What is Influencer Marketing? Types and how to measure

Influencer marketing is the strategy of partnering with content creators to promote products or brands based on their audience and credibility. In 2026, the Brazilian market moves about R$ 6 billion/year, with strong growth in nano and micro influencers who deliver higher ROI than big names.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is the practice of brands paying or partnering with content creators to promote products, services or ideas to those creators' audiences. Instead of an ad speaking directly to the consumer, the brand borrows the voice of someone the audience already trusts.

Types of influencer

Nano (1k to 10k followers): high engagement rate (5% to 12%), specific niche, low cost (R$ 200 to R$ 1,500 per post)
Micro (10k to 100k): good balance of reach and engagement (3% to 7%), ideal for performance (R$ 1,500 to R$ 12,000)
Mid (100k to 500k): considerable reach, still personal (R$ 12,000 to R$ 60,000)
Macro (500k to 5M): large reach, lower engagement (1% to 3%), good for branding (R$ 60,000 to R$ 350,000)
Mega/Celebrity (5M+): mass reach, very high cost, awareness focus (R$ 350,000+)

Partnership models

Barter: product in exchange for post (works well with nano)
Fixed fee per deliverable
Commission (affiliate): creator earns % of sales via coupon or link
Fee + commission: guarantees engagement + aligns incentives
Brand ambassador: long contract (3 to 12 months)

How to measure

Reach and impressions delivered by the creator (request screenshot of insights)
Qualified engagement: comments about the product, not lone emojis
Tracked link clicks (Bitly, UTM, unique coupon)
Sales attributed to the coupon
Brand lift: mentions, brand searches, new followers
CPM, CPE and CPA of the campaign

Practical example

D2C skincare brand invests R$ 80,000 in a campaign with 20 micro-influencers (average fee R$ 4,000):

Aggregated reach: 1.8 million
Coupon clicks: 24,000
Attributed sales: 1,840 (average ticket R$ 180)
Revenue: R$ 331,200
ROAS: 4.1
Bonus: +12,000 new followers and 240 spontaneous post-campaign mentions

The same budget with 1 macro-influencer would yield similar reach but much lower ROAS (typically 1.5 to 2.5). Diversification won.

Common mistakes

Choosing by follower count without checking engagement
Not requesting media kit or insights before signing
Lack of clear brief (creator improvises and misaligns)
Not monitoring unique coupons — impossible to measure anything
Overly rigid brief that kills authenticity
Ignoring compliance (every paid partnership must carry #ad)

Influencer Marketing