Are you joining us for our special edition of Modash Live today? It starts in a few hours, and we've got 6 marketers coming in to answer essentially one question:

How do you do influencer marketing?

(In my head, this sounds like Joey's 'How're YOU doing?'-please make sure you read it like that as well.)

Over 1300 marketers have registered. It's not too late to sign up and join us.

And since we're soon going to learn what to do, I thought it might be as helpful to talk about what to don’t.

When you’re trying to scale your influencer program, and every search you run returns the same creators, chances are your criteria are too tight.

3 in 4 marketers told us they've worked with a creator who didn't "fit" their criteria and still outperformed. The creator was in the wrong niche, had the wrong follower size, or had the wrong aesthetic. But something about their storytelling or their audience worked.

Do this: Study your list of criteria and expand them. Instead of 100K followers, what would happen if you also looked at creators with under 50K followers? What about creators in a different niche? Or creators who have no niche, but have a great connection to their audience?

If you're sending the same templated email to 200 random creators, you're wasting everyone's time. Including yours. Creators can spot a mass message instantly, and it tells them exactly how much you value the "partnership." (Most of the time, they’ll assume it’s just spam!)

Do this: Use a template for 90% of your email and personalize the rest. The most important bit to personalize is why them? Why did they get picked? This is the place to be honest. If you love their content, tell them why. If you love their audience metrics, tell them that.

For example, “I’m Paula from Mo-kea, and I’m looking to partner with creators with the kind of audience you have” will be better received than any generic gushing they see every day.

Influencer marketers have to walk a tightrope. You want to pay creators fairly, AND you have to use your budget efficiently.

The best marketers I know are open and transparent about the reasons the offer is the offer. The reason they can confidently negotiate openly? They’re data-informed.

Let’s say you’re having initial conversations with a creator with a high follower count. Content is cool. Audience demographics are great. But only 50% of their followers live in your target location. You can use this knowledge to ask for a lower rate.

“You’re a great fit for us, but only 50% of your audience is in the UK. Because of this, I can’t offer X, but I can offer Y. This helps me be efficient with my budget, making it more likely for us to work together again.”

The influencer is within their rights to decline. And if they do, you should be willing to walk away, too.

If the math ain’t mathing, you gotta keep lookin’. You won't get a positive ROI by paying to reach followers in the wrong countries. On the other hand, a recurring relationship with a brand can be a strong incentive for the influencer to lower their rate.

Data on creators also makes you more confident that a creator’s rate is a safe bet. For example, when you know that a specific creator’s engagement rate is higher than others on Instagram, that can be a signal to pay at the higher end of your budget range.

Do this: Understand which performance metrics matter for you and your program goals. You can email creators to ask them about their metrics, or use a tool like Modash to vet them.

If your briefs sound like packaging copy, your creators might end up sounding like bad brand ads. I’m talking about briefs like, "Calms and hydrates sensitive skin," or "Fuels your day."

This is how marketing talks, not human people who have amassed 374 thousand followers on TikTok.

The fix? Share insights, not ideas.

Instead of telling a creator what to say, tell them what your customers actually experience. Things like:

"Many of our customers had stopped using retinol because it was too harsh. They told us this product helped them ease back into it."

Or:

"We keep hearing that people grab a bar between Zoom calls so they don't end up snacking on whatever's left in the kitchen."

That kind of detail helps a creator understand what the product really does for real people. So they can tell their own story in a way that actually resonates.

Do this: Research what your customers actually say, and put that in your briefs.

It starts out fine. Then one email turns into a WhatsApp reply. Then they send you a quick update on Instagram. You follow up in Slack. And suddenly you're pasting usage rights into a DM at 9 p.m. The way we communicate with creators makes the work harder.

Do this: Pick three channels and tell the creator upfront. One formal (email, for contracts and briefs). One fast (WhatsApp or Instagram DMs, pick one). And one human (calls, for when tone matters).

That's it. If you and the creator don’t even know where the conversation is taking place, neither of you can do the work.

@freerangepigeon landed up on my FYP last week, and I’m smitten.

Who she is: Hallie Odell, a TikTok creator with 42.7K followers who accidentally fell into art education.

Why she's worth a follow: In February 2026, Hallie stumbled into explaining contemporary art and launched a series she calls "Modern Art For Haters." Because, as she puts it, "in this house we raise informed haters." She takes common objections people have about modern art (I could have done that! or Why do I need context to understand it?) and engages with them. Through a series of examples, you gain a keener understanding of how to appreciate art. And, joy of all joys, you’re still allowed to hate it.

Dream collab: Hallie is on a growth trajectory right now, so she hasn't had any collaborations. But she’s an obvious fit for a museum or gallery that wants to reach people who've never set foot in a contemporary art exhibition. She's building an audience of art lovers and art skeptics — people who thought they hated art and now don’t? Give her a series in your gallery and let her just do what she does.

Tell me about a creator you love and any dream collab you have in mind. Email me at [email protected], to be featured.

See you next time!
Eleni Zoe xx
Brand @ Modash. Say hi on LinkedIn

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