There’s a version of influencer marketing that everyone can spot from a mile away. The product placed just-so. The caption not written by the person posting. The discount code in the third line of copy. Something feeling off about the juxtaposition of the brand and the influencer. We’ve all seen it. And some have lost faith in it.
But scattergun and poorly executed influencer partnerships are not how we do things here. We believe in the power of a good collaboration. And here’s what that means.
What makes a “good” collaboration?
It’s hard not to use the words influencer or creator interchangeably, but they are two quite different things.
Not all influencers are ex-reality stars, models, or TV stars looking to sign a deal with any brand out there. And while this segment of influencer might get you visibility with a big audience or passing association with a household name – its value may be fleeting and will ultimately lack impact unless you have the budget to keep them coming back.
Then there are the influencers who are experts in their field – they have come up through the ranks to be leaders in their niche and tend to charge more when it comes to collaborations with brands – but – their audiences are mature, more engaged, and likely more targeted. Influencers offer authority and reach. Good for getting your brand out there, but perhaps not as good as getting people coming back to your brand organically. This is where content creators come in.
Content creators can be influencers too – many if not all, tangibly are. But the value they bring to a collaboration is more than just potential for eyes on. If you’re seeking quality, experiential content, rather than a straightforward and accessible promotion – then content creators might be the way to go (especially for brands prioritising UGC).
Many brands lose interest at follower count. Some may understand the value of engagement but still get stuck on the overall numbers. But for us, it’s not a numbers game – it’s a matching exercise. Our value as a PR agency comes from curation of collaborations by fit, not followers. We’re not out here to work with anyone and everyone. We take time to research and recommend the right influencer or creators in relevant niches so that a collaboration not only feels natural, but has the potential to drive real and meaningful results. Our job is all about relationships – and that extends to influencers, creators, and their agents as well!
So, you’d be wrong to stop believing in the power of a good collaboration. But right to question who you should be collaborating with and why.
But what about the ROI?
When the primary output of a partnership is content, and content is controlled or delivered by the wrong person, sometimes to the wrong people, the audience can feel it. Not always consciously, but even a vague sense that something is being sold is enough to create distance. And distance, in brand-building terms, is exactly what you don’t want.
The most effective influencer and creator campaigns produce real engagement and create the potential for a sustained brand association through repeat collaborations. The ROI is really the longevity of a relationship that feels authentic to the individual, and to your brand. Not just the content.
Shifting your approach
The traditional influencer or creator brief is essentially a content brief. Here is the product. Here is the message. Here are the desired deliverables. The job is then to execute it in a way that feels natural. The problem is that content created to a brief is, by definition, shaped by external expectations of the brand, rather than by genuine enthusiasm of the influencer or creator. The best-case outcome is a talented creator who can make a commissioned post feel authentic. The worst case is content feels transactional or a drop in the ocean.
Instead of asking: “what content do we want?”, ask “can we give this person an experience that they would genuinely want to share?” The content becomes the natural outcome of a real lived experience, rather than a synthetic promotion of what one could be. This distinction sounds subtle. The results are anything but. When it comes to influencer marketing, PR’s job is to find the angle, engage the right creators, at the right time, and often, on repeat. That’s what we’re here for.
Do experience-led campaigns actually produce better results?
When a creator posts about something they actually enjoyed, it’s honest. And audiences can feel that honesty in the same way they can feel its absence.
Let’s look at an example in action…
This Bainland Lodge Retreats activation is a textbook example of what happens when a content partnership is executed with the creator experience in mind, rather than using them as a tool for a desired content outcome.
We hosted a retreat in collaboration with fitness influencer Holly Brooks, MyProtein, and her community-group, Strong Girl Society, to launch her new MP Activewear collection. They were looking for a setting that matched her audience’s aspirations – and Bainland Lodge Retreats provided a perfect fit.
The retreat wasn’t intended just for content production, but instead it was designed as a genuinely immersive weekend that showed off the versatility of the resort itself. It included opportunities for fitness, exploration, restorative wellness activities and community connection, all hosted in luxury surroundings. And the collaborating partners curated a guestlist whose audiences cared about all those things.
The result was a wealth of content across multiple channels that keep generating impressions long after the original posts went live. Deliverables felt alive because the people who attended wanted to share them, making the ROI of this PR stay all the richer for it.
Don’t underestimate the community dimension
There’s a second principle at work in the Bainland campaign that’s worth examining, and that is the power of community group partnerships. Holly Brooks brought her own individual reach as an influencer, as did the partner brand, but inviting real Strong Girl Society members made the experience into a community event. This translated not only into content, but word of mouth, and brand exposure with normal people who shared a sense of identity and who trust the recommendations of their peers.
This is why smart influencer strategy looks not just at reach numbers and engagement but really dials into the nuances, niche and nature of the audiences behind the creators invited. A creator with a small but highly engaged following in a very concentrated niche often delivers more real-world impact than one with a million passive viewers.
The question isn’t how many people saw the content; it’s how many people it actually meant something to.
Ready to level up your influencer marketing? Come talk to our PR team.
