Do you ever go back through old emails or notes and find something you completely missed? Some insight that was sitting right there, waiting for you to be ready for it?

This happens to me more than I'd like to admit. Usually, it’s demented dreams, a long-overdue reminder, or random numbers. But last week, I stumbled on this:

Only 8% of influencer marketers said they use phone calls. Just 13.5% use video calls. Most said they avoid them because they think calls take too much time.

It’s from a survey we ran last year. But the reason this sparked now is that since then, I have kept hearing about the marketers who do call.

They’ll be talking about something else entirely, and they'll sneak it in as if it’s an afterthought. "It makes such a difference when you're face-to-face." The deals close faster. The content is better. The creators come back.

So I started looking through old interviews and new webinars. And the same stuff kept coming up.

Here are four reasons influencer marketers make time to call creators.

Nycole Hampton, Consultant and former Senior Marketing Director at GoodRx, preaches getting on a call with creators before signing the contract.

Her reason is simple:

"There's nothing worse than someone exaggerating their love of the brand in an email. Then their content falls flat because it feels so surface-level. On a call, you can really get to know how someone feels about a brand. If they aren't interested in discussing and showing some excitement, chances are it's transactional and about a check."

This is the thing email hides. Someone can write "I love your brand!" and mean absolutely nothing by it. On a call, you hear the difference in about 30 seconds.

A call before the contract acts as a filter. It helps you invest in creators who genuinely want to work with you and will do good work. And skip those who will just phone it in.

Marit Tiesema, formerly at Loop Earplugs, has a rule:

"If you're sending more than two emails back and forth and not reaching an agreement, jump on a call. It usually breaks the tension fully. After that, everything is resolved because you understand each other."

Two emails. That's the threshold. Not five. Not "let me just try one more follow-up with a different angle."

Why does this work? Because email strips out everything that builds trust: tone, nuance, the ability to read the room. When things get stuck, it's usually because someone is filling in the gaps with their worst assumptions. A call clears that up in minutes.

This applies beyond negotiations, too. A creator's post underperformed, and your feedback email isn't landing? Two exchanges and no alignment? Call them. A timeline slipped, and you're going back and forth? Call them.

A brief on paper is just a document. It only works when both sides understand it the same way. And that almost always takes a conversation.

Some teams use a call before the brief exists. In a recent Modash Live, MCoBeauty's head of social and creators, Gabriel Gomez, shared how they approach creator partnerships. They don't send a brief first. They get on a call and ask: "What would get you excited?"

Creator Abdullah was booked for one standard post to help launch in Canada. Because they brainstormed the idea together on a call (a breaking news skit), he felt ownership over it. He ended up publishing six posts. The campaign drove $300,000 in sales.

Other teams use a call after the brief goes out. Kat LaFata swears by a short "clarity call" once the brief is sent. She doesn’t repeat the document; instead, she uses the time to answer any questions creators might have and to hear how they're actually thinking about the collaboration. Fifteen minutes that can save you days of back-and-forth.

A mid-tier creator in the US gets 500 to 1000 brand inquiries per week. Most of those are templated emails. To a creator, they all blur together.

At BURGA, their Spain country manager calls creators directly. WhatsApp voice messages, phone calls, the whole thing. "There are countries where it's more common," said Rugile Palevicuite, Director of Global Partnerships, "and they love that very friendly communication more than just an email."

Of course, not every creator wants a call. Some prefer email. Some regions default to WhatsApp or Instagram DMs. The right communication style depends on your creators and your market. But if you never try calling, you'll never find out whether it's the thing that was missing.

Because when it works? Creators remember you. They say yes faster the next time. They come to you with ideas.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes. I love hearing from you!

Someone on our team introduced us to @stratfordgerald, and now we're all hooked.

Who he is: Gerald Stratford, a 77-year-old retired barge operator from the Cotswolds who grows giant vegetables and posts about them with a joy we don’t often associate with our 5-a-day.

Why he's worth a follow: Gerald went viral in 2020 with a photo of his potatoes and never looked back. He's got about 500K followers, a book deal, and a Gucci partnership. All from being a happy man holding big vegetables.

Dream collab: I’d love to see a heritage British food brand like Marmite or Weetabix partner with him. Gerald's whole thing is uncomplicated, old-school, proudly British. I don’t want to see slick production; I just want to see Big Veg Gerald in his garden with their product.

I’d like to invite you to a special edition of Modash Live on Wednesday, March 25! We’ve got two great guests coming on to talk about how they do influencer marketing. (With more speakers to be announced soon!)

Can’t make it? Sign up anyway, and we’ll send you the replay.

Until next time,
Eleni Zoe xx
Brand @ Modash. Say hi on LinkedIn.

P.S. I love hearing from you. Just hit reply and let me know what you thought of this issue.

Do you have friends and coworkers who might enjoy this newsletter? Spread the joy by sharing this email.