Influencer Economy Reshapes Social Media Strategies in the Food and Beverage Industry

In 2024, the industry is seen as the "Year of the Influencer." Since the outbreak of the pandemic, numerous food and beverage companies transformed into e-commerce brands overnight, and influencers, with their relentless social media activity and deep understanding of their influence over followers, began to dominate the marketing landscape. As paid marketing campaigns on platforms like Instagram and TikTok go viral daily, influencers are becoming an integral part of the industry.

"I do think that 2024 is going to be the year that we see a shift in how brands show up on social media, especially large corporate brands," said Marie La France, Vice President of Growth at global influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy, in an interview with Food Dive, a sister publication. "People naturally gravitate toward getting information from trusted sources, such as through word of mouth. I think this is the year when many companies truly realize this."

Winners and losers in food and beverage social media strategies

Steven Vigilante, Director of Growth and Partnerships at Olipop, a soda brand focused on health concepts, said the boom in social media and influencers began with the pandemic in 2020. "Everyone had to become an e-commerce brand overnight. No one could do tastings, events, or promotions, so everyone had to figure out paid social and influencer strategies across different channels," he said in an interview with Food Dive.

Another health-focused soft drink company, Poppi, demonstrated a successful path to the industry through its grassroots marketing approach. Founded by Allison Ellsworth, the company started at farmers markets and has now become the number one selling soft drink on Amazon. According to Forbes, the company's organic social and influencer marketing strategy in 2023 generated 204 million impressions and 2.3 million interactions. This helped Poppi enter 5 million new households in 2024 and turned its consumers into loyal fans.

Ellsworth said she invested in the company's TikTok presence years ago, employing strategies such as sending influencers unexpected gifts like sweatsuits and bathrobes, which kept the brand far ahead of trends. The power of virality is strong, and Poppi's strategy of associating its brand name with people and things unrelated to soda is working.

La France noted: "When marketing a food brand, thinking outside the box brings a lot of benefits. It doesn't have to be limited to just—here's a recipe."

La France believes that it is these unexpected moments that can lead to a product quickly going viral. Olipop, on the other hand, attempts to create such moments by establishing a position designed to trigger social media virality. "I've worked in the food and beverage industry for over a decade and have never seen a fan base as passionate as ours," Vigilante said.

"We thought, what if we actually hired super fans to join the team and travel around the country with us creating content?" Vigilante said. Thus, the brand's "Senior Soda Advisor" position was born. He said the company didn't just send influencers a sweatshirt and product, but wanted to bring consumers who already loved Olipop onto its payroll. This strategy worked.

"This role effectively showcases our brand spirit of bringing people together. Through heartwarming stories and resonant moments when sharing a can of soda, Olipop builds an emotional connection with its audience, reinforcing the idea that memorable experiences become more special when shared with friends," Vigilante said. "This approach positions Olipop not just as a beverage choice, but as a companion in creating cherished memories."

The company received over 2,000 job applications for the position and gained more than 650 million impressions on social media, along with 200 media mentions including Travel + Leisure, USA Today, Fox Business, Time Out Magazine, and others.

"The industry tends to move in one direction," Vigilante said. "So we thought, what can we do that's completely different, but not too outlandish, that allows us to gain deep consumer insights." He added: "In the past, companies like Coca-Cola would just stand there handing out Vitaminwater, but that approach doesn't work anymore."

However, when using influencers to promote products rather than just brand philosophy, brands can sometimes go overboard. For example, Chobani recently sent a large shipment of cold brew coffee and creamer products to "Acquired Style," an influencer known for viral hairstyling tips, after the content creator began posting her daily coffee creations. The comment section of the post revealed a common theme—why send free products to someone whose single TikTok post earns more than some consumers' monthly income? This left a bad impression on some consumers.

On the other side of the debate, Waterboy, a hydration supplement company offering "weekend recovery" and "workout hydration" products, decided to invite its real customers on an all-inclusive brand trip instead of influencers with online reach. One comment read: "As an early subscriber and merchandise owner of Waterboy, I appreciate that they focus on real customers rather than influencers!!"

Although the two companies took different approaches, they both achieved the same goal: sparking consumer discussion. Adam Melonas, CEO and founder of Chew, a Boston-based food innovation lab for consumer packaged goods, said: "The takeaway here is that social strategies are often treated as a one-size-fits-all approach, and there's a lot missing in the interpretation of this topic." Melonas also has extensive experience guiding brand strategy for food startups. "The key is in the details of who, why, and where the brand wants to go. It's not a formula of 'a powerful hot influencer plus any brand equals success.' If you go in the wrong direction, it can actually have the opposite effect."

