Daniel Wellington - Influencer Case Study

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This week - It’s a ✨special edition✨ for you!

Heard about Daniel Wellington? 

After investing only $20K in influencer marketing…

The brand that has sold +6M watches and became THE most mentioned brand in Instagram-sponsored posts! How’s that for a glow-up?

Today, we’ll share all the secrets and top insights from their strategy.

Ready?

⏰ Estimated read time: 3 minutes or less

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How Daniel Wellington turned a $20K investment into a worldwide sensation 🌍

First, let’s start with a little story 😉

Filip Tysander (founder) was inspired by a stylish British traveler named Daniel Wellington, and that’s how the brand got its iconic name.

In 2010, when Instagram first launched, Filip saw his chance.

He jumped on influencer marketing—before the term even became mainstream📱

Fast forward 3 years, and Daniel Wellington had already sold 1M watches and brought in $228M in revenue.

Their secret to success?

A killing influencer strategy that took the world by storm! 💥

What was their strategy?👇🏻

Daniel Wellington's strategy was simple yet genius:

Reach out to influencers and offer free watches.

With a 50% margin, thanks to affordable production, it was a cost-effective move.

They didn’t just stop at fashion influencers—they targeted anyone with an engaged following on Instagram, from models to artists 🎨

Results? Their UGC campaigns blew up.

Influencers even started buying watches themselves, using the hashtag #DWpickoftheday in hopes of being featured.

The hashtag now has 62K posts—that’s about 15 new influencer/UGC posts every single day! 📸

Daniel Wellington pursued UGC by commenting on influencers' posts and securing permission to repurpose them for their own campaigns.

But the real genius tactic?

The watch brand understood before everyone else that modern brands are built on trust and love.

→ Influencers are the way to diffuse that trust. BUT that single tactic doesn’t work ❌

Successful brands are the ones building communities of influencers promoting the products on an ongoing basis.

And that’s just what they did… 👏

So let’s dive deeper and see the exact steps:

1️⃣ Influencer gifting

Daniel Wellington’s strategy was brilliant:

→ They gifted watches to creators with just one request — show it on their account and use #danielwellington hashtag.

Simple, isn’t it?

They started small, focusing on micro-influencers due to a limited budget, but it paid off pretty quickly, boosting the brand's visibility 📈

Fast forward, and according to Click Analytic, the hashtag has been used by 2,000 creators on TikTok and 31,000 profiles on Instagram.

Talk about influence! 💥

2️⃣ From Ad partners to affiliates

Daniel Wellington had a clever next step:

Convert top-performing creators into affiliates so they could become sellers to their own communities 🎯

Every affiliate has its own unique promo code, giving its audience an incentive to purchase.

But DW’s ultimate goal?

To turn affiliates into top ambassadors for the brand, solidifying long-term partnerships 👏

And building their own community of influencers: “dw icons”

3️⃣ Celebrity endorsement

The revenue Daniel Wellington generated through micro-influencers paved the way for them to score high-end partnerships with big influencers 😍

They’ve landed big names like Hailey Bieber and Addison Rae in their campaigns, which has taken their visibility to another level 🌟

Their strategy?

Start small, grow organically, and then shoot to the stars.

It’s a perfect mix of micro and big-influencer marketing, proving that a solid foundation with smaller creators can lead to partnerships with the biggest names in the industry 👏 

DW didn’t just aim for quick wins—they built a long-term play👍🏻

4️⃣ Social media synergy

Daniel Wellington took their strategy global by building a strong presence across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest, generating millions of impressions 💥

Their social media audience now stands at an impressive 4.7M followers 📲

By mastering social platforms and staying on top of trends, DW has built a community that constantly engages with their content, making their brand one of the most recognizable in the watch industry. ⌚✨

From viral posts to influencer campaigns, DW’s social strategy is all about consistency and reach.

Takeaways for YOUR Brand?👇🏻

• Start small. Work with micro-influencers and engage your customers in content creation to boost visibility.

• Create a community of creators - don’t focus on one-off deals or single tactics!

• Focus on long-term deals to convert creators into brand advocates.

Well, learning is great but…

How about turning YOUR brand into a social media phenomenon?

🎁 Book a 1:1 strategy session with me today

And I’ll help you:

1. Understand your audience on social platforms

2. Analyze your competitors

3. And build a robust and sustainable creator program for your brand.

I’m speaking about getting +300 monthly creator mentions from influencers, affiliates, celebrities etc.

And you DON’T need a big budget!

Just like Daniel Wellington 🤫

Ready? → Don’t miss it! Link here.

📰 Social Snapshot