How an Influencer PR Program Took a Small Brand to New Heights: The Success Story of Avena Beauty

In an era dominated by digital marketing, small brands must navigate an increasingly complex landscape to gain traction and visibility. Traditional advertising methods are no longer sufficient to stand out, especially when competing with industry giants that have massive advertising budgets. Enter influencer marketing—a powerful tool for small brands looking to gain credibility, trust, and exposure in a crowded market. However, leveraging influencer public relations (PR) requires more than just a collaboration with a few social media stars. It takes strategy, research, and a deep understanding of the brand’s audience.

One small European beauty brand that has successfully harnessed the power of an influencer PR program is Avena Beauty, a niche skincare company based in the United Kingdom. Avena Beauty, with its emphasis on natural, cruelty-free ingredients, had struggled to gain a foothold in the highly competitive beauty industry. However, through a well-executed influencer PR strategy, the brand was able to increase visibility, build strong relationships with key influencers, and ultimately grow its customer base and sales. Here’s how Avena Beauty made its mark through influencer PR—and how small brands can replicate its success.

The Brand: Avena Beauty

Avena Beauty was founded with a simple yet powerful mission: to provide skincare solutions that cater to sensitive skin while using only natural, organic ingredients. As a small, independent brand, it faced the challenges typical of many new beauty brands—high competition, limited budget, and the difficulty of building brand recognition. Despite the quality of its products, Avena Beauty struggled to make an impact in the saturated UK beauty market.

Avena Beauty’s founders, however, knew that their products were unique and aligned with current consumer trends, such as clean beauty, cruelty-free products, and sustainable packaging. They needed to find a way to communicate this story to a wider audience while positioning their brand as a trustworthy, high-quality skincare option.

Identifying the Challenge

For small brands like Avena Beauty, traditional PR often comes with a hefty price tag, and large-scale advertising campaigns are out of reach. The company had a limited marketing budget, which made it clear that their efforts had to be hyper-targeted. They also realized that the beauty industry is heavily driven by influencers and user-generated content. Consumers often turn to their favorite influencers for beauty advice, product recommendations, and reviews. Influencer PR became the ideal solution to Avena’s challenges.

Avena Beauty’s core challenge was to differentiate itself from other skincare brands in a crowded market. To succeed, it needed to reach the right audience and ensure that their products were seen as both trustworthy and desirable. The key was to identify influencers whose values aligned with the brand and who could genuinely recommend the products in a way that felt authentic and engaging.

The Influencer PR Strategy

Avena Beauty decided to build its influencer PR program around three key pillars: targeted influencer partnerships, strategic content creation, and fostering authentic relationships with influencers. By focusing on these elements, the brand was able to drive visibility, build trust with its audience, and foster long-term relationships with influencers. Here’s how they implemented each part of their strategy.

1. Targeted Influencer Partnerships

The first step in Avena Beauty’s influencer marketing strategy was selecting the right influencers. Given the limited budget, Avena could not afford to partner with high-profile influencers with millions of followers. Instead, they focused on micro and mid-tier influencers with between 10,000 and 200,000 followers—people who had a highly engaged audience that would be more likely to trust their recommendations.

Researching and Selecting Influencers
Avena Beauty conducted extensive research to find influencers who were a good fit for the brand. They sought influencers whose values aligned with their own, particularly those who prioritized natural beauty, clean ingredients, and sustainability. Avena also made sure the influencers had an engaged, authentic following—focusing on their level of interaction with followers rather than just the size of their audience.

Influencers with a passion for skincare and wellness were at the top of Avena’s list. The brand was looking for beauty advocates who could communicate the benefits of using clean, natural products without being overly promotional. Micro-influencers who already shared their personal skincare routines or tips were a perfect fit. Avena reached out to these influencers with personalized messages, explaining their product’s benefits and why they thought the influencer’s audience would be interested.

Creating Value for Influencers
Avena Beauty knew that influencers wanted more than just free products—they wanted to align themselves with brands that were meaningful and shared their values. To establish a mutually beneficial relationship, Avena emphasized the long-term nature of the partnership. Instead of treating influencers as one-off collaborators, they framed the partnership as a chance for influencers to help shape the brand’s story.

They offered the influencers early access to new products, exclusive discounts for their followers, and an opportunity to be featured in Avena Beauty’s marketing materials, including social media, blogs, and newsletters. Avena also provided influencers with affiliate codes, giving them an incentive to promote the brand in a way that felt natural and mutually rewarding.

2. Strategic Content Creation

The content created by influencers is the cornerstone of any influencer PR program. For Avena Beauty, the goal was to ensure that influencers didn’t just create promotional content, but that they truly engaged their followers with useful, relevant, and authentic material.

