To preserve authenticity, treat the creative brief as the destination (the goal, the key message), but let the creator 'drive.' They know their audience and platform best. Overly prescriptive briefs with scripts or restrictive guardrails kill the authenticity that makes influencer marketing effective, turning the content into a generic ad.

At Rippling, the social media role is elevated from a simple scheduler to a strategic creative partner. This person acts as a "gatekeeper" for quality, collaborating with various internal teams to transform their requests (e.g., for a webinar promo) into engaging, high-performing content that fits the brand's human-first voice.

B2B marketers often resist the term 'influencer,' feeling it downplays the credibility of subject matter experts. This semantic hang-up creates an unnecessary barrier to adopting a powerful marketing channel, as they fail to recognize that any industry leader with an audience is, by definition, an influencer.

Forcing brand messaging on an influencer leads to inauthentic content that fails to resonate. A better approach is to educate them on your product and collaborate on an angle that aligns with their established voice and topics. Authenticity drives distribution and engagement, making the partnership more effective than a boilerplate promotion.

To combat being undervalued, social media managers should proactively market their impact internally. This means sharing positive customer feedback (even if it feels boastful), holding educational training for other departments, and using high-stakes situations like crises to demonstrate strategic value to leadership.

To get high-performing assets, move beyond simple messaging points in your briefs. Get 'maniacal' with details: specify lighting, shooting style, and even how to engage with the brand's posts. Reference the influencer's own past successful content as a 'North Star' to guide their creative freedom within your brand's guardrails.

Brands struggling with the bandwidth to manage creators should shift their mindset. Viewing creators as human partners, rather than fungible "media units" or "affiliate links," is crucial. This requires both technology that empowers them and dedicated support to build authentic relationships.

When building an influencer program, the most authentic and accessible advocates are often internal. Companies should start by identifying and empowering their own C-suite, topic experts, and even rank-and-file employees who have credibility and influence. This forms a strong foundation before expanding to external partnerships.

Digitas CEO Amy Lanzi avoids the term "influencer" because it implies a transactional ad buy that audiences reject. Instead, she advocates treating "creators" as a "brand's best friend." They should be integrated into the marketing org to co-create authentically and use their community to feed the product development pipeline.