Influencers - the good, the bad and the ugly

By Diane Markovski, Founder, Lit Agency

I was doing influencer marketing before anyone called it that. Back then, it was relationships and not rate cards. You found people with genuine pull in a community, you got product into their hands, and you built something real together. No agents, no media kits, no “engagement packages.” Just trust.

Fast forward to 2027, and it’s one of the most important levers a brand can pull. It’s also one of the most frustrating corners of our industry.

The good

Social proof has never mattered more. Consumers don’t trust ads the way they used to, and they certainly don’t trust a brand talking about itself. They trust people. A creator with a loyal, engaged audience can do in one honest video what a polished campaign can’t do in six weeks.

The best creators know this. They treat their audience like the asset it is. They push back on briefs that won’t land; they know their numbers; they deliver on time; and they understand they’re part of a media plan, not the whole plan. Those people are gold, and brands should be locking them into long-term partnerships, not one-off posts.

The bad

Then there are the cowboys.

Too many creators have no idea how media actually works. They see a follower count and attach a price to it with no reference to reach, audience quality, usage rights or what the content is meant to achieve. I’ve seen rates that would make a TV buyer blush for content that gets a fraction of the views.

They will quote you a number, then try to add on whitelisting, usage and exclusivity as if those were afterthoughts. They’ll miss deadlines, ignore the brief and deliver something that looks like it was filmed in the car on the way to the shoot. Because it was.

This isn’t a creator problem alone. Brands and agencies created it by paying whatever was asked, chasing vanity metrics and never asking the hard questions.

The ugly

Fake followers. Bought engagement. Undisclosed paid posts. Creators repping three competing brands in the same month. Audiences that look great on paper and turn out to be overseas bots.

And every time a brand gets burned, it erodes trust in the whole channel. That hurts the good creators most.

What brands need to do in 2027

Treat influencers like media, because it is.

That means:

• Buying on audience data, not follower counts. Ask for the insights screenshots.
• Paying for outcomes and quality with clear usage and amplification rights written in from day one.
• Favouring smaller creators with real communities over big names with tired audiences.
• Building long-term relationships and not one-hit deals.
• Working with people who actually understand the media game, on both sides of the table.

The channel isn’t broken. It’s just grown up faster than some of the people in it.

Social proof is the currency of 2027 - spend it wisely.