Influencer marketing

What influencer marketing can and cannot do

Influencer marketing borrows someone else's trust. A creator your customers already follow shows your product or service in their own words, and their audience takes it more seriously than an ad. For a new cafe, a skincare line, a fitness studio or a local boutique, a handful of well-chosen creators can bring a wave of first visits and a library of content you could never shoot yourself.

What it will not do is fix a weak offer or a website that loses people at checkout. Creators can bring attention; your product, page and follow-up must turn it into sales. That is why I look at the landing page and the offer before contacting a single creator.

Choosing creators: audience first

Follower count is the least useful number on a profile. What matters:

• Where the audience lives. For a restaurant in Denver, a creator with 8,000 followers in the metro beats one with 300,000 spread across the country.
• Real engagement. Comments that sound like people, not "nice pic" from accounts with no posts.
• Past sponsored content. How did earlier partnerships look? Did the creator sound convincing, or bored?
• Fit with your brand. Their tone, values and other partners should not clash with yours.

My partner and I screen creators for signs of bought followers and engagement pods. It is tedious, and it is where much of the budget is saved.

The brief and the agreement

A creator needs freedom to sound like themselves, and you need a few things to be non-negotiable. The brief covers key points, what must never be said, the call to action, dates and disclosure. The agreement covers the fee or product, number and type of posts, approval rights, exclusivity if any, and usage rights: whether you can run the content as ads or on your site, for how long. Getting this in writing up front prevents most disputes.

Disclosure in the US

The FTC's Endorsement Guides apply to influencer posts. If a creator has a material connection to your brand, whether payment, free product, a commission or a family tie, it must be disclosed clearly and close to the claim: #ad or "paid partnership" at the start of the caption, a spoken mention in video, the platform's built-in label. A disclosure hidden in a pile of hashtags or only in the bio is not enough. The FTC has also taken action against brands, not only creators, so I review every draft for it. Claims need care too: a creator cannot say a supplement cures anything or that results are typical if they are not. When in doubt, check with your attorney.

Tracking what each creator sold

Every creator gets a personal link with UTM parameters and, for online stores, a personal checkout code. In analytics and your store you then see visits, orders and revenue per creator. For local businesses without an online checkout, a code word at the counter or a dedicated booking link does the same job.

After the campaign, you get a simple table: cost per creator, clicks, codes used, sales and the content worth keeping. The best videos often go on to work as UGC-style ads, which is frequently where the real return comes from.

Who this suits

Influencer marketing fits cosmetics and beauty brands, food and drink, fashion, fitness, home decor, family products, local restaurants and attractions. It is a weaker fit for B2B services, emergency trades and anything bought once a decade after long research.

How I deliver it

I run influencer campaigns with a trusted partner who handles creator outreach and logistics. I set the goal, write the brief, approve creators and content, track the numbers and stay your only contact. Your agreement, deadlines and report all come from me, and the overall plan sits within your social media management if you have it.