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

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

Why sustainable brands use influencer marketing

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

• Creators can prove it lasts. Sustainable products cost more, so buyers want proof they hold up. @carolinegleich re-signed as a Patagonia snow ambassador after nearly 15 years of testing its gear, working with the brand on everything from design to repairability.
• Creators make the case for buying less. A brand telling people to buy less sounds odd, but a creator can say it. @millakozak's "Rewear. Restyle. Repeat." post named Reformation as a favorite sustainable brand alongside a thrift store and a rental service.
• Comfort opens the door, materials close the sale. People try a shoe because it looks comfortable, then want to know what it's made of. 6 of Allbirds' last 50 sponsored posts explain the materials, like merino wool and eucalyptus, right next to how the shoes feel.
• A cause gives followers a second reason to buy. When a creator explains where the money goes, the purchase feels like more than a pair of shoes. @olgaferrara_ny's post on Toms "giving a third of their profits to support mental health and community well-being" got 7.3k likes.

Top sustainable brands using influencer marketing

These are the most-searched sustainable 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. Patagonia: gear used outdoors

30 of Patagonia's last 45 sponsored posts are from the outdoors, mostly skiing, fly fishing and hiking. Others push its causes, like a petition to protect Australia's south-east ocean, a guide to responsible seafood and a film screening in Ireland. The 45 posts are spread over five years (2021 to 2026), its creators are based in the US (11), Australia and the UK (3 each), and none use a discount code.

• Creators: @carolinegleich (286k), @katka_svagrova (162k) and @mariefranceroy (33k) are among the creators who've posted for Patagonia.
• How posts were disclosed: 35 paid partnership, 5 gifted, 3 unspecified, 2 ambassador

What to take from it: Give ambassadors creative input on the product itself, not just a caption to post. @carolinegleich, Patagonia's snow ambassador of nearly 15 years, helped design the Upstride jacket for reparability and durability, and her post about it got 143.5k plays, about half of her 286k followers.

2. Reformation: new store openings

9 of Reformation's last 50 sponsored posts are visits to its stores, including openings in Houston, Short Hills, West Palm Beach and Vancouver and its shops in Paris. 16 posts were labeled as gifted, the most of the five, and creators often mark the pieces "(PR)" in the caption. Its creators are based in the US (17), Canada (8) and France (7), and no post includes a Reformation code, though one mentions 25% off for Black Friday.

• Creators: @loewhaley (2.9M), @eli.rallo (311k) and @laurengsundstrom (229k) are among the creators who've posted for Reformation.
• How posts were disclosed: 33 paid partnership, 16 gifted, 1 unspecified

What to take from it: Let creators style your pieces next to secondhand finds. @laurengsundstrom tried on gifted Reformation dresses alongside a secondhand Victoria's Secret dress, and the post got 3.1M plays and 320k likes, more than the creator's whole following.

3. Everlane: the same style creators, again and again

9 of Everlane's 35 creators posted more than once, and 6 of them posted three times. 12 of its last 50 sponsored posts feature its denim, like the Better Beginnings collection and an upcycled capsule with designer Elena Bonvicini, and many list the exact pieces the creator is wearing. 41 posts use #everlanepartner, its creators are based in the US (17), France (4) and the UK (3), and none use a code.

• Creators: @kelseymerritt (2.0M), @mya.hansel (99k) and @kelsey_diprima (136k) are among the creators who've posted for Everlane.
• How posts were disclosed: 46 paid partnership, 3 ambassador, 1 gifted

What to take from it: Rebook the creators who sell the look, and let them handle the links. @kelsey_diprima posted three times for Everlane, and the "just comment SPRING for all the links" post got 441k plays, about three times the creator's following.

4. Allbirds: affiliates with personal codes

17 of Allbirds' last 50 sponsored posts include a personal code, usually for 15% off ("use my code ASHLYN15"), and 20 were labeled as affiliate posts, the most of the five. One affiliate, @our.blog.life, posted 12 times, styling Dasher, Varsity and Kiwi styles in everyday outfits. Its creators are based in the US (19), the UK (6) and Japan (3).

• Creators: @georgiaphasey (571k), @mary.cj.skinner (314k) and @our.blog.life (37k) are among the creators who've posted for Allbirds.
• How posts were disclosed: 29 paid partnership, 20 affiliate, 1 gifted

What to take from it: Keep your best affiliate stocked with new styles to post. @our.blog.life's outfit post with Allbirds' Dasher NZ sneakers got 127k plays, more than three times the creator's following.

5. Toms: family fit checks

15 of Toms' last 50 sponsored posts feature families, led by its 20th anniversary campaign starring @hannahbronfman, @brendanfallis and their two children. Only two posts mention the cause behind the brand. 34 of its 39 creators are based in the US, 8 posted more than once (@olgaferrara_ny four times), and only one post includes a code.

• Creators: @valerialipovetsky (2.6M), @olgaferrara_ny (301k) and @brendanfallis (788k) are among the creators who've posted for Toms.
• How posts were disclosed: 45 paid partnership, 3 gifted, 2 ambassador

What to take from it: If your product works for the whole family, cast a real family. @brendanfallis's "Family Fit Check" for Toms' anniversary campaign got 1.1M plays and 37.7k likes, Toms' most-viewed post.

