In this op-ed, Patrice Pandeleos, managing director of Seven Communications, argues that brands should give influencers more creative freedom when engaging them for campaigns, as overly restrictive guidelines and generic messaging are causing disengagement among target audiences.
While influencer engagement is a common practice nowadays, brands and industry experts are starting to fall back into old habits, limiting the creative freedom of influencers who are beginning to push back against cookie-cutter messaging and KPIs.
Generally speaking, influencer marketing is not a new concept by any means, and as we head into 2025, brands that fail to consider how influencer engagement can elevate their marketing strategy are already behind the ball. These days, it’s almost expected that product-based and service-driven companies will engage with influencers in some capacity within the social media space.
Especially when targeting key demographics such as millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha, influencer marketing is almost a necessity. As these generations are ‘chronically online’, the uptick in paid social media posts targeting these audiences won’t be slowing down anytime soon. However, while influencer partnerships remain a popular method of connecting with younger audiences, many brands are starting to see diminishing returns as these target markets grow weary of the one-size-fits-all approach – when it comes to the messaging surrounding a paid partnership.
One prominent voice calling attention to this shift is Australian podcaster, TV presenter, and influencer, Abbie Chatfield, who recently criticised brands for focusing too heavily on simple KPIs like reach and engagement, rather than recognising the creative value an influencer brings to a campaign. Chatfield has publicly stated that influencers, when constrained by rigid brand guidelines and generic messaging, often see their followers disengage, which leads to lower engagement on posts. For influencers, being handed a script or a set of predetermined creative assets undermines their ability to authentically connect with their audience. When influencers are given the creative freedom to curate content in a way that resonates with their followers – whether that’s through a static grid post on Instagram or a TikTok video, the results are more likely to be genuine and effective.
For brands, this highlights the importance of allowing influencers to have input into how a product or service is presented. Influencers understand their audience better than anyone else, and they know how to tailor their message in a way that feels natural and relatable. For example, if an influencer’s community values authenticity and personality, a scripted ad or overly polished promotional post is likely to fall flat. This mismatch between influencer style and brand expectations is a growing frustration for many creators, who are now calling for more collaborative, creative partnerships.
That said, influencer marketing can only work when the brand and the influencer align authentically. Brands mustn’t select influencers based on their follower count but rather assess how well an influencer’s audience, values, and aesthetic align with their own. Finding the right fit is the first step towards achieving effective influencer marketing. Brands should ensure that the influencer’s audience has a genuine interest in the product or service being promoted. This is an area where many brands get it wrong – by working with an influencer who has a massive following but little connection to the product or service being sold. As a result, the partnership often fails to produce meaningful results. More often than not, it is beneficial for both the brand and the influencer to choose someone with fewer followers but a personal connection to the product or service they’re promoting and an engaged audience.
Instead of making influencers uninfluential through restrictive brand messaging and expectations, brands should give the creators they engage with more creative freedom, which in turn, will yield better results.