored posts.
Fendi x Jade Thirlwall
In February 2025, Fendi teamed up with British singer and influencer Jade Thirlwall to relaunch their iconic Mamma Baguette handbag. The campaign showcased Thirlwall in a series of high-fashion photos and videos, highlighting the bag’s modern design and versatility. The content was shared across Fendi’s official platforms, Thirlwall’s social media, and top fashion magazines.
Why it worked:
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Tapped into Thirlwall’s stylish image and strong social media presence to attract a younger, fashion-forward audience.
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Strengthened Fendi’s brand by collaborating with a contemporary, influential figure.
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Built excitement around the relaunch with engaging and visually striking content.
Results:
💸 Increased social media engagement, with posts featuring Thirlwall receiving higher-than-average likes and shares.
💸 Boosted website traffic to Fendi's online store during the campaign period.
💸 Positive media coverage in fashion outlets, highlighting the successful collaboration.
This collaboration exemplifies how aligning with a relevant influencer can amplify a brand's message and connect with target audiences effectively.
Giveaways
Giveaways are another type of branded content strategy where customers can receive products for free.
Often, an influencer announces the opportunity to win products or services in exchange for actions like subscribing, sharing, tagging friends, or commenting.
Whataburger x Lainey Wilson
In February 2025, Whataburger teamed up with country music star Lainey Wilson to celebrate her new role as the brand’s ambassador. To kick things off, they gave away free Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits at participating locations from 6 to 11 a.m. on a special Tuesday — one per person, while supplies lasted.
Why it worked:
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Drew in Lainey Wilson’s fan base, boosting brand appeal.
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Increased foot traffic to Whataburger locations during the promotion.
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Strengthened brand visibility and engagement by collaborating with a popular artist.
Results:
💸 High turnout at participating Whataburger locations, with many customers taking advantage of the free biscuit offer.
💸 Positive media coverage highlighting the collaboration between Whataburger and Lainey Wilson.
💸 Strengthened brand loyalty among existing customers and attracted new patrons interested in the promotion.
This collaboration exemplifies how aligning with a popular influencer and offering tangible rewards can effectively boost brand engagement and drive customer traffic.
Ambassador Program
Ambassador Program is a long-term collaboration between a brand & creator when the latter promotes just this brand showcasing the loyalty to it.
Unlike one-time sponsorships or ad campaigns, ambassadors consistently endorse the brand through social media, events, and other marketing efforts.
Adidas x Beyoncé
In 2024, Adidas partnered with Beyoncé to launch the Ivy Park collection, merging athletic wear with high fashion. Designed to empower individuals through stylish yet functional apparel, the collection appealed to both fitness lovers and trendsetters. With Beyoncé leading the creative direction, her influence played a key role in shaping and promoting the line.
Why it worked:
✨ Tapped into Beyoncé’s massive global fan base to boost brand visibility.
✨ Positioned Adidas at the crossroads of sportswear and high fashion.
✨ Emphasized empowerment and inclusivity, resonating with modern consumers.
Results:
💸 The Ivy Park collection received widespread media coverage and social media buzz.
💸 High demand led to rapid sell-outs of several items.
💸 Strengthened Adidas's brand image as innovative and culturally relevant.
This influencer paid collaboration exemplifies how aligning with influential figures can drive brand innovation and market expansion.
Affiliate Ad
An affiliate program is a strategy that involves special affiliate links and promo codes, which influencers integrate into their posts, videos, and stories. Bloggers earn a commission based on sales generated through these links, making this strategy one of the most beneficial and motivating.
Campaign Type: Affiliate Marketing Program
In 2025, Spotify teamed up with a wide range of music influencers from various genres to promote its premium subscription service. These influencers shared personalized affiliate links across their social media, blogs, and YouTube channels, offering exclusive discounts and curated playlists to their followers. By leveraging the influencers’ credibility and reach, Spotify aimed to convert their audiences into premium subscribers.
Why it worked:
✨ Extended Reach. Partnering with influencers helped Spotify expand its brand visibility by tapping into established audiences.
✨ Enhanced Credibility. The association with trusted music influencers added authenticity to Spotify’s offerings.
✨ Performance-Based Costs. The affiliate model allowed Spotify to tie marketing expenses directly to subscription conversions, maximizing ROI.
Results:
💸 Increased Subscriptions. The campaign led to a measurable uptick in premium subscriptions, attributed to the influencers' persuasive promotions.
💸 High Engagement. Spotify experienced increased engagement on social platforms, with followers sharing and discussing the curated content provided by influencers.
💸 Strengthened Brand Image. The collaboration reinforced Spotify's position as a platform that values and supports artists, enhancing its reputation within the music community.
This affiliate marketing initiative underscores the effectiveness of partnering with influencers to drive conversions and foster deeper connections with target audiences.
Host Content
Host content is a marketing strategy where a brand partners with an influencer, celebrity, or content creator to promote its products or services through their own channels.
In this approach, the influencer "hosts" the content by creating original material that features the brand in an authentic and engaging way, often through videos, blog posts, or social media posts.
Gap & Tyla
In this campaign, Tyla created engaging content featuring Gap's clothing line, which she shared across her social media platforms. This partnership effectively introduced Gap's spring collection to Tyla's audience, blending her personal style with the brand's offerings.
Why it worked:
✨ Authenticity. Tyla's genuine connection with her followers made the promotional content feel natural and relatable.
✨ Extended Reach. Leveraging Tyla's established fan base allowed Gap to broaden its audience, particularly among younger consumers.
✨ High Engagement. The campaign generated significant interaction on social media, with followers actively engaging with the content.
