Most CPG influencer marketing advice stops at "work with micro-influencers" and "be authentic". We wanted to see what the biggest CPG brands actually do, so we pulled the 50 most recent sponsored posts for each of the most-searched CPG brands in the US and looked at who posted, how each deal was disclosed, and which posts took off.

Here's why CPG brands work with creators, the commonalities in their strategy, and a step-by-step way to run your own campaign.

Why CPG brands use influencer marketing

Creators do a few things for CPG brands that ads and product pages can't:

• A recipe gives followers a reason to buy today. A snack or spread that shows up in a recipe gets bought for that recipe. A Doritos-crusted fried brie from a creator with 26k followers got 696k plays.
• Creators tell followers where to find it. Most CPG sales happen in a store, and creators can tell followers exactly which aisle to check. 12 of Native's last 50 sponsored posts are about finding it at Costco.
• Routines make staples interesting. Body wash and deodorant are easy to ignore until someone shows how they fit into a routine. 10 of Dove's last 50 sponsored posts are shower routines.
• A new flavor gives people something to try. Followers try a new flavor because a creator they trust said it was good. 12 of Nutella's last 50 sponsored posts launch Nutella Peanut, its first new flavor in 60 years.

Top CPG brands using influencer marketing

These are the most-searched CPG brands in the US, according to Ahrefs. Deal types show how each post was disclosed (for example, with a paid partnership label or an ambassador hashtag). Creator tiers: micro 10k–50k followers, mid-tier 50k–500k, macro 500k+.

1. Doritos: a different campaign in every market

Doritos runs a different creator campaign in each market. In India, 22 posts push the "Every hangout needs Doritos" line and a Doritos popcorn tub at Cinépolis cinemas. Elsewhere, creators launched Simply NKD chips with no artificial dyes and the return of Ketchup chips in Canada. Its creators are based in India (19), the US (12) and Australia (5), 46 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships, and only one includes a code.

• Creators: @gordongram (19.5M), @thetastebud (381k) and @jacquebunnyy (21k) are among the creators who've posted for Doritos.
• How posts were disclosed: 46 paid partnership, 4 unspecified

What to take from it: Let each market write its own brief. Doritos' most-viewed post didn't come from Gordon Ramsay, it came from an Australian creator with 21k followers acting out a Discord hangout in real life, and it got 1.1M plays.

2. Dove: local campaigns in each country

25 of Dove's last 50 sponsored posts tag a local Dove account instead of the global one, like Dove South Africa's #SkinThatDoves campaign (14 posts) or Dove UK. All 50 went live within 16 days in August. Its creators are spread across the US (14), the UK (8) and South Africa (4), and 36 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships.

• Creators: @abbeyyung (1.5M), @melodyymiles (254k) and @uhcaitlin (71k) are among the creators who've posted for Dove.
• How posts were disclosed: 36 paid partnership, 6 ambassador, 6 gifted, 2 unspecified

What to take from it: Let each market cast its own creators, then keep the ones who fit. Dove South Africa booked @uhcaitlin six times in two weeks, and one of her travel posts as an ambassador got 4.1k likes, about 6% of her following.

3. Native: "new Costco find" posts

Native's four most-viewed sponsored posts are all "new Costco find" videos about its lotion and body wash, with 9M to 21M plays each. 16 posts promote something new, like its dry shampoo and a Well-Crafted Collection with baseball player Mookie Betts. 47 of its last 50 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships, 38 of its creators are in the US, and none use a code.

• Creators: @haleyybaylee (9.6M), @makeupbypita (299k) and @elevenesthetician (46k) are among the creators who've posted for Native.
• How posts were disclosed: 47 paid partnership, 3 gifted

What to take from it: When you land a big retailer, book the creators whose followers shop there. An esthetician with 46k followers posting a "new Costco find" got 16.2M plays for Native, more than its post from a creator with 9.6M followers.

4. Nutella: launch events for new products

Nutella's last 50 sponsored posts are built around launches and events: 10 promote its new ice cream, and 9 tie Ferrero brands to soccer with a "Go All In" campaign. Launches come with places to go, like a free Nutella Peanut pop-up in New York and a booth at a Toronto film festival. It books bigger creators than the others (a median of 247k followers), and its creators are based in the US (23), Australia (6) and Canada (5).

• Creators: @shenavici (1.2M), @caroldemauro (290k) and @samanthabauchmann (840k) are among the creators who've posted for Nutella.
• How posts were disclosed: 46 paid partnership, 2 gifted, 2 unspecified

What to take from it: Show followers how to serve a new product, not just that it exists. @samanthabauchmann built a family ice cream bar around Nutella's new ice cream and got 4.6M plays, Nutella's most-viewed post.