What the top sustainable brands have in common

Looking across all 245 posts, four patterns stand out:

• Sustainability is rarely the pitch. Only 32 of the 245 posts mention sustainability, secondhand, repair, recycled or organic materials, or a cause. Most lead with style or comfort.
• Smaller creators get more out of their audience. Across 182 posts with visible likes, creators under 50k followers got a median of 2.4% of their followers liking the post. For creators above 50k, it was 0.7%.
• Outfits do the talking. 73 of the 245 posts are outfit posts or list the exact pieces the creator is wearing.
• Small creators carry Patagonia and Allbirds. 17 of Patagonia's 36 creators and 15 of Allbirds' 35 have under 50k followers, compared with 4 of Reformation's 40.

How to run a sustainable influencer marketing campaign

Here's how to run a campaign step by step, using what the top sustainable 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 sustainable brands' posts show both goals at work. Allbirds' affiliate codes are built to drive sales. Toms' anniversary campaign and Patagonia's film screenings are built for reach.

• Sales: track revenue per creator with a unique link and code.
• Awareness: track views, saves and reach per post.
• New customers: if your prices sit above fast fashion, like Everlane or Reformation, track how many first-time buyers each creator brings in.

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 12k followers posting a minimalist spring outfit in Everlane's Everyday Shirt got 6.9k likes, more than half their following, because a pared-back capsule look is what their followers come for. Across all five brands, creators under 50k followers got more than three 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 from you (people replacing fast fashion, outdoor regulars, parents buying for the whole family) 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 style capsule wardrobes with secondhand finds", and Modash's AI creator search surfaces matching creators on the platform you're searching.

• Check who else they've posted for. @clemdelacreeme posted for both Reformation and Everlane. Modash shows which brands a creator has already posted sponsored content for.

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

3. Choose the deal type

Paid posts lead, but the mix is wider than in most categories. Everlane and Toms disclosed 46 and 45 of their last 50 posts as paid partnerships, Allbirds labeled 20 as affiliate posts and Reformation 16 as gifted.

• Gifting works for gear creators will put through its paces, like the jackets and boots in Patagonia's gifted posts.
• Paid posts suit launches that have to land on a date, like a store opening or an anniversary collection.
• Affiliate works for staples people buy again in new colors, like the sneakers Allbirds' affiliates post about.
• Ambassador deals suit athletes and experts who share your mission, like the snow ambassador Patagonia has worked with for nearly 15 years.

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 sustainable

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

• Outfits with the details. Everlane's and Reformation's creators list every piece they're wearing, down to the fabric. Ask creators to name each item so followers can buy the look.
• Gear in use. Patagonia's creators ski, fish and hike in its gear, and Allbirds' walk to work in the rain. Show the product doing the hard part, not just sitting on a shelf.
• Store visits and launches. Reformation's creators celebrate new store openings, and Toms' launched its anniversary campaign in New York. Give creators a reason to show up somewhere and film it.

Whatever the format, give creators one hashtag to use every time, like #everlanepartner or #tomspartner, and the exact sustainability facts they can say, like the material or the share of profits given away.

5. Launch with tracked links and time-limited codes

Allbirds is the only brand of the five that leans on codes, with a personal code in 17 posts. Everlane's creators ask followers to comment for links instead, and Reformation's link through LTK (4 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 sustainable brands rebook some creators: 34 of their 185 creators posted more than once. That matters for brands that sell on durability, because a creator still wearing the same jacket or sneakers a year later is the best proof the product lasts.

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 collection, a repair or resale program or a styling challenge, so their posts don't repeat.

Where sustainable creator programs go wrong

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

• Making green claims you can't prove. Words like "sustainable", "eco-friendly" or "carbon neutral" need evidence behind them, and regulators in the US and EU are cracking down on vague ones. Give creators specific facts they can repeat, like the recycled content of a fabric, instead of letting them call the whole product sustainable.
• 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 sustainable, that could be a new collection, a repair or resale program, or a styling challenge 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 collection to your affiliates before it launches, and ask them to style it with pieces they already own.
• Briefing hauls for a brand about buying less. A 20-piece haul from a brand that talks about buying better invites the wrong kind of comments. Brief a few pieces styled many ways, or a review after months of wear, instead.

FAQ

How much does sustainable 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 sustainable influencer marketing?

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

Which sustainable brands use influencer marketing?

Patagonia, Reformation, Everlane, Allbirds and Toms are the most-searched sustainable brands in the US, and all of them run active creator programs. See the breakdown above for who each one works with.

Should sustainable 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 sustainable posts we analyzed, creators under 50k followers got more than three 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 sustainable 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.

Start your sustainable creator program

Find creators, manage relationships, pay them in 180+ countries and 36 currencies, and track every sale through Shopify – all in one place, with no fees taken out of creators' pay. Try Modash free, no credit card required – or browse the top sustainable influencers to see who's already out there.