With the current state of the media landscape, influencer marketing is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ channel. Social media is fundamentally reshaping consumer behaviour, so brands need to take creator influence seriously.
UK brands are increasingly recognising the power of creators, with 81% of UK marketers planning to increase influencer marketing budgets in 2026 and 84% expecting to work with more creators next year.
This growth reflects a shift in how brands are viewing influencer marketing, but there still seems to be a lack of understanding around the ways that creators can create success for brands beyond just reach, and when they should be brought into the creative process.
Early creator involvement is game changing
Let’s stop using creators as distribution channels. Influencer marketing has moved far beyond simple product placements and has evolved into one of the most powerful ways for brands to connect with audiences online. However, many brands are still making the same strategic mistake; they’re bringing creators into the process too late.
We’ve seen countless times what happens when creators are treated as a final step in the process - once the concept, messaging and visuals have already been decided. The brief arrives neatly packaged, asking them to simply translate the brand campaign into a social post. It doesn’t work. Why? It feels inauthentic, forced and too ‘obviously’ an ad.
This approach completely overlooks the reason creators are valuable in the first place. They are the audience experts, storytellers and cultural translators. Treating them as a mouthpiece will take away the entertainment element of their content - which is what stops it from looking and feeling like an ad, as opposed to organic content.
Influencer marketing is a partnership, not an add on
Whilst pre-approved messaging and tight guidelines feels safer for brands, it leads to some major challenges including:
- The content lacks authenticity
When creators simply spout a brand narrative, it doesn’t feel natural to their audience. Creators build their relationships with their audiences based on trust, and they’re known for a certain tone, style or perspective that is unique to them.
Ads that feel heavily scripted are easily picked up on by consumers. There’s a reason authenticity seems to be the new buzzword when it comes to creator content; it’s the foundation beneath why creator-led content works. Without it, the content feels jarring and out of place on a social, entertainment platform.
- Missed cultural opportunities & insights
Creators understand their audiences better than anyone. They know what they care about, what resonates and what ultimately will engage them. When creators are brought in too late to the creative process, brands miss the opportunity to tap into these insights during the ideation stage.
When the content feels overly controlled or misaligned with the creator, engagement will suffer. Put simply, brands need to put more trust into the creators they choose to work with. If you treat creators as amplifiers rather than collaborators, your campaign will likely suffer the consequences.
- A lack of platform nuance
Another key element of influencer marketing is understanding how to create content that is platform native – as each platform is different and requires a unique approach. What works on TikTok might not necessarily work on Instagram or YouTube. Creators live and breathe these platform sand understand what feels organic versus forced. Pre-approved guidelines can damage the creativity needed to make content resonate in a user’s feed, ultimately making it feel more like an advert than entertainment. Especially in today’s social landscape where users are increasingly sceptical or traditional advertising, this authenticity can be the difference between content that gets scrolled past and content that sparks genuine interaction.
As the creator economy continues to grow, the relationship between brands and creates must evolve. Forward-thinking brands are already treating creators less like media channels, and more like strategic partners. This might mean:
- Inviting creators into early campaign workshops
- Collaborating on creative concepts together
- Allowing flexibility in how messaging is delivered/ content is formatted
- Using creator insights early on to help shape the campaign strategy.
You can read more about our thoughts on the rapidly changing landscape of influencer marketing in relation to TikTok, here.
Choosing the right creator: it’s about more than just reach
Another common mistake brands make is equating follower count with impact potential. In reality:
- 90% of UK brands work with micro influencers (10-100K followers)
- 60% collaborate with nano influencers (1-10K)
- 47% of UK marketers say authenticity is more important than reach when selecting creators.
What’s more important is selecting creators based on a specific purpose. In dentsu X’s latest thought leadership, The Creator Catalyst, they unpack what they call the ‘casting role matrix’. This breaks down the different roles that creators can play, and how they can work together to create a creator engine.
Instead of focusing on follower counts, brands should take the purpose of working with creators into account. Are brands looking for someone to be a consistent face of the brand? Someone to shape the brand narrative in ways that feel authentic and culturally fluent? Are they wanting to deliver big-moment scale and maximise reach, or are they wanting to infiltrate niche tribes and build strong peer-to-peer trust?
The answers to these questions will define which category of creator will work best, and how they can work together to create longer-lasting impact beyond just one-off collaborations that are based on vanity metrics.
Practical steps for UK brands:
- Bring creators into the process earlier: Involve creators during campaign ideation, not just execution & use them to build ideas that feel platform-native and culturally relevant from the start.
- Define the role each creator plays: Move beyond follower counts and assign clear roles within campaigns. Whether that’s shaping brand narratives, during reach during tentpole moments or building trust within niche communities.
- Prioritise creator-brand fit: Look for alignment in audience, tone and cultural space. Micro and niche creators can often deliver stronger engagement and credibility than larger influencers.
- Build longer-term partnerships: Treat creators as strategic partners rather than one-off amplifiers to develop authentic storytelling and sustained audience trust over time.
In 2026, UK brands cannot afford to treat creator marketing and influencer partnerships as an afterthought. Success lies in authenticity, cultural insight and platform-native content and treating influencer collaborations as meaningful, long-term collaborations. Shifting perceptions from viewing creators as distribution channels to co-collaborators will become a necessity for brands who want to stay competitive in an increasingly social-first landscape.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to discuss more about this, or want to hear more about working together. If you’d like to read more about this topic, check out The Creator Catalyst. Or, if you want to find out more about our media predictions for 2026, check this out. For bi-monthly updates from us, you can sign up to our mailer The Media Edge.