5. Dude Wipes: comedy creators who lean into the joke

Dude Wipes labeled 17 of its last 50 sponsored posts as ambassador posts, the most of the five, and most posts are sketches and memes rather than product demos, from a "brown card" handed out at a soccer tournament to a "final wipe" at a funeral. 9 posts speak to parents during potty training. All 38 creators with a listed location are in the US, and none of the posts use a code.

• Creators: @blaiseffrench (5.6M), @lowcountry_d912 (244k) and @theplumpcover (2.4M) are among the creators who've posted for Dude Wipes.
• How posts were disclosed: 31 paid partnership, 17 ambassador, 2 unspecified

What to take from it: If your product is awkward to talk about, hire creators who can make it funny. Dude Wipes' most-viewed post, a meme from @theplumpcover, got 4.0M plays and 467k likes.

What the top CPG brands have in common

Looking across all 250 posts, four patterns stand out:

• Each country runs its own program. Doritos, Dove and Nutella tag local accounts like Doritos India, Dove South Africa and Nutella UK, each with its own campaign and creators.
• Smaller creators get more out of their audience. Across 195 posts with visible likes, creators under 50k followers got a median of 1.3% of their followers liking the post. For creators above 50k, it was 0.5%.
• Codes barely show up. Only 4 of the 250 posts include a code. These brands point followers to a store instead.
• Views don't follow follower count. A Nutella Peanut post from a creator with 37k followers got 2.3M plays, and one from a creator with 40k got 1.2M.

How to run a CPG influencer marketing campaign

Here's how to run a campaign step by step, using what the top CPG brands do at each stage.

1. Pick one goal and one metric

Decide what the campaign is for before you pick a single creator, because the goal changes who you book, how you pay them and what you ask them to post. The top CPG brands' posts show both goals at work. Native's Costco posts and Dove's Walmart restock posts are built to drive sales that week. Doritos' hangout campaign and Nutella's soccer posts are built for reach.

• Sales: track revenue per creator with a unique link and code.
• Awareness: track views, saves and reach per post.
• Retail link clicks: if most of your sales happen in stores, like Native at Costco, give each creator a tracked link to your retail listing and compare clicks per creator.

Pick one metric per campaign so you can compare creators fairly afterwards.

2. Find and vet creators who fit your brand

Follower count is the last thing to filter on. A creator with 37k followers filming a "most satisfying sounds" shower routine with Dove's body scrub got 75k plays, double their following, because that kind of routine is what their audience follows them for. Across all five brands, creators under 50k followers got about two and a half times the likes relative to their audience.

Our survey found niche micro-creators are outperforming mega-influencers: nearly 60% of marketers said niche influencers performed better in 2025 than in 2024.

• Write down who buys your product (busy parents, college students stocking a dorm, Costco regulars) and look for creators living that life.
• Search Modash's database of 380M+ creators and filter by audience demographics (age, gender, location), bio keywords, engagement rate and fake-follower checks.
• Or describe that creator in plain language, like "creators who post Costco finds", and Modash's AI creator search surfaces matching creators on the platform you're searching.

• Check who else they've posted for. @brookeeewoods posted for both Doritos and Dude Wipes. Modash shows which brands a creator has already posted sponsored content for.

You can also find CPG influencers for free, for example by searching the hashtags your buyers follow.

3. Choose the deal type

Paid posts lead in CPG. Doritos, Native and Nutella disclosed 46, 47 and 46 of their last 50 posts as paid partnerships. Dude Wipes is the exception, with 17 ambassador posts.

• Gifting works for new flavors and scents creators will want to try on camera, like Nutella's frozen dessert pots.
• Paid posts suit launches and tie-ins that have to land on a date, like a new flavor or a big game.
• Affiliate works for staples people rebuy every month, like deodorant, body wash or snacks.
• Ambassador deals suit creators with a running format your product can live in, like the comedy creators on Dude Wipes' ambassador deals.

Commission-only is getting harder to sell, though. Over 23% of marketers in our survey said creators would take performance pay only if a flat fee came with it. If you run tiers, the average commission tiers in our affiliate research were 10%, 14% and 19%, and brands with more than one tier had more active affiliates.

