What's your approach to ensuring that influencer content feels genuine and not overly promotional?

My approach to ensuring influencer content feels genuine and not overly promotional centers on three key principles: authenticity, alignment, and creativity.

Authenticity First:

I prioritize collaborating with influencers whose values and content style naturally align with the brand. By allowing them creative freedom to express the message in their voice, the content feels more organic and relatable to their audience.

Storytelling Over Selling:

Instead of creating overtly promotional posts, I focus on integrating the product or service into a narrative that resonates with the influencer's followers. For example, encouraging them to share personal experiences or testimonials helps make the content feel real and trustworthy.

Subtle Integration:

I avoid hard-sell tactics and instead guide influencers to showcase the product in a way that feels like a natural part of their lifestyle. Whether it’s a casual mention in a vlog or using the product in a daily routine, subtlety goes a long way in building trust.

Audience Connection:

Influencers know their audience best. I involve them in brainstorming sessions to ensure the campaign not only aligns with the brand's goals but also caters to their audience's interests and preferences.

By focusing on these elements, I help create content that feels sincere, engaging, and impactful, strengthening both the brand and the influencer's credibility.

For me, ensuring influencer content feels genuine is all about letting the creator do their thing! I always pick influencers who already align with the brand's vibe—it’s like finding the perfect match. Then, I give them the freedom to create in their own voice because, honestly, people can tell when something feels fake or overly polished.

I make sure the collaboration is clear but not pushy. It’s about storytelling, not selling. When the influencer believes in what they’re promoting, their audience connects with it more naturally. That’s where the magic happens!

My influencer marketing is specifically around books and bookish content. I have a specific tone and style to my videos that people have come to expect. When I am doing paid influencer content, I always stick to my tone and style that followers have grown used to. 

I'm open to input from the authors or publishers I work with, but I do not do scripts, "ads" or anything that sounds overly promotional. This is a HUGE turnoff for my followers. 

I aways find a way to connect personally with the subject - this could be a story from my life or a past experience, or it might be my talking about why I connect to the story, or what drew me in about the cover design, as some examples. The personal touch is very important. This is what people want - they don't want another ad in their feed. They want to know why the influencer cares about the subject. 

In addition, I specifically avoid stats, sales rankings, and similar promotional content. Readers don't care and don't want to hear that from the influencer. I will mention awards the book has received or that the author has received, when relevant. 

Staying true to unique tone and voice of the influencer is essential. 

Our team create talking points about the brand but these days that's just basic.  We work with the influencer to create storylines and concepts for their videos.  Sometimes we let them be creative but most of the time they need our guidance.  It also has to fit what they has been doing already, and what their audience is used to.  It also goes down to picking the right influencer who has trained their audience to buy from them, or engage in the right way! 

I really believe it should feel natural! People can spot fakeness from a mile away, so it’s important that there’s genuine excitement about the product and a real joy in being part of the journey. I absolutely love doing shout-outs and content promotions, and it makes me so happy to help get the word out about the product. I totally get how tough it can be to reach that finish line, only to see it moved! It’s all about heartfelt connections, and I think it’s super important to share that with the influencer before moving forward together.

I focus on building authentic partnerships by recommending brands to match with influencers whose values align with their own. It’s important that influencers have creative freedom—content resonates best when it reflects their personal style.
For example, with a skincare campaign, instead of a generic product review, I’d suggest the influencer create a “morning skincare routine” video, naturally showcasing how the product fits into their existing regimen. This kind of storytelling, combined with personal experiences, makes the content feel organic.
Honest reviews and product integration build trust, ensuring the message connects with the audience without coming across as forced promotion.