Celebrity influencers paid up to £1m to advertise deodorant on Instagram

The #ad posts on your feed may look relaxed, personal and spontaneous but behind many of them is a carefully planned campaign, a detailed contract and, in some cases, a seven-figure fee.

For Charlie Bowes-Lyon, the co-founder of Wild, a refillable natural deodorant, influencer marketing has been a huge part of the company's success and he calls it his "secret sauce".

Wild, which was bought by Unilever last year, uses high-profile names including Stacey Solomon, Emma Raducanu and Molly-Mae Hague to promote its products on Instagram.

Bowes-Lyon says the brand has spent millions on its partnership with Raducanu and hundreds of thousands on campaigns with Solomon and Hague.

Hannah Campbell, founder of influencer marketing agency One Twelve Agency, says brands are using influencers over traditional adverts because "they do actually influence".

"They have built audiences and communities that trust them, and the old adage 'people buy from people' is true.

"Consumers, especially younger audiences, aren't engaging with traditional media but they do follow and engage with their favourite influencers daily."

Influencer marketing is now such a big part of Wild's business that it employs a team of more than 20 solely dedicated to working on this.

The company's yearly influencer marketing budget is just under £10m, "but next year that may double as we look for larger brand ambassadors", says Bowes-Lyon.

How much the company spends on influencer marketing "can vary from £100,000 through to millions if you want a top-tier celebrity", says Bowes-Lyon.

He says a lot of it also depends on the depth of the campaign as "if you want them to do a one-off post you wouldn't pay too much but typically what they and you want is to develop is a bit more of a relationship".

British tennis player Emma Raducanu is Wild's current brand ambassador and has been working with the brand for the past year.