Results:
💸 Increased Brand Visibility. The partnership significantly boosted Gap's presence on social media, reaching a younger, trend-focused demographic through Tyla’s platform.
💸 High Engagement. Tyla’s followers engaged extensively with the content, sharing and commenting on her posts, increasing buzz around the collection and generating excitement for Gap’s new offerings.
💸 Sales Growth. The campaign led to a noticeable increase in sales of the featured spring collection, as Tyla’s endorsement helped drive both online and in-store traffic.
💸 Strengthened Brand Image. Gap successfully positioned itself as a brand that resonates with the Gen Z audience by collaborating with an influencer known for her unique style and cultural relevance.
How to Do Paid Collaboration
Now that you understand how successful collaborations can boost your key metrics, revenue, and business reputation. The next step is to find the ideal influencer who aligns with your goals, brand values, interests, target audience, and geographic focus.
1. Define characteristics of an ideal influencer for your brand
Here are the key criteria influencers must meet to be strong partners:
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Engagement rate > 7%. The engagement rate measures how actively an influencer’s audience interacts with their content through likes, comments, shares, and saves. A higher engagement rate indicates a more loyal and responsive audience.
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Recent activity (Last posts within a month). Ensure the influencer is consistently active on social media. An influencer who posts frequently tends to have a more engaged and invested audience compared to those who post sporadically.
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Audience location & demographics. Choose influencers whose audience matches your target market. If your business operates locally, their followers should be in the same region. For online businesses, their audience's location, language, and purchasing behavior should align with your ideal customer base.
2. Search Them
Now, you just need to find influencers based on your criteria. You could manually search by checking each post’s metrics, style, and follower count — but that would be exhausting and wouldn’t help you analyze the key metrics we mentioned above. 👆
The solution? Use an influencer tool.
For example, IQFluence offers powerful AI-driven filters that instantly sort media influencers and their audience by location, gender, language, age, and lookalikes. Plus, it provides insights into engagement rate, follower count, saves, shares, recent activity, and more.
Here is how it works:
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Sign up, choose the social media platform you need — such as Instagram — by simply selecting it.
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Set your parameters, like location, by typing a country and specifying the percentage of an influencer’s audience that should be from that country. For more precise targeting, it's best to choose no less than 50%. Next, set the engagement rate to above 7% and filter by recent post activity.
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Additionally, refine your search by adding relevant keywords, hashtags, or mentions related to your brand niche.
Start your 7-day trial for free
3. Analyze Every Influencer
When you get a list of filtered bloggers, it’s time to gain deeper insights into each influencer, their audience, and trendy posts.
Press the "Analyze" button to check key metrics such as average likes, comments, engagement rate, reach, and spread for recent posts. For your convenience, every metric is visualized through graphs and diagrams, making it easy to include in ad reports and presentations.
To ensure you invest wisely, vet the influencer’s audience by analyzing the percentage of real people, mass followers, influencers, and suspicious accounts.
4. Outreach the Creator
When drafting an email, it is better to use a ready-made template to speed up the process. The most important part is to clearly highlight the subject of your email to capture the influencer’s attention.
Avoid typing the subject line entirely in capital letters, as this may cause it to be flagged as spam by mail algorithms.
5. Draft a Contract
Here you can find key elements that should be included in an influencer paid partnership contract:
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Scope of Work. Detailed outline of deliverables, including posts, stories, and other content formats.
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Compensation. Agreed payment terms, total compensation, and payout schedule.
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Timeline. Specific deadlines for content submission and overall campaign duration.
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Content Rights. Clarification of ownership and permitted usage of created content.
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Brand Guidelines. Requirements for maintaining brand identity, tone, and messaging consistency.
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Exclusivity. Any restrictions regarding the promotion of competing brands.
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Disclosure Requirements. Compliance with legal advertising standards, such as FTC regulations. To observe advertising policies point out that the influencer must include #ad, #sponsored hashtags in his caption.
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Termination Clause. Conditions under which either party can end the agreement
6. How to manage Influencer Campaign After the Contract
Analyze your metrics both during and after your ads campaign to gain valuable insights into its performance.
Utilize the IQFluence campaign monitoring tool to track key indicators and measure overall impact. Real-time tracking allows you to access fresh data, evaluate engagement levels, and determine the effectiveness of your strategy.
By continuously monitoring these metrics, you can assess the campaign’s success, identify trends, and pinpoint areas that need improvement. This data-driven approach will help you optimize future campaigns, enhance audience targeting, and maximize your return on investment.
Plan your next paid partnership with influencers using IQFluence
IQFluence is an ideal platform for small and medium-sized agencies and brands. Our core values are speed, quality, and support. To make influencer marketing accessible to everyone, we offer flexible pricing plans that cater to micro businesses.
Whether you're a small startup or an established brand, our pricing is designed to meet your unique needs.
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Search in 375M+ influencer database
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Monitor Campaign metrics in real time
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Analyze and Vet influencers to secure your budget
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Leverage unique feature — MediaPlan Builder that collects all key metrics for 30 days.
FAQs on Sponsored Partnerships
How do I tag a Brand as a Paid Partner on Instagram?
Go to your Instagram post, tap "Advanced Settings," select "Tag a Brand Partner," and choose the brand’s partnership tag as a paid partner.
What is the difference between gifted and paid partnership?
Influencer gifting and paid partnership differ that way: gifted collabs involve receiving products for free, while paid partnerships involve receiving monetary compensation for promoting a brand.
How to disclose a gifted collab?
Use the hashtag #gifted or #ad, and mention it in your post’s caption to clearly disclose the collaboration.
Who is eligible for paid partnership on Instagram?
To be eligible, influencers must have a business or creator account, and the brand must have a partnered account or use the "Paid Partnership" feature.
