Social & Influencer
Influencer strategy, creator economy, social ROI, and platform playbooks.
15 articles
Creators told MrBeast's model to go further: why equity deals are replacing flat fees
Creators are pushing brands for equity stakes instead of one-time fees, reframing themselves as co-founders rather than media placements. CMOs who treat this as a negotiating tactic will miss the structural shift underneath it.
Sep 10, 2026Measuring influencer ROI past vanity metrics: a field guide to the players who got it right
Likes and follower counts never paid a salary. This field guide profiles the companies, creators, and milestones that have moved influencer measurement toward numbers that actually connect to revenue.
Sep 3, 2026Short-form video strategy: why the platform-first orthodoxy is failing CMOs
Every marketing team is racing to produce more short-form video across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. The received wisdom about how to win there deserves more scrutiny than it typically gets.
Aug 24, 2026The creator economy as a media channel: a CMO playbook
The creator economy has matured past novelty into a media channel that rivals paid and owned in reach, trust, and cost efficiency. This playbook walks through how to build, manage, and measure a creator program that delivers consistent commercial results.
Aug 20, 2026The unlikely origin of short-form video: how six seconds changed everything
Short-form video did not arrive fully formed from Silicon Valley's imagination. Its roots run through a stranger, more chaotic history than most marketing textbooks acknowledge.
Aug 18, 2026Measuring influencer ROI past vanity metrics: a CMO's playbook
Likes and follower counts tell you almost nothing about whether an influencer campaign moved your business forward. This playbook shows CMOs how to build a measurement framework that connects influencer spend to revenue, retention, and brand equity.
Aug 14, 2026Short-form video strategy across platforms: a CMO playbook
Running short-form video across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts simultaneously without a clear platform logic drains budget and produces mediocre results everywhere. This playbook gives CMOs a sequenced approach to build distinct content operations per platform while keeping brand coherence intact.
Jul 28, 2026Owned community vs rented reach: the strategic choice CMOs keep getting wrong
Most marketing leaders know the difference between owned and rented audiences in theory, but few have genuinely stress-tested the tradeoff in their planning. This article unpacks the mechanics of each model, where the risks actually sit, and how to make a deliberate choice rather than defaulting to whichever channel is growing fastest.
Jul 25, 2026Owned community vs rented reach: why the consensus is half-right
The marketing orthodoxy says CMOs should build owned communities to escape platform dependency. That instinct is correct, but the execution logic most teams follow is quietly setting them up for a different kind of failure.
Jul 18, 2026The influencer accountability gap: what CMOs can no longer ignore
Influencer marketing has matured from experimental budget line to core channel, yet most brands still lack the governance structures to match that investment. This article examines what serious influencer accountability looks like and what CMOs need to put in place before the next crisis lands.
Jul 11, 2026Influencer marketing at a crossroads: what CMOs must rethink in 2026
Influencer marketing has matured past the era of follower counts and spray-and-pray brand deals. CMOs who treat it as a media buy rather than a strategic channel are leaving both margin and brand equity on the table.
Jul 4, 2026Influencer marketing at scale: what separates CMOs who win from those who waste budget
Influencer marketing has matured from experimental budget line to a core channel for brand and performance alike. The CMOs extracting real value are operating with a discipline that most organisations still lack.
Jun 27, 2026The influencer bubble hasn't burst, it has stratified
Influencer marketing has not collapsed under the weight of its own hype, it has reorganized into tiers of performance that reward strategic discipline and punish lazy spending. CMOs who still treat influencer budgets as a brand awareness line item are systematically leaving measurable revenue on the table.
Jun 19, 2026Beyond vanity metrics: how elite CMOs are rebuilding influencer strategy for the accountability era
Influencer marketing has matured from experimental budget line to a $24 billion global industry, yet most brands still can't draw a straight line between creator spend and revenue. Here's how sophisticated marketing leaders are closing that gap before their CFOs close it for them.
Jun 12, 2026The influencer bubble hasn't burst, it's transformed: what CMOs must understand now
Influencer marketing has matured from a novelty budget line into a core strategic channel commanding over $21 billion globally, but most organizations are still running it like it's 2018. CMOs who fail to restructure their approach around performance accountability, creator economics, and audience intelligence will find themselves paying premium rates for diminishing returns.