In exactly 7 weeks today, we’re hosting our inaugural Return on Influence Festival! (Have you signed up yet? You should, you don’t want to miss this!)
For the better part of 2026, we’ve been running 1-3 hour webinars — we call them Modash Live! Our premise is simple: find the influencer marketers who are doing the work and share their experiences with as many people as we can.
In our June Live, one such speaker was Emily Thornton, who shared
what she realized after leaving British retailer Boots and speaking more candidly with creators.
Her diagnosis: there’s an information gap between brands and creators that’s hurting our programs.
Creators see the decisions brands make. But they rarely see the reasoning behind them. Meanwhile, brands aren’t hearing what they need from creators.
For example:
What brands know | What creators know |
|---|---|
Why the creator was selected | That they were selected |
The campaign’s wider objective | Their own deliverables |
How the content performed holistically | Public metrics |
Why another creator was rebooked | That another creator was rebooked |
Why the budget disappeared | That the brand stopped emailing |
They’re advocating for creators in meetings | Silence |
As you can see, from the creator’s perspective, the brand has almost all the information. Creators, on the other hand, are out there fighting for their lives with very little information.
More context = more confidence = better creative judgment = stronger work
The reverse can also happen:
Less context = more uncertainty = safer creative choices = generic work
This information gap is a lose-lose.
So, how do we close it?
Mind the gap #1: Tell creators why you chose them (and why you didn’t)
The first way to close the gap: tell creators why you chose them—and, when there’s an existing conversation or relationship, why you didn’t.
When you’re choosing them, don’t give the generic answer: “Your content aligns with our brand.” Don’t say the thing you think will flatter them the most.
Give ‘em the actual answer:
“You explain complicated subjects without making people feel stupid.”
“Your audience trusts your product comparisons.”
“Your comments show that people act on your recommendations.”
“You’ve created a format we think could make this subject interesting.”
“You reach a community we’ve struggled to speak to credibly.”
That information does more than flatter them. It explains your decision. It says, "We chose you because of this specific thing you do."
Without it, creators are left to guess what the brand values about their work—and which parts of themselves they’re expected to bring to the partnership.
The same is true when you don’t choose someone.
If you’ve opened a conversation, asked for rates, previously worked together, or seriously considered a creator for an opportunity, don’t leave them to reverse-engineer what happened.
Here are some examples of the most common reasons creators aren’t picked:
“This campaign requires a larger percentage of the audience to be in a particular market.”
“We explored the budget, but we can’t meet your rate without undervaluing your work.” (I loved this one from Emily!)
“We need a different content format from the one you’re known for for this particular activation.”
“We had limited places, so we prioritized creators who reach the specific audience we need for this launch.”
“Our goal for this campaign is to reach a new audience, so we’re prioritizing creators we haven’t worked with before.”
The goal isn’t to justify every decision or invite negotiation. It’s to give the creator enough information to understand that “not right for this” doesn’t automatically mean “not valuable.”
Mind the gap #2: Don’t let the information stop when the campaign does
As marketers, we’re really good at sending exciting invitations, beautiful packages, and giving lots of attention during a campaign.
Then the campaign ends.
And crickets.
Our work still continues. We’re analyzing the content, discussing what worked, including creators in reports, and starting to think about future campaigns.
But creators don’t see any of that.
They don’t know what the team thought of their work. They don’t know whether the campaign achieved its wider goal. They don’t know whether the brand wants to work with them again.
All they know is that the messages stopped.
So, after a campaign, share some of what happened:
What the team particularly liked about their work
What their content helped the campaign achieve
What you learned from working with them
Whether you’d like to work together again
You don’t need to promise another campaign. But by making the behind-the-scenes work more visible, you’re giving creators the clarity they need to improve their work, remain engaged, and show up more confidently next time.
Mind the gap #3: Let creators grade you back
Brands already give creators feedback.
Sometimes we do it explicitly: The product needs to appear earlier.
Sometimes implicitly: We won’t be working together again.
But how often do creators get to grade the brand back? (And no, putting you on blast on social media doesn’t count.)
Even when brands ask, “Do you have any feedback?”, creators may not answer honestly because, as Emily noted, nobody wants to be labeled difficult by the person deciding who gets the next contract.
So we need to make honesty safer. And we can start by asking better questions:
What part of the brief felt unclear?
Where did you experience the most friction?
What information arrived too late?
What made the content harder to create?
What should we do differently next time?
Did you feel able to disagree with us?
Would you choose to work with us again?
The answers will help you identify recurring friction, improve processes, and create better conditions for future collaborations.
Most importantly, close the loop. Tell creators what changed because they spoke up. Otherwise, asking for feedback becomes another piece of information that travels from the creator to the brand, and then disappears.
If you found this useful, then you won’t want to miss out on the Return on Influence Festival ‘26!
We’ll be rolling out the agenda as we get closer to the day. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some of the best stuff I’ve picked up from our past events.
See you next time,
Eleni Zoe xx
Brand @ Modash. Say hi on LinkedIn
🩷A good influence
Who he is: Adam Rotstein, a self-described Professional Hater™ based in LA with accounts on both Instagram and TikTok. Both accounts have an engagement rate over 11%. (Above average for a creator of his size)
Why he’s worth a follow: Adam takes the classic influencer "come spend the day with me" format and flips it. He visits Southern California's trendiest spots and roasts them. But what makes it more than just a guy complaining is that he's funny and almost anthropological in his approach. Something you’d expect from someone who spent a decade writing copy at ad agencies and contributing to The New Yorker.
Dream collab: I’m assuming it’s a challenge to slot a brand partnership into a Professional Hater's feed. Still, I think his social device “I’m hating on…” gives a variety of brands a great angle to position themselves. Watch his most recent collab with Bilt to see how it can work.
P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support us, there are 3 different ways to do that right now. (You only need to do one, we’re not greedy!)
Forward it to a friend/colleague, where they can subscribe using this link.
Hit reply, say hello, and tell us what’s on your mind.
Brought to you by Modash
The influencer marketing platform that brands on Shopify use to manage and grow influencer programs in one place.
