The effectiveness of large-scale influencer marketing is waning as audiences recognize inauthentic paid promotions. A better strategy is to identify smaller creators, or 'trust brokers,' with high engagement and genuine community trust. Focus on building real, long-term, mutually beneficial relationships rather than transactional one-off posts.

While gifting is useful for cold outreach, its greatest impact comes when you have an established relationship but the prospect isn't ready to buy. This nurtures the connection and keeps you top-of-mind, optimizing for when they eventually enter the market.

To achieve authentic endorsements, brands must simulate a long-term relationship before a big deal. This involves seeding product, buying smaller media like podcast ad reads, and confirming genuine usage first. This manufactured history makes the eventual large-scale partnership believable to the creator's audience, as it doesn't appear out of nowhere.

Unlike awareness, which can be purchased, true authenticity is unattainable for most brands directly. The most effective use of influencers is tapping into their pre-built, genuine communities to gain credibility and trust. This allows a brand to "borrow" the equity of authenticity from creators who have already earned it.

Micro-influencers are often willing to post about new, unknown brands for free product not just for the item itself, but because it serves as social proof. Receiving and sharing PR packages helps them build their own brand and signal to their audience that they are 'in-demand' creators, making it a symbiotic relationship.

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.

When you don't have an established relationship, personalizing a gift can feel intrusive. A safer and more effective approach is to connect the gift to your sales message (e.g., a desk plant to "grow our partnership"), making it clever and relevant rather than overly personal.

Ineffective product gifting isn't just a waste; it actively turns creators against a brand. Sending unsolicited, impersonal, or excessive products is seen as an annoying attempt to get free promotion, not a genuine gift. This can completely turn a creator off to the brand forever, closing the door on future paid partnerships.

Involve creators early by giving them exclusive previews. This makes them feel like valued partners, not just hired talent, generating genuine excitement that translates into more authentic and powerful promotional content for their audience. It's a key step to improving results.