If you’re working in influencer marketing today, you’re standing at a crossroads.

Down one path is execution without direction. You find influencers, create briefs, ship campaigns, and spend days updating spreadsheets – not building strategy.

You’re busy. You’re doing the work. But it feels like spinning plates, without knowing which ones actually matter.

Down the other path is strategic execution. You still find influencers. You still create briefs. But every action ties back to a clear plan: who you’re trying to reach, what you want them to feel, and how each campaign moves your brand forward.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Tactics still matter. They always will. Better tactics make all the difference. (More on that later — you’ll want to stick around.)

This entire newsletter celebrates tactics because great execution is a big part of the job.
Mistakes happen when we start to believe execution is the job.

Thousands of people come through Modash every month looking for a tool to execute faster.

But the brands that stick around – the ones who grow with us, year after year – haven’t hacked the tactics.

They have strategies. They have plans.

Today, I want to share some hard truths we all need to hear. (Myself included.)

Hard truth #1: You can't ignore marketing fundamentals

Influencer marketing feels new. New platforms. New trends that change every time TikTok sneezes. In reality, it’s just another marketing channel but dressed in head-to-toe Zara, holding a Stanley up, and filming a GRWM. 

It might look different. But it still follows the same rules. Core marketing principles still run the show.

If you're serious about building a brand that lasts, you still need to think about things like:

• The 4 Ps: Are you aligning Product, Price, Place, and Promotion, or just promoting whatever is in the warehouse right now?
  

• Positioning: What unique space are you occupying in your customer’s mind – and how are your creators reinforcing it?
  

• Mental availability: When does your customer think about needing your product? And are you showing up in those moments?

Creators aren't a cheat code to skip these steps. They're a tool to amplify them. 

How to move forward

Ask yourself:

• When do we want our customers to think about us? In what moments? 

• What is our positioning, and how can influencers reinforce that? 

If you can’t answer yet, don’t panic. Just notice it. Building a strategic instinct takes practice, and you’re in the right place to build it.

Hard truth #2: Good creators can't fix bad strategy.

It’s easy to fall into the trap, "Maybe if we just find the right creator, everything will click."

Creators are powerful. But they’re amplifiers, not architects. You are the architect. 

A creator can’t:

• Clarify your brand positioning

• Invent your customer journey

• Fix messy pricing or broken offers

• Solve for a missing product-market fit

If your strategy isn’t clear, creators will have nothing solid to build from, no matter how talented or big their audience is. 

Influencer marketing isn’t a magic trick. It’s an amplifier for brands that already know who they are and what they stand for.

Too many brands jump into influencer marketing like it’s a vending machine:

🪙🪙 Insert money ▶️ get "authentic" content and viral fame.

Spoiler: it doesn’t work like that. Or rather, it might work once…then it stops. The company is back to square one, and the influencer marketer is back to the job boards.  

If your entire influencer strategy is:

• "Let's just find some creators and see what happens."

• "What if we just sent free product and hoped for the best?"

• "Can we scale faster if we automate the relationship part?"

You’re not running a marketing strategy. You’re running a hope experiment.

How to move forward

Before you brief another creator, answer this:

"If a customer only saw this collaboration, would they know why we exist and why we’re different?"

If you’re unsure, that's your first project.

Hard truth 3: When strategy is weak, tactics fall apart

When you don’t have a clear plan and purpose for influencer marketing, your tactics start failing. So, it feels like the tactics are the problem. For those of us who internalize everything, we inevitably decide that we’re the problem.

The pressure kicks in, and suddenly, we’re suggesting mass emailing every creator on earth, automating everything, or starting an affiliate program.

But the issue isn’t our hustle. Nor is it our tool or tactics. The issue is we don’t know what we’re trying to do. 

Without a clear plan, every new tactic feels like shouting into the void and hoping someone hears you.

Like I said, creators can amplify you. They can’t rescue you. 

If you don’t know what emotional or practical need your brand solves, where your brand fits into your customers’ real lives, and how influencer content supports your bigger marketing goals, then no tactic will save you. 

How to move forward
Before you send another outreach blast to unvetted creators, pause.

Ask yourself:

• What is the real customer journey I’m trying to influence?

• What moments or mindsets would make a customer want what we’re offering?

• How does influencer content help unlock those moments?

Even a messy first draft is better than marching forward without a map.

Bonus hard truth #4: Strategy first. Smarter tactics second.

Once you have a real plan in place, the next challenge is executing it without burning out.

Join host Simone Partner from Modash and Marit Tiesema (Sr. KOL & Ambassador Specialist at Loop Earplugs) for a casual 45-minute live session. It’s all about scaling influencer outreach smarter, faster, and with way less chaos.

In this not-a-webinar, you’ll learn how to:

• Build templates that feel personal but take minutes, not hours

• Write sharper emails that lift reply and activation rates

• Test new channels without setting your budget on fire ("fail fast, fail cheap")

You'll get the chance to ask questions, steal templates, and leave with systems that save you hours. (So you can spend more time building that strategy we were talking about. cough cough)

RSVP here.

If you can’t make it, register anyway, and we’ll send you a replay.

Thanks for being the kind of marketer who wants to do it better. You’re in good company here. See you next week!
Eleni Zoe xx
Marketing @ Modash. Say hi on LinkedIn or visit Modash.

📌A NOTE ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST READ

The tips in this newsletter might not be right for your specific case. Use good judgment when deciding whether to take advice from the internet —even mine. My team and I survey & interview influencer marketers whose advice and observations come from their direct experience. ROI is meant for you to connect the dots and be inspired or challenged to think about your influencer marketing in a way you haven’t before.