4. Brief the content formats that work in CPG

The captions from the top CPG brands point to three formats that carry most of their creator content:

• Recipes. Doritos' and Nutella's creators make something with the product, like loaded nachos or a bread pudding. Ask for a recipe followers can copy this week.
• Store finds. Native's and Dove's creators film the product on the shelf at Costco or Walmart. Tell creators which store stocks it and how long the deal lasts.
• Routines and sketches. Dove's creators film shower routines, and Dude Wipes' creators turn a bathroom product into a joke. Pick the format that fits how people already talk about your product.

Whatever the format, give creators one hashtag to use every time, like #dovepartner or #nativepartner, and tell them exactly where followers can buy it.

5. Launch with tracked links and time-limited codes

The top CPG brands send people to a store, not a code. Costco, Walmart or Target come up in 36 of the 250 posts.

Codes also leak. In our affiliate marketing research, 47.6% of marketers said they struggle with code poaching, where a creator's code ends up on coupon sites.

• Give every creator a tracked link for everyday posts, and add a code only for launches and sales.
• Put an end date in the caption so followers know the offer won't last.
• If creators use "comment for the link", make sure the link they send by DM is their tracked link.

In Modash, each creator gets a tracked link and a code tied to your Shopify data, so sales from DMs, bios and stories all count toward the right person. Commission is calculated on net revenue after refunds and returns.

6. Rebook your best creators

The top CPG brands rarely rebook: only 17 of their 228 creators posted more than once. That's a missed chance for products people buy every week, where a creator who keeps using the product on camera is the best proof it's worth buying again. Dove's @uhcaitlin, with six posts, is the exception.

Most marketers want to do more of this. In our influencer marketing trends survey, over 60% said they plan to invest more in long-term partnerships, but only 54% actually ran more of them last year.

• Start new creators on a single post, then offer a longer deal to the ones who hit your metric from step 1.
• Use revenue per creator, not likes, to decide who gets rebooked. Modash's campaign dashboard shows revenue, orders and ROAS for each creator.
• Give rebooked creators something new each time, like a new flavor, a store launch or a recipe to film, so their posts don't repeat.

Where CPG creator programs go wrong

The top brands avoid a few mistakes that trip up smaller programs:

• Skipping the taste test. Followers want to know what a new flavor tastes like, and a creator holding the bag doesn't tell them. Ask for a first bite and an honest reaction on camera.
• Offering commission-only deals to established creators. In our survey, 63% of marketers said influencers were open to becoming affiliates in 2024. In 2025 that fell to 26%. When you reach out to established creators, offer a flat fee plus commission rather than commission alone.
• Running the affiliate program on autopilot. In our affiliate research, marketers who were "very involved" with their affiliates had 71.5% of them active. "Very hands-off" marketers had 10%. Affiliates post when you give them a reason to, so check in every month with something new to share. For CPG, that could be a new flavor, a store launch, or a recipe to film.
• Sending affiliates old product. 93% of marketers gift products to affiliates, but almost 30% don't refresh them when something new launches. Send every new flavor or scent to your creators before it hits shelves.
• Sending followers to a store that doesn't stock you. A post that sends followers looking for a product their local store doesn't carry wastes the moment. Check that the exact flavor or pack is on shelves where the creator's followers live, and tell creators which store to name.

FAQ

How much does CPG influencer marketing cost?

It depends on platform, following and engagement. Micro-influencers often work for free product plus a fee in the low hundreds per post, or an affiliate commission. Larger creators charge more. Many brands start with gifting plus commission to test fit before committing to flat fees. To estimate what a specific creator is likely to charge, drop their handle into our free Instagram influencer pricing calculator.

Which platform is best for CPG influencer marketing?

Instagram carries most CPG creator work, and every sponsored post we analyzed for the five most-searched CPG brands ran there. TikTok is worth testing too: in our survey, marketers rated TikTok videos the highest-performing deliverable (53.2%).

Which CPG brands use influencer marketing?

Doritos, Dove, Native, Nutella and Dude Wipes are the most-searched CPG brands in the US, and all of them run active creator programs. See the breakdown above for who each one works with.

Should CPG brands work with micro or macro influencers?

It depends on your goal. A launch chasing awareness leans bigger, a conversion play leans smaller and more trusted. In the CPG posts we analyzed, creators under 50k followers got about two and a half times the likes relative to their audience size, so most brands should build their base with micro-influencers (10k–50k followers) and add bigger names for launches.

How do I measure CPG influencer marketing?

Track sales per creator with unique links and codes, then compare revenue against what you paid (fees, product and commission). Our engagement rate calculator and fake follower checker help you vet creators before you spend, and our guide to influencer marketing ROI covers the full calculation.

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