Product Reviews and Tutorials
The influencers Avena Beauty partnered with were asked to share honest product reviews and tutorials. Many of the influencers already created skincare routines, and Avena provided products that would fit naturally into these routines. The brand’s content team worked with the influencers to create product demonstrations that highlighted the efficacy of the products, focusing on their natural ingredients and cruelty-free nature.

These reviews were shared across multiple channels, including Instagram Stories, YouTube, and blog posts. Because influencers often include personal anecdotes in their posts, this content felt genuine and relatable to their audiences. Avena made sure to encourage influencers to provide honest feedback, which not only contributed to the brand’s authenticity but also allowed potential customers to see the real benefits and challenges of the products.

User-Generated Content (UGC)
Avena Beauty also actively encouraged influencers to invite their followers to share their own experiences with the brand. By creating campaigns such as a skincare challenge or hashtag (#AvenaGlow), Avena incentivized customers to share photos or videos of their own skincare routines using Avena’s products. This generated authentic user-generated content that further validated the brand’s claims and created a sense of community.

UGC proved to be a powerful tool for building credibility. Potential customers trust peer recommendations over brand messaging, and seeing real people endorse the brand made it easier for Avena’s audience to trust the products. These UGC efforts were then amplified by the influencers themselves, creating a snowball effect that boosted visibility.

Influencer Takeovers and Collaborations
In addition to product reviews and tutorials, Avena Beauty occasionally organized Instagram takeovers and live collaborations with their influencers. During these events, influencers would take over Avena’s social media channels for a day, offering followers exclusive content, giveaways, and personalized skincare advice. These takeovers allowed Avena to tap into the influencer’s engaged audience in a more direct way, and the interactive nature of the events encouraged increased engagement.

3. Building Long-Term Relationships

Avena Beauty understood that influencer marketing isn’t a one-time transaction; it’s about building long-term relationships. Instead of focusing solely on short-term campaign goals, the brand sought to develop ongoing partnerships with influencers who were truly invested in the brand and its values.

Fostering Genuine Connections
Avena’s PR team took the time to communicate regularly with influencers, not just about campaigns, but about the brand’s values, new product developments, and upcoming launches. The brand also kept track of each influencer’s feedback on their products, using it to refine their offerings and make influencers feel valued and heard.

By engaging in open dialogue, Avena was able to create a sense of brand loyalty among its influencers. This made it easier for the brand to scale its influencer collaborations, as influencers were more likely to continue promoting Avena’s products if they felt personally connected to the brand.

Incentivizing Long-Term Partnerships
Avena Beauty also incentivized long-term partnerships by offering influencers exclusive perks. For example, influencers who showed consistent engagement with the brand’s campaigns were invited to special brand events, given early access to product launches, or offered commission on sales through affiliate links. This allowed the influencers to feel more invested in the brand’s success, which in turn drove more authentic promotion.

Results and Impact: How Influencer PR Transformed Avena Beauty

The results of Avena Beauty’s influencer PR program were impressive. Within six months of launching the program, the brand saw a significant increase in online visibility, customer engagement, and sales.

1. Increased Brand Visibility and Engagement
Avena Beauty’s partnerships with carefully selected influencers helped the brand increase its Instagram following by 40% and boosted engagement rates on social media by 50%. Influencers’ product reviews and tutorials generated organic buzz, and the hashtag campaigns created a wave of user-generated content that further amplified the brand’s presence.

2. Enhanced Credibility and Trust
By working with influencers who were respected in the beauty community and aligned with Avena’s clean beauty values, the brand quickly established credibility in a crowded market. The authentic and honest product reviews helped Avena build trust with consumers, who were more likely to purchase after hearing from influencers they already trusted.

3. Growth in Sales
Perhaps the most measurable impact of Avena Beauty’s influencer PR strategy was the increase in sales. By integrating influencer codes and affiliate links, the brand tracked direct sales generated from influencer collaborations. These efforts resulted in a 30% increase in online sales within the first quarter of the program. The brand’s loyal influencer partners helped convert their followers into paying customers, and the consistent promotion of Avena’s products led to sustained growth over time.

Conclusion: The Power of a Well-Executed Influencer PR Program

Avena Beauty’s influencer PR program demonstrates how small brands can effectively use influencer marketing to achieve significant results without large budgets. By focusing on building genuine relationships with the right influencers, creating authentic content, and fostering long-term partnerships, Avena Beauty was able to cut through the noise of the beauty industry and position itself as a trusted, sought-after skincare brand.

For small brands, influencer PR is not just about increasing sales; it’s about building trust, enhancing visibility, and creating an authentic connection with an audience. Avena Beauty’s success story offers valuable lessons for any small brand looking to harness the power of influencer marketing and create a lasting impact in their industry.