For example, Bud Light, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, sent a personalized Bud Light can featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney's image to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her gender transition. Mulvaney shared the collaboration on Instagram on April 1, 2023, which subsequently sparked controversy. As a result, the company put two marketing executives, Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake, on leave. In July 2023, Modelo replaced Bud Light as the best-selling beer in the United States.

Influencer or content creator? The devil is in the details

Melonas believes that no matter how effective or precise a social media strategy is, it ultimately comes down to the product itself. "If it's a product with a big name but low quality, you'll get initial crazy buzz and high trial rates, but repeat purchase rates will be poor because the trial is driven by influencers."

When planning a social media strategy, Melonas emphasized the importance of distinguishing between influencers, content creators, and celebrities. "Suppose Bradley Cooper can sell a movie, but he might struggle to sell snacks. It's not because I don't think he could resonate with snacks, but because he doesn't have specific influence and domain credibility in that particular area," Melonas said.

"However, if you look at someone like Logan Paul, he has a megaphone he can use daily, speaking to tens of millions or hundreds of millions of active followers, able to present content in a way that lends credibility to what he's talking about, while leveraging the credibility of his name, image, and likeness." Paul, a YouTube star and professional wrestler, launched the Prime hydration drink line, which surpassed $1.2 billion in sales in 2023.

Plant-based pioneer Beyond Meat appointed Kim Kardashian as its "Chief Taste Officer" in 2022. Despite having over 363 million followers on Instagram, the media personality turned entrepreneur is better known for her skincare brand Skkn by Kim and shapewear company Skims than for cooking plant-based foods.

Meati Foods, a company making fermented mushroom mycelium analogs, took a different approach by partnering with sports figures Aly Raisman and Chris Paul in December 2023. Although the Olympic gold medalist and NBA champion have fewer Instagram followers than Kardashian, their audiences are more likely to adopt their advice about nourishing foods for the body.

"There's a difference between driving brand awareness and trying to drive sales," Melonas said. "If you're going for awareness, then you can find the loudest, noisiest, most-watched person. But that won't drive sales. Sales will come from that authenticity."

High rewards come with high risks

Melonas said that over the past three to four years, the return on investment for any digital advertising spend has sharply declined. Brands are trying to counter this by focusing on product placement in any creative way.

In November 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to two industry trade organizations—the American Beverage Association and the Canadian Sugar Institute—as well as to 12 nutrition and diet influencers. The agency said these organizations' paid influencers failed to properly disclose their payments when promoting the safety of the sweetener aspartame on TikTok and Instagram. This action may make the industry more cautious in conducting similar campaigns in the future.

There is a fine line between being authentic to audiences and trusting influencers to promote products, and engaging in false advertising. Poppi, the health brand that achieved hundreds of millions in sales through influencer partnerships and grassroots marketing, is now facing a class-action lawsuit over false advertising. According to a complaint filed on May 29, lead plaintiff Kristin Cobbs accuses the brand of claiming "prebiotic" benefits despite it being "basically sugar water." The complaint also alleges that consumers would need to drink more than four cans of Poppi soda daily to achieve any potential health benefits from its prebiotic fiber.

Cobb claims she purchased the product after seeing Poppi marketed as a "prebiotic soda" "made for a healthy gut." Cobb said the Poppi promotions she saw led her to believe the product had certain benefits, but that was not the case. Poppi has since removed the "gut health" slogan from all its marketing.

"Staying up to date with FTC guidelines and knowing what's happening there is absolutely crucial," La France said. Meanwhile, overly scripted content can feel inauthentic and negatively affect audiences. "We see viral videos go viral because they feel unique and authentic to the creator themselves. So I think trusting creators is very important. These people have built their followings for a reason," La France said.

Brand ambassador programs are another example of how brands can create authenticity in marketing without over-managing and regulating every piece of content. "They don't have to be celebrities," La France said. "You can get the same trust, engagement, and correct understanding of your product's benefits by building longer-term relationships with influencers of any size. I mean, this can happen with nano or micro influencers, and if you do that, it could have an even bigger impact on their lives."

Experts say it's crucial for brands to find a model that fits their scale in influencer marketing and social media strategy. This trend is not going away. Specifically with food, what you consume becomes part of your identity, and consumers will always follow the crowd when making purchasing decisions.