The Evolution of Influencer Marketing: The Wins, The Fails & What’s Next

If you think influencer marketing is a new concept, think again. From the early days of YouTube makeup tutorials to today’s TikTok shopping sprees, influencers have been shaping our buying habits for over a decade.

But the game has changed dramatically. The rise of AI, shifting audience behaviour, and the saturation of brand deals have forced businesses to rethink their influencer strategies.

Some brands have absolutely nailed it—turning influencers into powerful sales machines. Others? Well… they’ve learned the hard way that not all influencer marketing is created equal.

Let’s take a trip through the past decade of influencer marketing—the successes, the flops, and what brands should be doing today to win in 2025.

2015-2018: When Influencer Marketing Was the Wild West

🔥 The Success Story: Kylie Jenner & The Lip Kit Frenzy

One of the biggest turning points for influencer marketing came in 2015, when Kylie Jenner casually mentioned her Lip Kits on Instagram. The result? The entire stock sold out in under a minute.

Suddenly, every brand wanted to replicate this success—without realising that Kylie wasn’t just selling lipstick. She was selling herself, her brand, and her entire aesthetic. Her audience trusted her, and that trust translated into insane sales.

💀 The Fail: Fyre Festival & The Power of Fake Influence

On the flip side, 2017 gave us one of the biggest influencer marketing flops in history: Fyre Festival.

If you don’t remember (or have blocked it from memory), here’s the short version: A luxury music festival in the Bahamas was promoted by huge influencers like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, promising a VIP experience. Except… it was a disaster. Guests arrived to find no music, no accommodations, and sad cheese sandwiches.

Lesson learned? Hype without substance will come back to bite you. Brands started to realize that just because an influencer has a big following doesn’t mean they should be trusted.

💡 What Brands Learned:

• Trust matters—Kylie built her business on real engagement, while Fyre Festival built on empty promises.

• Bigger isn’t always better—a well-chosen micro-influencer can have more impact than a celebrity endorsement.

2019-2021: The Video Revolution & TikTok’s Takeover

By 2019, Instagram Stories, YouTube vlogs, and TikTok were changing the game. Brands started shifting from static images to video-heavy influencer campaigns.

And then… 2020 happened.

The pandemic skyrocketed social media use. People were stuck at home, glued to their phones, and watching TikTok like it was their job. Suddenly, short-form video became the most powerful marketing tool in the world.

🔥 The Success Story: Ocean Spray & The Viral TikTok That Changed Everything

Remember when a guy named Nathan Apodaca (a.k.a. @420doggface208) casually sipped Ocean Spray cranberry juice while skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac?

That one video racked up 82 million views, turned Nathan into an internet sensation, and spiked Ocean Spray sales like never before.

The best part? It wasn’t even a planned ad. Ocean Spray jumped on the viral moment by gifting Nathan a truck full of cranberry juice, turning an organic viral moment into a genius marketing move.

💀 The Fail: Brands That Didn’t Get TikTok

While some brands thrived, others flopped—hard. One of the biggest mistakes brands made in 2020-2021? Copy-pasting their Instagram strategy onto TikTok.

TikTok thrives on creativity, trends, and humour—not polished, traditional ads. Brands that treated TikTok like another Instagram got ignored, scrolled past, or even mocked.

💡 What Brands Learned:

• User-generated content (UGC) is gold—people trust real users over corporate messaging.

• Jump on viral moments FAST—the brands that react first win big.

2022-2024: The Professionalisation of Influencer Marketing

By 2022, influencer marketing had matured. Brands got smarter, influencers became full-fledged businesses, and AI entered the chat.

🔥 The Success Story: Duolingo Becomes the King of TikTok

If there’s one brand that mastered TikTok in recent years, it’s Duolingo.

Instead of pushing boring language lessons, they turned their mascot, Duo the Owl, into an unhinged, hilarious TikTok star. Their posts were funny, trend-driven, and weirdly relatable, making them one of the most followed brands on TikTok.

The result? Millions of new app downloads—all from a free, organic TikTok strategy.

💀 The Fail: Influencer Fatigue & The Decline of Authenticity

By 2023, the influencer space was getting crowded—and consumers started getting skeptical. Every influencer was promoting the same products, using the same scripts, and losing their credibility.

Remember when every influencer was suddenly obsessed with Stanley Cups and Béis travel bags? It worked at first, but audiences caught on to the over-promotion, making influencer recommendations feel less genuine.

💡 What Brands Learned:

• Long-term influencer partnerships > one-off ads.

• Oversaturation kills authenticity—brands need to pick influencers carefully and let them create content their way.

2025 & Beyond: Where Influencer Marketing Is Headed

1. AI-Driven Influencer Matching

Forget guessing. AI is now helping brands identify the perfect influencers based on engagement, audience demographics, and projected ROI.

2. Social Commerce Becomes The Norm

Platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram Checkout are making it easier than ever for influencers to drive direct sales—without users ever leaving the app.

3. Micro-Influencers Take Over

Brands are realising that smaller influencers (10K-100K followers) have way higher engagement rates than celebrities or mega-influencers.

4. Live Shopping & Interactive Content Explodes

Expect more real-time influencer-led shopping events, where creators demo products, answer questions, and drive instant sales.

5. Brand Authenticity Matters More Than Ever

The biggest takeaway? Audiences can spot inauthenticity a mile away. If influencers don’t actually believe in the product, their followers won’t either.

Brands that stay ahead of the curve will reap the rewards. The rest? Well, they’ll be left behind in a sea of forgotten brand deals and cringeworthy ads.

🚀 Let’s make 2025 your brand’s biggest year yet. lydia.so/brands